‘No – as you can see she was awarded top marks for interest and I believe they were studying different types of mushrooms in Biology, which is…’ She set down one book after another before finding the biology exercise book. He loathed the way she leaned in so close; she had unpleasant breath, and he eventually asked if it would be possible for him to take the books with him as he would like to study the various subjects because he had noticed a change in Amy’s handwriting.
Mrs Vicks dithered, saying that was probably due to the different pens used, from biro to fountain pen to felt tip, and insisted she call Miss Harrington before allowing him to remove them. He also asked her to see if he would be able to speak to the school matron while she was at it. She left him in the classroom so he was able to glance through the biology book. He paused to look at a drawing of a mushroom named ‘Ink Cap’ and beneath it was an underlined sentence: ‘If this is ingested and combined with alcohol, even hours later, it can cause death as the toxins will attack the liver and kidneys and the victim becomes dehydrated from severe vomiting and diarrhoea. The body eventually becomes unable to remove the dangerous toxins that are absorbed into the bloodstream.’
Mrs Vicks returned and said she had been unable to speak with Miss Harrington but that the deputy head had agreed to allow him to take the exercise books, as long as they would be returned. The matron, Mrs Hall, would see him in the surgery, which was outside the new building and inside the second older building on his right as he left the classrooms.
Reid found the so-called ‘Surgery’, which was a small office next to a room with a bed and various medical supplies. Mrs Hall was like the classic version of a matron in a cartoon: she was overweight with enormous breasts that looked like two large balloons, and she wore a loose-fitting blue tunic with a pocket containing a row of pens that had leaked ink in dots beneath it.
She stood up as he introduced himself and was almost the same size sitting as standing, but she had a round pleasant motherly face, devoid of any makeup, and her hairstyle was circa 1940, the permed curls like tight sausage rolls.
‘I really appreciate you agreeing to talk to me,’ he said.
She sat back in her comfortable padded armchair and Reid drew up a hard-backed one from against the wall.
‘I have been so saddened by the disappearance of Amy, she is such a sweet gentle creature, not that I knew her well as she was never sick, but occasionally she would come in to see me. I just wish I had more indication that anything was wrong.’
‘What do you mean by “more”?’
‘Oh well, you know teenagers, they have menstrual problems and she is fifteen, and very attractive but never flaunted it, but I always make sure the girls know that I am here if they want to talk through anything.’
‘So Amy came to talk to you?’
‘Yes, it was a while ago, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what was bothering her.’
‘Can you take me through why she came to see you?’
‘She said she was having trouble sleeping, and I am not allowed obviously to administer sleeping tablets. I said to her that when she felt restless she should write down in a sort of journal what was bothering her to help get to the root of it. I’m no therapist but I read somewhere that it was a productive way of helping a troubled mind.’
‘Did she explain what was making her restless?’ Reid wondered.
‘No, but you know these newfangled iPhones, Twitter and Facebook things they all use nowadays can also be used in very hurtful ways, and I think she said that someone was writing unpleasant things about her.’
‘Did she mention anyone in particular?’
‘No, she was quite evasive, and when I asked her if I could do anything to help she said that she could handle it, and now of course I worry that it might have been the reason she ran away.’
She kept on patting her hands together, and he was certain that she had more to tell him.
‘When you say she was evasive, what gave you that impression?’
‘Detective Reid, what the girls talk to me about in here is kept very private. I have in a few cases advised contraceptives and asked a few of the girls to consider going on the Pill. This is a very delicate subject, because I make them aware that being in any way sexually active could have severe repercussions, including unwanted pregnancies.’
‘Can you recommend using birth control?’
She quickly interrupted him. ‘Let me just say I have in the past suggested it, but parental permission is always advisable. I am very loath to even admit that very infrequently I have sent girls to see the school doctor, because although they are teenagers I am aware they are sexually active.’
‘Did you advise Amy – I mean by that, did she admit to being sexually active?’
‘When I said that she was evasive I perhaps used the wrong word. You see, I did try to understand why she was here with me. I tentatively suggested the reason might be because she was worried about getting pregnant.’
‘And was that why she had come to see you?’
The fat hands stopped patting each other. ‘No, in fact she was very dismissive, and she was really quite sarcastic. I had recommended some Pepto-Bismol as she had irregular bowel movements and suffered from loose stools – quite regularly in fact as I made a few notes about it – so it was not connected to pregnancy concerns. She said that she was fully aware of taking precautions, and she flounced to the door. It was so unlike her, because she was sort of smirking at me.’
Her round fat face was shiny with perspiration, and she eased herself up to cross to a box of tissues, plucking one out she dabbed at her top lip.
‘She called me a fat menopausal incompetent, who didn’t deserve to be have the position of matron, and said if I made a complaint she would report that I had been instrumental in a number of girls being prescribed the birth control pill without their parents’ knowledge.’
She was quite distressed, still patting at her perspiring face. ‘That was the last time I saw her, and quite obviously I did not report her rudeness.’
He stood up to leave. ‘How do you feel about it now?’
She gave a long sigh, her enormous breasts rising up and down. ‘That she was possibly a very troubled young woman, but you know I am not a psychiatrist, just a nurse, and I try to the best of my ability to look after the girls.’
‘Thank you for your time, Mrs Hall. Just one more thing – Serena Newman apparently came to see you recently?’
‘Yes that is correct, she had a bit of a temperature and stomach pains; she said that she had been sick at her home, but on arriving back at school felt worse. Due to the various viruses going around I kept her in the sick bay next door, and when she was still feeling poorly I called her parents and they came to collect her and take her home. Apparently she is still not feeling very well as she has not returned.’
She turned her back on him, blowing her nose with yet another tissue; he probably should have said something to comfort her, but he didn’t. Time was now catching up with him and he had to call in on the Fulfords.
At the station, the meeting room was packed with journalists plus a TV camera crew from the evening news on standby. DCI Jackson had finished giving them the latest information and the room erupted as every journalist wanted to get their questions answered; it was very obvious that this latest development would give them front-page headlines and this was exactly what Jackson wanted. He had pulled strings and called in favours to get the room jam-packed and it had worked. Press packs were handed out containing details and photographs and he had requested the journalists not to harass the parents, adding that all enquiries were to be handled by their press office. While some journalists jostled for attention, some legged it out fast in an attempt to gain early coverage.
Jackson agreed to give TV interviews outside the station so they were setting up their cameras. This was exactly what he had wanted but even he was taken aback by the overwhelming response. He just hoped it would also bring results. As he was preparing to be interviewed he was told that they had traced not only the Chinese prostitute Lily Leo, who was even now being driven to Fulham, but that the street musician had been tracked down in a Kingston shopping centre. The officers were bringing him in even though he had argued and become belligerent as he was earning good money from the shoppers.