Tick Tock. Mel Sherratt
to the headmaster’s office, checking first via his phone that the head was there. Grace walked by Perry’s side, along two empty corridors and up a flight of stairs. The school secretary’s office was the first on the left. Nathan Stiller was in there waiting for them.
Nathan was in his early forties. Grace couldn’t help feeling she was stereotyping him, but he was fashion model material. Discreetly, she clocked his choppy dark hair, short but tidy beard and navy-blue suit with slim-fit trousers and waistcoat. His black brogues were shiny, his shirt the proverbial crisp white. Not at all what you’d expect from a schoolteacher.
But his demeanour was forlorn. All this would come down on him, Grace assumed. He would most likely blame himself too, as much as the teacher who had taken the PE lesson.
After introducing themselves, Grace and Perry were shown into his office. Grace glanced around before they all sat down. On the wall were certificates for qualifications Stiller had taken, an award for the school itself and a few photos of pupils gathered together. One she spotted was a clip from Stoke News. Several pupils were holding up a giant cheque for £2,000 for local charity Douglas Macmillan Hospice.
‘I can’t believe this has happened,’ Nathan said. ‘It’s such a shock. I’ve been the head at this school for five years, so I’ve known Lauren since she first came here in Year 7.’
‘Obviously, we need to contact her parents as a matter of urgency, Mr Stiller,’ Grace said.
‘Please, call me Nathan. They’re divorced. I wasn’t sure whether to contact her mother or not until I’d spoken to you – she lives locally. In the end, I felt I had to ask her to come to the school. But her phone went to voicemail. I left a message about half an hour ago.’
‘Do you have any other details?’ Grace asked. ‘Does she work? What about Lauren’s father?’
‘Yes. I’ve got them up onscreen.’ Nathan sat down at his desk and wiggled the mouse to wake up his computer. ‘Mrs Ansell remarried and is named Gillespie now. She works at Mintons Solicitors in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Her ex-husband lives in Derby.’
‘Does the class take cross-country every week at the same time?’ she asked.
‘No.’ Nathan wrote down details before looking up again. ‘It’s as and when the weather permits and never more than once a month. Robert sorts it out so that each year has a lesson.’
‘Robert?’ Perry queried.
‘Robert Carmichael. He’s the PE teacher. The classes get very competitive and it gives the pupils a good workout in the fresh air.’
‘Who owns the field where Lauren was found?’ Grace questioned.
‘Arthur Barrett and his family – a local farming generation. The school have been using it with their permission for over twenty years.’ Nathan shook his head in disbelief. ‘I hope I don’t have to suspend Robert for not watching them all.’
‘He can’t have eyes in the back of his head,’ Perry said.
‘I guess. But it only takes one person to blame him. And me.’ Nathan ran a hand through his hair and swallowed. ‘Although, according to some of the pupils, he shouted at them to hurry up a few times.’
‘We need a list of the pupils who took his class, too,’ Grace said. ‘We’ll have to speak to them all over the course of the next day or two. If there aren’t enough teachers spare to sit with the pupils, or if any parents or guardians specifically want to be with their children when we speak to them, we’ll arrange appointments. Whatever happens, everything will be dealt with in a sensitive manner.’
Nathan nodded his understanding.
‘What’s the school like?’ she asked next. ‘Any problems you’re aware of?’
‘Dunwood Academy is doing well this year.’ Grace heard pride in his voice as he continued. ‘There used to be two high schools until we joined forces, covering a wider area. There was initially concern about the number of its pupils, and special measures being in place at one of the two previous schools. It could have gone either way. One could have brought the other down to their level, but it didn’t. The academy’s performing well now.’
‘There was never any tension between the students from each school?’ she asked.
‘There was, but not for a long time.’
‘We’ll require a register of both staff and pupils – who is present and also who is absent today, please,’ Grace said. ‘Likewise, we have your CCTV to check, especially with the lack of surveillance equipment and witnesses in the lane.’
‘I’ve already arranged for that to be done.’ Nathan gave a loud sigh. ‘I only found out when Robert called me after he’d requested an ambulance. When I saw Lauren, that was when I called the police.’
‘What’s Robert like?’ Grace asked.
‘He’s a good man. I’ve known him for five years, since I started here.’ Nathan lowered his voice. ‘And there was no … sexual assault?’
‘It’s too early to say.’ Perry was non-committal. ‘But we’ll keep you informed.’
Nathan’s face paled as his thoughts went into overdrive.
‘It’s highly unlikely, seeing as the whole incident could have only lasted a few minutes according to the timeline of the Piggott twins,’ Grace said, hoping to pacify him. ‘We like to keep an open mind until we have forensic evidence, though.’
Grace thought back to her last case. She’d kept an open mind then but had been totally shocked at the end result. Relocating to Stoke after the murder of her estranged father earlier that year had left her vulnerable. The shock of her first murder case being on her family’s grounds was immense, and after her half-sister had been apprehended as the killer, things could have turned out worse for Grace, but her team had stood by her. She wouldn’t take any chances or make any assumptions this time.
Jade Steele was in prison now, awaiting trial for murdering four people and assaulting her brother Leon. It would stay with Grace for the rest of her life what Jade had been capable of, but she also believed it was only because of Jade’s upbringing. Jade had been abused for most of her life by their father and his friends, and she was taking revenge on a group of men who had been grooming young women. It had been hard to police – Grace herself got away from the man when she was twelve. Could she have gone down a similar path if she hadn’t? But it had also been thrilling when she’d been involved in solving the case.
‘Well, you have my full cooperation to do whatever’s necessary,’ Nathan said. ‘Also, if there’s anything you require while you’re here, be sure to let me know.’
‘We’ll need to set up a mobile police unit in your car park,’ Grace said, ‘and we could do with somewhere to use to speak to people.’
‘I’ve made the decision to close the school for lessons. It won’t be popular with everyone, but I thought it was the right thing to do. We can arrange counselling sessions from tomorrow. Most pupils will be collected as soon as possible, but we do have some who will need to stay here until parents can pick them up at the end of the day. You can use any of the classrooms.’ Nathan paused as if he were gathering his emotions. ‘We’ll look after everyone as best we can. I’ll assemble them in the large hall. It serves as a school canteen during lunch break. We can hand out drinks and food where necessary. I think it will do the students good to sit together.’
‘Yes, it’s going to affect a lot of them,’ Grace replied.
When there were no more questions, Grace turned to Nathan. ‘Can you see if Courtney and Caitlin are still here, please?’ she said. ‘We need to have a chat with them.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Nathan nodded. ‘I’ll get in touch with their form teachers.’ His phone went off and he quickly read the message. ‘Robert’s in the medical room when you need him. He