76
Alan had planned to spend the morning in his basement cocoon on the pretext of catching up with paperwork, but Mrs Pullen insisted every member of staff currently on site be present for assembly. School attendance might be skeletal with the lower years elsewhere, but those remaining were required to present a united front.
This she’d announced in a hastily arranged meeting in the staffroom before the children arrived, when she’d also relayed the news that the police investigation was, for the time being, focusing away from the school and on the construction firm behind the new classrooms. Alan caught Mr Lincoln’s eye and they traded grim but relieved smiles.
Alan left the meeting already thinking about the next thing on his to-do list, which was to check a faulty water fountain in the playground, and as a consequence he almost didn’t notice her until they were level.
Poppy Hepworth.
He pressed his back against the wall as the class streamed past, hoping she wouldn’t notice him. Why hadn’t anyone warned him she’d be back at school today? Yet her appearance pulled him up short: she looked miserable, her head bent low so her hair fell over her face to partly obscure it. She wasn’t walking with her friends either, but was tailing them at the back of the queue.
Alan’s chest tightened. Had something happened? Their fates were intrinsically linked and if she’d had bad news, should he be braced for the same?
She was about to pass him when she suddenly looked up and her eyes locked on his. In that moment it was as though everyone and everything around them had melted away, the clamour of excited children and their clumping footsteps quieting to nothing. Alan tried to back away, but it was as though her stare was sucking him in, welding him to the secret they shared.
Then she smiled and said hello.
77
She hung back as her friends headed towards their classroom, until it was only the two of them left in the corridor.
‘You’ll be late for the register,’ said Alan feebly.
Poppy shrugged, but didn’t say anything. She hitched her rucksack from one shoulder to the other and rage burned through him. How could she stand there pretending like nothing was wrong?
‘What do you want?’ he snarled.
She blinked and to his surprise he saw she was close to tears. Suddenly he imagined Gayle’s voice in his head, chiding him. She’s only eleven, Alan, he heard his ex-wife say. Remember when Lacey was that age? Full of bravado and pre-adolescent arrogance when really she was still just a scared little girl. But he shook his head to dispel the voice. This wasn’t the same: Lacey would never do what Poppy had done.
‘I don’t know what to do,’ she said, her voice small and tight.
‘How’s that any concern of mine?’
‘Because I know you saw what I did.’
Alan held his breath, stunned.
‘Why haven’t you said?’ she asked.
He couldn’t answer. The shock of her confessing had rendered him mute.
Poppy bit down hard on her bottom lip. He could see the skin was already scabbed and swollen as she drew fresh blood.
‘Is it because you know?’
‘Know what?’ he croaked.
‘About the bad men coming into the school at night.’ Poppy looked quickly up and down the corridor to check no one was coming. ‘Benji knew,’ she whispered. ‘He saw –’ she choked back a sob – ‘there were bad men inside the school and he saw them and he told me.’
‘I don’t know what you’re going on about,’ said Alan, his guts twisting in fear. ‘You need to get to your class now, before we both end up in trouble.’ He began to back away from her but she followed him.
‘I didn’t mean to push him,’ she said, openly crying now. ‘It wasn’t my fault. It was because of the bad men.’
Alan put his hand out to stop her but lost his footing so he ended up slumped halfway down the wall as she loomed over him.
‘Please don’t tell me anything else,’ he said, almost crying too now.
Poppy’s eyebrows knitted and her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’.
‘No!’ she exclaimed, her hand fluttering to her chest. ‘You’re one of them too. You’re one of the bad men.’
Then she turned and ran for the door.
78
Imogen was unrepentant about the Echo piece but Maggie couldn’t tell if she genuinely felt that way or if her show of defiance was down to the towering presence of Grace. She certainly had no regrets about her daughter doing it.
‘She has every right to talk to the press,’ she said snappily. ‘If you were doing your jobs properly she wouldn’t have had to.’
‘The piece accuses Poppy Hepworth of being a killer when we haven’t even charged her or come close to it,’ Maggie admonished, while Carmichael stood beside her in a show of unity. Maggie had assured the FLO it wasn’t her fault the Tylers had gone against advice by doing an interview but she felt responsible nonetheless.
‘They haven’t said it was her,’ Grace huffed.
Maggie ignored her and directed the rest of her rebuke at Imogen.
‘We know how devastated you are about Benji dying and how much you want answers, and we’re all working really hard to get them for you. But you need to understand how difficult this will make things now. Anyone connected with Rushbrooke will know the child referred to in the interview is Poppy and they’ll probably tell everyone they know, who will then pass it on to everyone they know, and so on, until her name is public knowledge. If she is charged with causing Benji’s death, her lawyers may try to argue she won’t get a fair trial because everyone will have pre-judged her.’
Imogen’s eyes flickered away from Maggie’s face to Carmichael’s.
‘Hazel?’
‘I would have cautioned you against proceeding with the interview had I known,’ she said solemnly.
