Tick Tock. Mel Sherratt
‘Did you meet at school or before?’
‘At school. She lives in the opposite direction to me and gets a lift in. Her mum drops her off.’
Perry noted he was still speaking of Lauren in the present tense. ‘And was she okay?’
‘She seemed fine.’ Tom nodded fervently. ‘She came rushing over like her usual self. She was always late, so we never got a lot of time together in the mornings. It was just to say hello, you know?’
Perry smiled: he could recall a few times he’d had illicit kisses before the bell went off for lessons to start.
‘Do you know if she’d fallen out with any of her friends? Had there been any arguments lately?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Had she many close friends?’
‘She was always with the twins – Courtney and Caitlin.’
‘Piggott,’ Nathan added.
Thomas nodded. ‘Teagan Cole and Sophie Bishop, too.’
Perry wondered if Grace knew about Teagan. He made a mental note to check.
‘We were talking about going to the cinema this weekend, what we wanted to watch,’ Thomas continued. ‘That was the last thing we spoke about.’
‘So you don’t know of anything that had been troubling her?’ Perry asked one last time. ‘She hadn’t mentioned any problems at home, or at school?’
‘She didn’t like her step-dad much, but he seemed okay to me.’
‘What did she say about him?’
‘Just that he was always watching her.’
‘Was she worried?’ Perry’s senses went on to alert.
‘I don’t think so, but she said he was a bit strict. I think she missed her dad. She kept saying he didn’t tell her what to do all the time like Alan did.’
Perry relaxed a little then. ‘How long had you been seeing each other?’
‘About three months.’
‘Did you visit each other’s homes?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you didn’t see anything to worry about?’
Thomas shook his head.
‘Okay, Tom, that’s all for now.’ Perry backed off, seeing the lad’s hands had started to shake.
The door opened and a man marched into the room. He was in his mid-forties, with the demeanour of a warrior ready to battle.
Tom got to his feet and rushed into his arms. ‘Dad, she’s dead.’ He burst into tears. ‘Lauren’s dead.’
‘It’s true?’ The man glared at Perry over his son’s head.
‘And you are?’ Perry asked, avoiding answering his question.
‘Oliver Riley. And you have no right to question my son without me being present.’
Perry nodded. ‘I agree, but we weren’t questioning him, and the headmaster was present too.’
‘The detective has been asking Thomas questions about Lauren, nothing more, Mr Riley,’ Nathan started, ‘and I was—’
‘I don’t care whether you were here or not. You still have no right.’ He let go of Tom. ‘Come on, we’re going home.’ He took out a business card and threw it on the table. ‘If you need anything else, contact me and I’ll bring along my lawyer.’
‘Mr Riley!’ Nathan followed Thomas and his father as they left the room.
Perry chewed his lip. He knew the anger from Mr Riley was reasonable. It was fear that made some people respond that way. Most fathers would be wary of their son getting the blame for something they didn’t do. He might be fearful they were going to stitch him up – people still thought the police did things like that. Plus Perry guessed that, despite his harsh demeanour, even Mr Riley could be feeling guilty that his son was okay and another child had been murdered. It was all reflexes.
Nathan came back into the room after a few minutes.
‘That was dreadful!’ he exclaimed, sitting down with a thump. ‘I’m sorry he was so sharp. He shouldn’t have been so rude.’
‘It’s understandable.’ Perry waved away his comment. ‘It’s a hard thing to get your head around.’
‘Especially when she was so young, with her whole life ahead of her. And you have no idea who it might be?’
‘We’ll have lots to go on soon.’ Perry wouldn’t be drawn.
They sat in silence for a moment.
‘Do you see many crimes like this one?’ Nathan asked quietly.
‘Thankfully, no.’
‘So terribly sad.’ Nathan stood up quickly. ‘I need to find something to do. Someone will want my help somewhere, I’m sure.’
Once Nathan had left the room, Perry sighed. So many ways to deal with grief. Keeping busy was one of them. It helped until the quiet set in, when everything came rushing back. It couldn’t stay away for long.
Nathan turned to Perry as he got to the door. ‘You will catch whoever did this, won’t you?’ He spoke in a distressed tone.
‘We’re on to it.’ Perry looked at him with as much reassurance as he could muster.
When Grace returned to Dunwood Academy, it was just after two p.m. Nick dropped her off and went back to the station, while she went in search of Perry to see what he’d found. Whenever anything like this happened, she was reminded that he was a good second-in-command, getting everyone to come to him with details of what had been said, seen, suggested. She could imagine how upset he’d been when she’d pipped him to the post for the sergeant’s job last year. He would no doubt be promoted soon.
It was at times like this she remembered her team back in Manchester. DS Gus Banks, her line manager then, and the formidable DC Sandy Princeton, who she’d worked alongside. Sandy’s nickname was the Oracle, as she had a memory that could recall anything from cases gone by.
Grace could see both Sandy and Gus in Sam and Perry; she felt very lucky to work with them. She could have ended up with a lot of backstabbing and prejudice after what had happened last year when the truth had come out about her relationship with the Steele family. Things could have been so much worse, but instead, most of the team had stood by her. They’d lost one colleague when DC Alex Challinor had gone rogue on them and this now left them a man down. Sadly, Alex hadn’t been replaced owing to budget cuts, so they were always begging uniform to help out.
‘Anything new?’ she asked when she found Perry grabbing a quick coffee in the hall that was now serving as a canteen. It had been set up to accommodate both the public and the emergency services.
Perry shook his head. ‘No one from the class seems to have seen anything – at all.’
‘I guess our killer depended on that,’ Grace acknowledged. ‘It was a brave move to attack our girl in such an open space. Let’s hope the press release brings us something.’
Perry told her about Lauren’s friends and about speaking to Thomas Riley.
‘Did you see Teagan Cole?’ she asked.
‘Yes, I spoke to her earlier. Sophie Bishop, too. They were all close friends.’
‘What did Teagan say?’
‘That