My heart is raging as I get off the bus. The journey was quicker than usual, so I’m ten minutes early and I stand round the back of the executive building. I watch the other children running around not knowing what I know, not knowing who is living amongst us.
At six exactly I go round to the front and see Detective Walker. He’s wearing his suit even though it is a hot day and he walks up to me with a stern look on his face, a look that says I am in trouble.
‘We should have a chat,’ he says. ‘You haven’t been back to the cottage, have you?’
I shake my head.
‘Good, because there is something important that I need you to know; something you must never mention again. Do you understand?’
I nod.
‘Shall we go and sit down there?’ he says, pointing to the bench by the side of the road. I follow him and do as he says. The bench is slightly damp as it had rained a bit this afternoon, and the sun hasn’t quite dried it out yet.
He seems calm, but I can sense that he’s angry. I have seen this look in so many adults’ eyes.
‘Now, explain to me what it was that you found.’
I tell him about the newspaper clippings reporting the Montrose murders, and how Jonesy had wondered whether they had hanged the wrong man and the killer was free to commit more murders, and that is what they’re doing now.
Then I say, ‘When I saw those newspapers – I mean, why would you keep them if you weren’t involved? Then I thought mibbie Jonesy had said something to Mr Paterson and he realised she knew and that’s why he killed her.’
‘That’s what I thought you might have been getting at. Right.’ He takes off his jacket. I can see the sweat patches underneath. He breathes twice, deeply; I don’t know if he’s doing it for show.
‘When you work for the police, you learn that when you have a piece of evidence you look for all the different reasons it exists. You don’t just pick the first one that comes into your head, or the one that fits your narrative.’
I put my hand up.
‘Yes?’
‘Whit’s a narrative?’
‘It’s a story. So if you see something important, you don’t automatically assume it fits your story in a certain way.’
‘So, that’s whit I’ve done?’
‘Yes, yes, you have. There could be another reason for the Patersons having those clippings.’
‘And there is?’
‘Yes there is, Lesley. There is a reason, but I need you to swear, and I mean swear on your life, that you will not tell a soul what I am just about to tell you.’ He looks me straight in the eye and I know it’s serious. ‘How much do you know about the Peter Montrose murders?’
‘I know he killed eight women.’
Detective Walker nods. ‘Yes. There’s a bit more to it than that but, yes, he was convicted of killing eight women, although many of us think he killed nine. There were also two women whom he attacked but who managed to escape, and they gave evidence against him. One of those women was Mrs Paterson, or, as she was known back then, Miss McKinley. She was attacked by Peter Montrose and she gave evidence that ultimately led to him being convicted. For that, the police force are very grateful to her.
‘So, Lesley, I would assume that is why she has those newspaper cuttings. No doubt, it has been a traumatic time for her, with these recent deaths. It’s hard when you’ve been through something like that.’
I feel awful, and though I try not to, I start to cry. He puts his arm round me and that makes me sob even more.
‘I’m sorry, Mr Walker. I’m really sorry. I just thought it was Mr Paterson, and he can get angry sometimes and, whit with whit happened, and – he doesnae know, does he? She doesnae know whit I said to you?’
‘Not yet. That’s why I wanted to meet you here first, before you had a chance to go back to your cottage and tell anyone. Though I’m afraid I will have to let them know eventually.’
‘I didn’t mean anything, I just thought—’
‘Lesley, it’s natural … You are a smart girl; you’re always going to be looking for answers. It’s just that this time you were wrong. It’s what we would call an “avenue of investigation” – you follow up a theory to its end. That way you can rule them out and eventually you’ll reach the avenue that leads you to the guilty person. We questioned all the housefathers and other men who work at the Homes after the murders to confirm their alibis, including Mr Paterson.’
‘Whit’s an alibi?’
‘It’s when someone can prove that they weren’t in the place where the murder happened when it happened.’
‘And Mr Paterson has alibis for Jane and Sally and Jonesy? That means he cannae have done it.’
Detective Walker smiles at me. ‘That’s correct, Lesley. You catch on quick. I think you could make a good detective one day.’
‘You said that before. Do you really think so?’
‘Sure, you’ve got brains, you’re inquisitive. If one good thing came out of all this, it’s that some day we could have you on the police force. Now, let me walk you back to the cottage to show there’s no hard feelings.’
Walking back, I forget about feeling guilty and am full of the idea that I could become a police detective. None of them seem to be women but Detective Walker thinks I could be one. I could solve other murders. Science is over for me. This is what I am going to become.
At the steps to Cottage 5 he says, ‘So, we are all right?’
‘We are all right,’ I say.
We shake hands like grown-ups.
As I watch him walk off, I decide two things: I’m going to be a detective when I’m older, and I am going to solve this case once and for all, and they will see that I will make a great detective.
I haven’t made a mistake. I have eliminated a suspect. I am closer to finding out the truth.