Imogen looked mortified. ‘I’m sorry—’
‘Don’t you dare apologize,’ shrieked Grace, spittle flying from her tongue as she thrust her face into her daughter’s. ‘This is about getting justice for my grandson. That girl needs to pay for what she’s done. We will not let that family win, not this time.’
Imogen’s eyes widened and she shook her head at Grace, who caught herself and stopped. She sat down next to her daughter, breathing heavily from her outburst.
Maggie stared at them both, riveted.
‘What do you mean by that?’ she asked Grace.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘If there is some other history between your families that might have had a bearing on what’s happened we need to know about it,’ said Carmichael.
‘It’s none of your business.’
Maggie decided the only way to get through to Grace was to be as forthright as she was.
‘I would hate to have to arrest you for obstructing the course of justice,’ she said, ‘but I will if that’s what you’re doing.’
Imogen gasped. ‘Mum, please tell them. I don’t want you to get into trouble.’
Grace was beside herself with anger.
‘I do not have to explain myself to you.’
Maggie went to speak but Carmichael put a hand on her arm to stop her.
‘Grace, if this is something that might help us with our investigation, it makes no sense for you not to tell us. It goes against everything you’ve been saying about wanting to help us solve Benji’s death,’ said the FLO.
Carmichael’s words were wise and delivered calmly and with kindness – the way Maggie knew she should’ve spoken to Grace. With a start she realized she didn’t want to be a DS if it meant she lost that part of herself.
Imogen squeezed her mum’s hand.
‘I’ve told you, there’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about.’ She raised her eyes to meet Maggie’s. ‘Something else did happen involving our families. Mum wanted to tell you but I said no, because I’d already lied to you about remembering Julia.’ Imogen faltered. ‘I remember exactly who she is and what she accu
sed me of doing in the past is sort of true.’
‘You did bully her at school?’
‘I’ll admit I gave her a hard time.’
‘Why lie about it?’
‘I didn’t want you to feel sorry for her and not feel sorry for Benji.’ Imogen flared up suddenly. ‘It’s pathetic she’s playing the victim card after all this time. All this “woe is me” when I’m the one suffering. She should grow up.’
Evidently Imogen’s feelings towards her old classmate were still as brittle as Julia’s were towards her. Maggie wasn’t interested in discussing that though.
‘What did you mean about your family winning this time, Grace? What happened previously when you “lost”?’ Mother and daughter shared a loaded look, then Imogen took a deep breath.
‘Well, it’s more about Julia’s mum. She was a horrible, horrible woman and she ruined our lives – mine, Mum’s and Ed’s.’
‘How?’
Grace cleared her throat. ‘She stole my husband, that’s how.’
79
Alan stumbled after Poppy but his legs were weak with shock and by the time he got into the playground she’d vanished. Thinking she was hiding, he looked in the obvious places but she wasn’t in any of them. She must’ve left the school grounds.
He held his head in despair. Benji hadn’t died because he and Poppy had been mucking about on the wall – it was because of Gus and the Pavilion. And he had made it happen. That boy’s blood was on his hands.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Gus. It went straight to voicemail so he left a message.
‘It’s me. It’s as bad as it gets. The kids knew.’
He didn’t want to say anything more damning and hoped Gus would be able to decipher the meaning behind his message. If anyone else heard it, he’d explain it away by saying he was talking about his kids.
Hanging up, he had no idea what to do next. Telling the police what Poppy had said would mean admitting everything. He wasn’t ready to do that, but it was only a matter of time before Poppy mentioned ‘the bad men’ to the police. Whichever way he looked at it, he was in serious shit.
He wished he could talk to Gayle about it. Before their split, before the damage had set in like dry rot, they’d talked about everything and anything. She was great at dispensing advice and always knew the right thing to say. Alan was the worrier, she the pragmatist.
God, he missed her.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he called her number. His heart skipped a beat as she picked up after only two rings.
‘What do you want, Alan?’
She didn’t sound angry, though, more resigned. The sound of her voice made his own stall in his throat.
‘Alan?’
‘I’m here,’ he managed to say.
‘What’s going on? Aren’t you at work?’
‘I am.’
Shit, he wished he’d planned what he was going to say before he called. He sounded like an idiot.
‘Okay, so why the call?’
He gazed across the playing field, where the charred remains of the Pavilion taunted him.
‘Have you ever done something you regretted so much you’d do anything to put it right?’ he asked her softly.
‘You’re asking me that?’
‘I didn’t mean about us,’ he said quickly. ‘This is about something else.’
‘Right. Well, I guess it depended on whether it was too late to do something about it.’
‘No, it can still be put right.’
‘Then of course, you should do whatever needs doing.’
To his mortification he began to weep. He couldn’t stop himself.
‘I wish I could take back what I did to you and the kids.’
‘Please don’t cry,’ she said, her voice softening. ‘I know you’re having a rough time, but things will calm down soon. Look, I have to go now, my supervisor’s calling me back inside. I’m working at that cash-and-carry on the Stockdale Road. Remember it?’
