by M A Comley
“I do. Gosh, that was years ago. Are you telling me that her murderer was never found?”
“That’s right. Well, some new evidence has come our way recently, hence our need to reinvestigate the case.”
“Okay, I’m not sure how I can help, but I’m willing to give it a go.”
“We interviewed the teachers in the music department yesterday, and one of them mentioned that you had a run-in with Aisha at one time. Can you tell us in your own words how that incident came about?”
The woman’s hand began to shake, and she scratched the side of her face with a painted nail. “I’m not sure I can remember much, really.”
“Do your best for us.”
“Well, I had a word with her. I suppose you would call it a confrontation. But I soon found out it was all a grave misunderstanding.”
“That’s interesting. Can you start at the beginning for us?”
“Okay.” She sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “I had noticed a change in my son, Daniel, and asked him what was going on, but he refused to tell me. I put two and two together and came up with five. My fault entirely...”
“What do you mean?” Sally asked.
“I forgot that Daniel was having a piano lesson after school one day. I had an appointment and was livid when he wasn’t standing at the gates as usual. I spotted one of the music teachers. I think her name was Wall or something like that...”
“Could it have been Ball?”
The woman pointed her finger at Sally. “Yes, that was it. Sorry, it’s been a few years. Well, she was in the playground and said that Daniel was having extra tutoring with Mrs. Thomas. There was something in her tone and the way her eyes screwed up that sent the alarm bells ringing in my head. What with the changes I’d seen in Daniel over the months, I went storming in there and slapped Aisha round the face. Seeing them so close together on that piano stool made my blood boil, I can tell you.”
“Did you accuse Aisha of anything?”
“Yes, bloody hell, I so regret what I said that day. I’ve had countless nightmares about it since. I accused her of grooming Daniel. I know it was dreadful of me, but you hear such awful things about what some teachers get up to with their pupils, a red mist descended, and I just couldn’t help myself. All I was trying to do was protect my son.”
“I can understand that, however, Aisha wasn’t guilty of anything other than giving your son extra tutoring.”
“I know that now. Daniel went berserk at me when we got home and admitted that he was being bullied by some of the older boys. Since starting his tutoring with Mrs. Thomas, the bullying had subsided. I felt such a fool. I did send Mrs. Thomas a letter of apology, which she gracefully accepted. If that Ball woman hadn’t reacted the way she had, I wouldn’t have gone storming into the music room like that.”
“You think Miss Ball dropped Aisha in it intentionally?”
“I don’t know if that’s the case or not. I spoke to Lisa about it after Aisha passed away and learned that the two women had never got on. Maybe I just misread the signs and jumped in before I engaged my brain properly. I’ve felt guilty ever since that day, especially when I heard Aisha had been murdered. It’s just awful—the whole damn situation has cursed me to this day.”
“By what we know of Aisha, she only had the children’s best interests at heart. She wouldn’t want you going through life riddled in guilt, I’m sure.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.”
“Can you think of any other incidents that happened around that time concerning either Mrs. Thomas or Miss Ball?”
“No, nothing. I kept my head down after my dreadful display. Never really went near the school after that day. I was far too ashamed.”
“Okay, then we’ll get off. Please try and overcome your guilt. These things happen.”
“Not to me, they don’t, Inspector. Like I said, a red mist descended that day before I could prevent it.”
“There was no real damage done. Thank you for your time.” The three of them stood up, and Mrs. Ward led the detectives back to the front door. Sally shook her hand as Jack stepped out.
“Thank you for being so understanding. I hope you catch the person responsible after all these years.”
“So do I. Here’s my card if you think of anything else we should know about.”
“I’ll be sure to get in touch. Goodbye.” She gently closed the door behind them.
Sally puffed out her cheeks as she walked back to the car. “What a waste of time that was.”
“It certainly was. Does this mean we should start pointing the finger at Sandra Ball now?” Jack asked as he dropped into the driver’s seat beside her.
“Maybe, maybe not. She might have been guilty of killing Aisha, but what about the two burglars? I doubt she would have known either of them. We’ve got a connection, remember? We need to treat this case as having three victims and not just the one. My guess is that it’ll prevent us taking the wrong route.”
“Let’s hope we get more luck in seeing Drake.”
“We’ll call at the school first. I’m not going to bother to ring ahead. He’ll have to make time to see us today, or I’ll call him into the station to be interviewed.”
Jack drove the short route to the school. They entered the building and headed down the winding corridors to the music rooms. Pamela Albright was just coming out of one of the rooms as they turned the final corner. “Hello again. Back so soon?”
Sally smiled. “We were hoping to have a quick word with Jonathon Drake if that’s all right, just so we can wrap up this part of the investigation today.”
“I see. Well, I have to tell you that he rang in sick this morning. Had a bad reaction to something the dentist gave him yesterday during his treatment. Never heard anything like that before, I must say. Do you think it’s a man thing?”
Sally turned to face Jack and raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, don’t look at me. There’s a reason I avoid going to the dentist.”
