Chapter Thirty-Two

GIASH CHAKRABATI EMERGED from his car, which he’d parked in the front drive of Spalding High School, to see Richard Lennard walking briskly towards him. Giash smiled inwardly. He was going to enjoy this encounter.

“Oh, hello,” said the headteacher in an offhand way. “I’d been expecting PC Tandy. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”

“PC Chakrabati. PC Tandy’s been detailed to remain with Cassandra Knipes’ parents. I’ve come in her place.”

Lennard’s urbane mask fell away. He looked alarmed, confused almost.

“With Cassandra’s parents? But why?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I had thought you knew. Can we go inside? It’s not something we can discuss out here.” Giash glanced across at the road at a small car that had just pulled up.

“Certainly. We can talk in my office.” He gestured to the door and, leading the way, opened it for Giash. As they walked down the corridor, the bossy school secretary whom Giash had encountered on his previous visit came rushing up to them. Ignoring Giash, she launched into a breathless rigmarole.

“There you are, Headmaster. I’ve been ringing round the whole school for you. Councillor Start’s here. He’s most annoyed that the meeting booked on Saturday coincides with a netball match. Most annoyed. He says that the school is paid to guarantee privacy for his society’s meetings and it’s not good enough. He says . . .”

A withering look from Lennard stopped her in her tracks.

“Hello, Mrs Hargreaves. Where is Councillor Start?”

“He’s waiting in your office. He . . .”

“Please ask him to leave my office and wait in yours. We’re going into the staff room for a couple of minutes to get some coffee. By the time we’re ready to take it to my office, I expect him to have moved. Tell him that I’m with PC Chakrabati,” he finished, enunciating Giash’s name very distinctly.

“Yes, Headmaster,” said Mrs Hargreaves, still looking dubious; but Giash also saw the gleam of curiosity dawning in her eye. She scurried away, her large bottom straining against the panels of her tweed skirt.

“You’d like coffee?” Lennard said to Giash.

“Thank you, sir. But what I’ve come to talk to you about is urgent.”

Richard Lennard shrugged.

“Have coffee or not, as you wish. As you see, coming briefly into the staff room with me will be the quickest way of ensuring you get my attention.”

“Yes, sir. I think I’ll stay here, if you don’t mind.”

“Very well. I will fetch the coffee.”

He disappeared through the staff room door while Giash waited in the corridor. As he’d expected, Councillor Start emerged from the office almost immediately, with Mrs Hargreaves waddling in attendance. He was expostulating in a loud voice and very red in the face. As he turned to take the two steps to Mrs Hargreaves’ office, he cast a brief glance behind him and met Giash’s eye. Quickly he looked away. Giash noticed that he fell silent immediately.

Richard Lennard emerged from the staff room as soon as Start had disappeared, as if their actions were co-ordinated. He was carrying two Styrofoam cups of coffee. He pushed against the door of his office, which the Councillor had left ajar, and entered.

“Come in, Constable Chakrabati. Shut the door behind you.”

Lennard didn’t retreat behind his desk, as Giash had expected, but instead set down the coffee cups carefully on the small oval table and seated himself there, waving to Giash to join him.

“I apologise for the fuss,” he said. “I’m all yours now.”

“As I said, sir, I thought you’d been briefed. I’m sorry to shock you: Cassandra Knipes has been kidnapped.”

“Cassandra! But why?” He paused. “And how can you be sure?”

“I have no idea why, sir. That’s what we’re trying to find out – and quickly. We know that she was abducted because her mother saw her being bundled into a van.”

“Her parents are quite old.”

“Mrs Knipes has not made a mistake, if that’s what you’re suggesting, sir. We’d like you and the staff and students here to help us as much as you can. We have twenty-four hours, forty-eight at most, before the trail goes cold. And Cassandra’s chances of survival are decreasing all the time.”

“Of course everyone will help. What should we do?”

“I’d like to speak to Cassandra’s two friends – the girls that PC Tandy and I saw last time we were here. And would you ask the teachers who taught Cassandra yesterday if she seemed subdued, or they noticed anything unusual in her behaviour.”

“Yes – although it will mean taking them out of their classrooms. Should I close the school?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary at the moment, sir, or even advisable.”

“But if Cassandra’s been kidnapped, shouldn’t we issue some kind of warning to the rest of the students – and to their parents?”

“Superintendent Thornton, my boss, will be giving a statement to the Press, TV and radio shortly. I suggest you write a letter to all parents, based on what he says. After I’ve talked to Cassandra’s friends, you might like to gather the school together to offer advice and reassurance. We’d be extremely grateful if you wouldn’t discuss Cassandra with the media just yet. They’re bound to turn up here, sooner rather than later, I’d say, and it’d be best not to treat them in a hostile way, as they might be helpful later. But we’d like you to work with us on exactly what you say to them.”