‘That’s where we stocked up for the New Year’s Eve party after Kyra was born.’
‘When my mum started doing shots with your mate Clive and fell into the bath when she was meant to be going to the loo because she couldn’t see straight.’
They both laughed at the memory, but Alan’s insides were gripped by misery. He wanted his old life back, with Gayle and the kids, back in Newark.
‘Gayle, I feel like I’m drowning.’
‘You should talk to someone. The school should arrange it,’ she said. ‘They have a duty of care.’
‘But I want to talk to you. We used to talk about everything.’
He heard the awkwardness in her voice and it hurt so much to.
‘That was a long time ago, Alan. We’ve both moved on.’
‘I haven’t. I’m stuck here in this town where I don’t know anyone and I’m in trouble up to my neck and I can’t see a way out.’
‘What do you mean, you’re in trouble? What’s going on, Alan? What have you done?’
‘I just want it all to end.’
‘What does that mean?’ she asked worriedly.
The bell sounded to signal assembly.
‘I’ve got to go,’ he said. ‘Tell the kids I love them and I’m sorry for hurting them.’
He hung up before she could reply. When she called back a second later, he let it ring.
80
Maggie and Carmichael took the seats Imogen offered them as Grace began to talk. Her voice was faltering at first but growing firmer as her account progressed.
‘My husband, Ray, was one of those men who didn’t know how attractive he was. He was a bit dim when it came to things like that. I used to say the only reason he married me was because I literally had to make him fall for me – he’d be in the Legion when I went with my dad on a Friday night but he never noticed me. So one evening when he walked past I stuck my foot out to trip him up: we got talking and that was that.’
Imogen smiled but Grace remained stony-faced.
‘I never minded other women flirting with him because he never reciprocated. Most of the time Ray ran a mile. That all changed when he met Ruth Hepworth.’ Grace sucked in a breath to steady herself. ‘I can’t remember what the occasion was – it might’ve been a school dance or a bingo night – but I remember how she was with him, constantly touching his arm, laughing at his jokes when they weren’t even funny. As I said, normally I would laugh it off, but I knew she was trouble. I could see it in his eyes. I knew.’
‘When did the affair begin?’ asked Carmichael.
‘I couldn’t say for sure, but it was soon afterwards. Oh, the signs were all there: it was like he’d read some kind of manual for cheating husbands. New haircut, different after shave, excuses about working late. He must’ve thought I was an idiot.’
‘Me and Ed knew something was up,’ said Imogen. ‘It was like Dad just checked out of the family. Even when he was at home he wasn’t really here, if you know what I mean.’
‘It must’ve been a hard time for you all,’ said Maggie sympathetically.
‘No, it was after that things were hard,’ said Grace. ‘After he left.’
‘They got together?’ asked Maggie, the implications of what Grace was telling them racing around her mind and slotting together like a jigsaw to produce a picture she wished they’d known about sooner.
‘Yes. She left her family and he left his. They rented a flat in town but it didn’t last. From what I gathered, her husband gave her an ultimatum and she returned home after three months.’
From the sharp way in which Grace imparted that particular nugget of information, Maggie guessed her marriage didn’t work out in the same way.
‘You and your husband never reconciled,’ she stated.
‘Ray was heartbroken when she went back to her husband. He said she was the love of his life.’ As Grace said this, her features twisted in pain. Even now, all these years later, it still hurt like hell. ‘I couldn’t take him bac
k knowing that. So we divorced and eventually he married someone else. But he left me with nothing. The house was in his name and all the money coming in was his, as I didn’t work. He sold up and moved away because he couldn’t face bumping into Ruth and the council had to house the children and me. I was destitute. Ray never gave me a penny.’
Maggie looked at Imogen. ‘Is that why you picked on Julia at school?’
Her face mottled. ‘Imagine what it was like for me, knowing her mum had stolen my dad.’
‘Her mum walked out on her as well,’ Carmichael pointed out and Maggie flashed her a warning look. Even the smallest hint of sympathy for Julia could inflame the situation.
‘Her family wasn’t irrevocably broken,’ said Imogen, annoyed. ‘Mine was.’
‘I can understand why you were upset,’ said Maggie carefully. ‘What I’m struggling with is why neither of you told us about this.’
‘It’s what I said – if you thought I’d bullied Julia, you might have been on their side and not ours,’ said Imogen.
‘Did Benji know about the relationship between his grandfather and Poppy’s grandmother?’
‘No,’ said Grace sharply.
Maggie regarded Imogen for a moment, an idea percolating in her mind.
‘Given how you felt about Julia and her family, why befriend Ewan?’ she asked.
Imogen twisted nervously in her seat. ‘I didn’t know who he was at first. By the time I found out, the kids were already friends and it would’ve been too complicated to explain to Benji why I didn’t want Poppy coming round.’
Maggie wasn’t sure whether she believed her.
‘Did you discuss the past with Ewan?’
Another fidget.
‘No.’
Maggie took a breath, aware how incendiary her next question was.
False Witness Page 26