Sally’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling. He’d totally misread her expression. Ignoring her partner, she faced Mrs. Albright again. “That’s very strange. Even when I had my wisdom teeth out a few years back, I was still at work the next day. Men are such babies. No problem, we’ve got his address. We’ll call round and see him. Please don’t contact him with our intentions.”
“I’m far too busy around here reorganising Jonathon’s classes to be concerned about ringing him. Let me know if he’s not at home, if you would, and I’ll throw the book at him for playing truant.”
Sally laughed. “Will you put him in detention?”
Mrs. Albright’s stern face cracked, then she winked and said, “I might be tempted to cane him. Not sure detention acts as much of a deterrent nowadays.”
Sally and Jack left the school and raced over to Jonathon Drake’s address. “Let’s see what he has to say for himself. Looks like it’s the second-floor flat we’re after.”
Sally rang the bell. She heard it chime on the other side of the door, but no one answered. She stepped back and looked up. “Hmm... unless my focus is still a little fuzzy from the wine I consumed last night, I’d swear I’ve just seen the curtain twitch.”
Jack joined her and surveyed the upstairs front window for himself. “Nah, you must have been imagining it.”
Sally wasn’t so sure, though. She opened the letterbox and shouted, “Mr. Drake, it’s the police. We’d like a little chat if we could, sir. We know you’re in there. Please open the door.”
Jack had remained looking up at the upstairs window. He shook his head when Sally turned to face him. “Nothing, boss.”
She lowered her voice and said, “Well, that’s strange. I’m just not prepared to throw in the towel just yet. I believe he’s up there. You stay here while I knock on the neighbours’ doors.” She rang the bell to the lower flat, but that also went unanswered. So she walked back down the path and into the house over to the right. She banged the front do
or’s knocker, and it was immediately opened by a grey-haired man who walked with a frame. “Hello, sir. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you’ve seen your neighbour today.”
“No, Doris is away a lot, helping out at her daughter’s house. She’s just had a little nipper, you see.”
“That’s nice. I was talking about the gentleman in the flat above, Jonathon Drake?”
“Silly me. Who are you, first? From the council?”
“No, I’m a detective with the Norfolk Constabulary.” Sally showed him her ID.
“Oh, dear... in a spot of bother, is he?”
“Not as far as we know. We just need to question him about something. Have you seen him today?”
“He went out yesterday, he’s a teacher. I noticed he came home later than normal. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was in a bit of pain, holding the side of his face he was.”
“Maybe he had a trip to the dentist.”
“Yes, you could be right. Anyway, he seemed all right when he left for work this morning. I was very surprised to see him come back about twenty minutes later. I thought he’d forgotten something, but he never appeared again.”
“So you think he might still be in there?” Sally’s suspicions escalated to high alert.
“I can’t be a hundred percent sure on that, dear. I have a weak bladder and have to take frequent trips to the loo, but I don’t remember seeing him come out again. I sit in there all day, like to watch the world go by rather than be glued to the damn telly and that god-awful daytime TV.”
“That’s very interesting. I thought I saw the curtain twitch, but I wasn’t sure. I’ll try again. Thank you for your help, sir.”
“Anytime, dear. Always happy to help the police in their duties.”
Sally waved at the man from the gate and proceeded to try the neighbour on the other side to see if they could corroborate the other neighbour’s story. A woman wearing a pink flowery apron opened the door. She swept back the grey hair that had flopped across her eyes and smiled at Sally. “Can I help? Excuse the mess. I’m in the middle of baking cakes for the Women’s Institute.”
“Sorry to disrupt your creativity. I was wondering if you’ve seen your neighbour today. Jonathon Drake, in the upstairs flat.”
The woman’s forehead creased. “Are you sure you have the right flat or the right name? I thought it was something different to that. Let me think... I had a letter for him the other week that was put through my door by mistake. Bloomin’ heck, what is wrong with my bloody memory? Wait, it’s coming... Paul something.”
Sally’s heart skipped several beats. “There’s no rush, in your own time.”
“I knew it would come to mind eventually. Paul Marwood.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, dear. Now that I’ve remembered, there’s no mistaking it. I saw the letter addressed to him with my own eyes. I knocked on the door and gave it to him personally. Thought he would be pleased, but he snatched it from my hand and slammed the door in my face. Didn’t even say thank you for my trouble. I’ve not given him the time of day since. If I get another letter for him, I’ll put ‘return to sender, unknown at this address’ next time. Ungrateful so-and-so.”
“You’ve been very helpful. One last thing... he couldn’t have another person staying at the flat with him?”
Her mouth twisted from side to side. “I never thought of that. I wouldn’t like to say, love. The thing is, these are only one-bedroom flats.”
“Again, thanks for your help. I hope I haven’t disrupted your baking for too long.”
“Happy to oblige. I’m sure my Victoria sponges will survive.”
Sally motioned for Jack to join her. She didn’t want to let Drake know what she had to say if he was eavesdropping on the other side of the door.
“What is it, boss?”
“Drake might well be going under a different name. I think we should get back in the car and drive off. We’ll double back in a few minutes, see if Drake is tempted to leave the house. He’s not likely to do that if he spots us sitting in the car outside his flat.”
