Susan Harrison had taken quite a knock. She had a blood-stained bandage over her forehead, and one of her eyes was already blackening. She was propped up against a pillow with a drip in her arm when Doctor Marshall showed Gardner into the hospital room.
As soon as Gardner neared the bed, a tear formed in Susan’s unhurt eye.
‘Mrs Harrison,’ Gardner said offering her badge, ‘I’m DCI Emma Gardner—’
‘You came to school,’ Susan said.
‘Yes.’
Susan sobbed and winced. ‘You’re going to ruin my life!’
Gardner took a deep breath. ‘I’m here regarding a major crime.’
‘You’re here about Bradley?’
‘Yes. What can you tell me about that?’
She let her head fall to the side, and she stared at the machines measuring her vitals. ‘Not much.’
Gardner nodded. ‘Why did you run then, Susan?’
‘Because the last time the authorities spoke to me about this, my life was torn to pieces.’
‘You were cleared.’
Susan glared back at Gardner. ‘Do you think it stopped my husband looking at me with suspicion? Or people passing comments in the street?’ She groaned. ‘These painkillers are shit!’
‘I’m sorry you suffered, Susan; however, this is an extremely serious incident – running was never going to solve anything.’
‘I can’t explain it… it was a moment of madness. I’ve been sad about his death – he was one of my students after all.’
‘I see,’ Gardner said. ‘Could you describe your relationship with Bradley?’
‘Strictly platonic.’
‘When did you last see him?’
‘A couple of weeks ago. He hasn’t been in school in a while.’
‘And where were you between nine and twelve the night before last?’
‘I was at a friend’s house until midnight drinking cocktails. Marcie Bright. Phone her.’
Gardner wrote it down. Marcie Bright, eh? Someone else willing to lie to the police. ‘We will.’
Gardner pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. ‘Listen, Susan. I know you’re concussed. Doctor Marshall has warned me of this. So, I can understand why your memory may be letting you down here. Otherwise, it could be obstruction of justice, and I know a good-natured citizen of Knaresborough wouldn’t possess such intentions. So, let me help your memory out. We have evidence that your now written-off Fiat 500 was in the car park behind the Ugly Duckling Tearoom at five past eleven on the night Bradley was murdered. We also have CCTV footage of you walking down Waterside—’
She started to cry again.
‘—towards the steps that lead up to the castle. Bradley was murdered sometime between eleven and midnight, which means—’
‘Okay… stop!’ She reached up to her split lip and groaned.
‘Now, that I’ve refreshed your memory, please tell me Susan, did you meet Bradley that night?’
She paused, clearly thinking about it. Surely, at this point, she must realise that the game was up? Gardner didn’t know how much longer she could remain calm, especially if she went down that route of it’s a coincidence.
‘Do I need a solicitor?’ Susan said.
‘Of course, that’s your right.’
Susan didn’t reply.
‘Did you meet with Bradley?’
Susan nodded. ‘But it isn’t what you think.’
‘I think meeting students socially outside the classroom is inappropriate.’
‘We weren’t having a relationship.’
‘Really? Then why meet? Why risk your reputation?’
‘I think it’s safer to wait for a solicitor.’
A solicitor wouldn’t help the situation and waiting for one would slow down the investigation. It was better to talk her out of this. ‘If you’ve done nothing wrong, Susan, you’ve nothing to worry about. Delaying talking to us is just delaying the investigation. You said before you were sad that Bradley had died, surely you want to help us find whoever was responsible?’
She looked away. ‘I met with him to tell him that he needed to leave me alone.’
‘Leave you alone?’
‘He was phoning me and texting me. He was obsessed with me. I met with him to ask him to stop.’
‘At quarter past eleven at night?’
Susan closed her good eye and sighed. ‘He texted me that night and I reached the end of my tether. I was meeting with him to threaten him with the police.’
‘I see,’ Gardner said, recalling Bradley reading a text message on CCTV by the Blind Jack sculpture. ‘Can I see that text message please?’
‘I’ve deleted it.’
‘Okay,’ Gardner said, knowing this was most certainly a lie. She made a note of it. ‘Don’t worry, we can recover it.’
Susan sighed and let her head fall back. She stared up at the ceiling this time.
‘So, how did he take your threat to go to the police?’
‘He was upset, but I think he saw sense in the end. I was never going to have a relationship with him.’
‘And then?’
‘And then? Nothing. I went back down those steps and went home.’
‘What time?’
‘Close to twelve?’
Gardner nodded. ‘The CCTV camera shows you returning to your car via Waterside at ten to twelve.’
‘Sounds right.’
‘Bradley died sometime before twelve.’
Susan fixed Gardner with an angry stare. ‘It wasn’t me.’
‘Will you consent to a DNA test to help rule you out?’ Gardner asked.
‘Of course. Yes. But I may have touched him, you know? I think he hugged me when he agreed to let it go. A farewell.’
‘I see. Strange thing to do with someone who was intimidating you.’ Gardner made a note. ‘Did you have sex?’
‘No, of course not!’
‘I see. We found a used condom, but I guess your DNA will rule—’
‘Oh God!’ Susan cried.
Here it comes…
‘I’m screwed, aren’t I?’
Yes.
‘Susan,’ Gardner said. ‘A large part of what went on that night will be pieced together from the evidence. The text message, the DNA, the CCTV footage. You can wait for a solicitor, but facts are facts, I’m afraid.’
‘What is going to happen to me?’
‘Did you kill him?’
‘No! I really bloody liked him!’
‘Well, if that’s true, I don’t think you’ll go to jail.’
‘But what will happen to me? I’ve had a relationship with a pupil.’
‘He was eighteen… so it’ll be up to the relevant parties to decide.’
‘They’ll throw duty of care at me. They’ll say I abused my position!’
That’s the truth of it though, Susan, isn’t it?
Despite the tears forming in Susan’s eyes, Gardner forced back her feelings of sympathy. Susan may have loved this boy, but she should have stopped it before it got out of hand. She’d had a duty of care to Bradley. Gardner understood all too well the frailty of the human condition, but when it came to people exploiting their positions of power, her sympathy was in short supply. ‘The most important thing you can do right now is convince me that you’re innocent of murdering him. So, start by telling me in detail what happened.’