“Good idea. Maybe we should contact the station, see if Joanna can work her magic and come up with the goods on the new name we have for the bugger.”
“You read my mind, Jack. You drive while I call Joanna.”
Jack pulled away from the kerb and parked in the pub car park at the end of the road, where they had a good view of Drake’s front door.
Sally rang the station. “Joanna, I need you to drop what you’re doing and run a name for me—a Paul Marwood. We believe Drake might be using an assumed name.”
“I see. Running it through the system now.”
Sally looked over her shoulder at Drake’s flat while she listened to Joanna pounding away on her keyboard. “Whoa! You’re never gonna believe this, boss.”
Sally sighed. “Hit me with it.”
“Paul Marwood was banged up for a sexual assault on a minor. I couldn’t find him on the sex offender list probably because of when the incident happened.”
“What the fuck? How many times are we going to hear this? On the sex offender list or not he shouldn’t be working in a school. Don’t these bloody schools do their background checks properly? Right, get me a warrant for his arrest and another to search his home address, pronto, Joanna. I will not have filth like him walking the streets on my patch. Get me the number of his probation officer, too. When was he in prison?”
“I’ll action it right away, boss. I totally agree with you. He got out of prison over twelve years ago. Do you think he would still be under a probation officer?”
“Bugger, probably not, but he must have been under one at the time he started at the school, right?”
“I’ll get the warrants sorted first and get back to you with the probation officer’s name ASAP.”
Sally prodded the end-call button. “Assault on a minor, he got out of prison twelve years ago.”
“I doubt the offender list was in action back then, boss. That shouldn’t make a difference though, he would have got out under a probation officer. How many times do we stumble across things like this?” Jack said, sounding equally angry about the news. “Hold on. I think that’s him.”
Jack started the car and circled the car park, then he raced back to Drake’s flat and screeched to a halt. Sally and Jack both jumped out of the car and chased after the man. He was tall and lanky, and the way he took off gave Sally the feeling that he looked after himself and was probably used to jogging. Sally was already beginning to tire. “Don’t lose him, Jack. Keep on him. I’ll go back for the car.”
“Jesus, thanks, boss. I’ll do my best, but I fear he’s going to get away from us.”
Drake ran down a narrow road, out of sight, as Sally began jogging back to the car. She caught up with her partner within a few seconds and flung open the passenger door. “Get in. We’ll try and cut him off.”
“The trouble is he knows the blasted area better than us. Hey, boss, easy as you go with my car,” he pleaded as Sally crunched through the gears in the unfamiliar car.
“Don’t worry. I won’t damage your precious car. I forgot how possessive you men can be.”
“Er, if you don’t mind, I’d rather you stop talking and concentrate on your driving.”
Sally patted his knee. “Don’t fret.”
Jack gripped her hand and placed it back on the steering wheel. She rounded the next corner and spotted Drake again. Putting her foot down, she pulled up close behind him, only for him to dip down another alley. Sally braked and reversed. “Shit, I was hoping it was a dead end.”
“No such luck. Keep driving—we should meet up with him in the next street.”
Sally pressed down hard on the accelerator, but when she turned into the next road, there was no sign of Drake. “Damn! He must have doubled back. I’ll turn around and go after him.” She proceeded to do an expert three-point turn in the road. Halfway through, she looked over at Jack, wh
ose eyes were shut tight. “Oh ye of little faith, you can look now.”
Jack exhaled a large breath. “Nice job. Waste of time, though, boss. He’s nowhere to be seen.”
Sally slapped the steering wheel. “Where is he? He must be around here somewhere.” They cruised the area for the next ten minutes, but it was a waste of time.
“Maybe we should swap over,” Jack suggested.
Sally’s phone rang, and they quickly switched places before she answered the call. “Hi, Joanna. What news do you have?”
“I’ve got the number for the probation officer, boss. She’s expecting your call.” Joanna reeled off the number, and Sally noted it down in her notebook.
“That’s brilliant. We’re still on the look-out for Drake; he outran us. Put out an alert for him, will you? Even if it’s with the old photo you have of him.”
“Will do, boss.”
Sally hung up and rang the probation service. “Miss Anderson?”
“It is. Who’s calling?”
“My name is DI Sally Parker. One of my colleagues just rang you.”
“Ah, yes. How can I help, Inspector?”
“Paul Marwood. I wondered if you could fill in a few gaps for me.”
“I’ll do my best. Let me locate his file. It’s been a few years since I’ve had any contact with him.”
Sally waited patiently for a few moments before the woman came back on the line.
“Here we are. He was under my care for two years after coming out of prison. After that, he was free to live his life.”
“What about the sex offender list? Wouldn’t that affect his probation record?”
“The sex offender list is a relatively new thing, Inspector. Anyone serving time before it came in wouldn’t have been put on the list.”
“So before it became law, these people were under your authority and then just let loose on the community again? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“It was how things happened in those days, Inspector. Things are a lot tighter nowadays.”
“Are they? So, maybe you can tell me how a man who has served time in prison for sexual assault is allowed to get a job as a music teacher in a secondary school in the area?”
