13 Minutes (28 page)

‘
Is there a team on the way? Do you want me to come?
’

She half-listened as one of the policemen talked into his phone, pacing a few feet away. Aiden had really done it. He’d dumped her.

‘
Do the press know? A couple of their cars just left here.
’

She wasn’t sure what felt more surreal – Hannah dead in a coffin or Aiden not wanting her any more. Maybe Hannah would laugh at that. Maybe she’d think Becca deserved it.

‘
I’m on my way.
’

No, she wouldn’t. Hannah wasn’t like that. Hannah would get them hot chocolates and cake and listen to Becca as she cried and smoked and wailed about love and she’d say all the right things. Hannah was a good person. She’d been a good person.

The tears came thick and fast after that.

Forty-Three

Extracts from the
Brackston Saturday Herald
, Saturday 6th February

The scandal that has erupted from Brackston Community School took a sombre turn for the worse yesterday. Peter Garrick, the school’s 38-year-old English teacher and exams officer, was found dead in his home during the funeral of Hannah Alderton, who was killed during a play rehearsal on the 26th of January. Sources close to the investigation claimed that Mr Garrick had been suspended from the school, although he was not believed to have any involvement in her death. Mr Garrick, a married father of two, is thought to have been alone in the house at the time of his death and police do not think anyone else was involved.

Although police have not confirmed that Mr Garrick was the member of staff facing charges of sexual activity with a minor while in a position of trust, sources confirm the CPS will not be pursuing that case in light of Mr Garrick’s death.

Two 16-year-old girls, who for legal reasons cannot be named, remain in custody and have been charged in the matter of Hannah Alderton’s murder.

Brackston Community School was closed yesterday to allow students and staff to attend the funeral of murdered sixth former Hannah Alderton. Although the sun was shining, the community’s grief was apparent as peers and adults cried and hugged outside the church after the short service. It is believed that Hannah may not have been the intended victim. Although our source will not confirm who the target was, Hannah Alderton attended the same school as Natasha Howland (pictured above left at yesterday’s funeral), who was found near-dead in the river in January.

Also attending the funeral was Rebecca Crisp (above right, smoking) who, like Natasha Howland, has not returned to school since Hannah Alderton’s death. Both girls have been seen entering and leaving the police station on several occasions but neither is considered a suspect in the case. Both girls were present at the time of Hannah Alderton’s death. It is clear that her friend’s death has affected Rebecca Crisp greatly.

Although the Head Teacher and governors of the school have issued a statement asking that pupils to be allowed to return to their studies in peace, many parents are concerned by recent events and have called for the police to place a community liaison officer in the school and for the government to launch an inquiry as to how events such as these have been allowed to unfold in such a high-achieving school.

Forty-Four

EXTRACTS FROM
NATASHA HOWLAND’S STATEMENT TAKEN BY DI CAITLIN BENNETT AND DS MARC APLIN ON TUESDAY 26TH JANUARY. DR ANNABEL HARVEY PRESENT AS APPROPRIATE ADULT.

Time commenced: 20.15.

It was Thursday after school. Yes, the seven January. The day before I went in the river. So weird how I remember it all now. It’s like a box just opened in my head – a jack-in-the-box – and all the memories jumped out and back into their places. Sorry. I’ll try and stick to it. Yes, I’m okay. Still shaking a bit. That was so awful. Hannah. God, poor Hannah.

Okay. This is what I remember. I followed them, Thursday after school. Yes, Jenny and Hayley. They’d been so odd with me. More than odd, kind of like they didn’t want me around? Yeah, they’d been like that for a while. Maybe a couple of months? It was getting worse. Little bitchy comments sometimes. I’d been trying really hard to find out if I’d done anything wrong but couldn’t think of anything. I just wanted my friends back rather than this feeling that they were, at best, pretending to like me.

Anyway, Thursday. They’d been so closed off. Tight. I’d seen them like that before, giggling together. Telling me it was nothing. At lunchtime I asked them if they wanted to go and hang out in Starbucks after school. I had money – Jenny never really has any cash and Hayley’s parents are stricter with pocket money than mine, she kind of has to earn it by doing stuff around the house and looking after her little brother, but my parents just give me money when I ask for it – so I figured they’d come if I was paying. Sounds pathetic, doesn’t it? Like I was trying to buy them, but it’s true, I kind of was. Hayley said she had to go to the indoor track and practise and Jenny said she had to stay behind for extra Maths for her GCSE retake.

I got the feeling they were both lying to me and it really hurt. They’d done it before, too, and this time it made me a bit crazy. I mean, why couldn’t they just be honest with me? So – god, I sound like such a loser – I went to the Maths department and checked out the revision group schedule but there was nothing listed. I even spoke to Mr Russell-Woods – he’s the Head of Maths – and said Jenny had asked me to check, but he said it wasn’t on that night.

So anyway, I pretended I’d left then followed them. I knew they were out at the back of the PE block where Hayley smokes. They’d hidden from me there before. They didn’t leave school till after five and now I know why – that’s when Mr Garrick left. I had a hoodie on and kept it up but they never looked behind them. They were too busy talking, arms linked, and laughing. It really hurt my feelings. I didn’t even want to fight with them, just to see what they were doing that was so interesting they had to lie to me about it.

They walked to the big car park at the back of Asda. You know the one? So you know that bit at the back is never full. And it’s dark there. I don’t understand why they made it that big – like everyone in Brackston is going to shop there at exactly the same time? But anyway, that’s where they went. By now I thought maybe I’d got it all wrong and they were just going to meet Hayley’s dad or something for a ride home . . . but that didn’t really make any sense, either. They could have walked or got the bus and been home quicker. I had kind of stopped caring about why they’d shut me out and just wanted to know what made them go there, of all places.

I stayed back, by the wall where all those huge recycling bins are, pressing myself slightly behind the green one. It was pitch-dark by then and getting cold. I could hear them laughing and talking still, but it was quieter.

Then a car pulled in. A dark four-by-four. When the door opened and Jenny got in, I caught a glimpse of a man inside, but I couldn’t make out who he was. Hayley waved at him. He said something to her that I couldn’t catch and she said she was fine, the cold didn’t bother her.

Jenny was in the car on her own with him for maybe half an hour? Forty-five minutes? I was freezing by then. Hayley went to the café and bought a coffee, but she was still standing around for another twenty minutes or so when she got back. She had her Uggs on and a proper thick coat. She was prepared. I was so cold, but I couldn’t move without risking being seen. The car windows were steaming up even though the engine wasn’t on. I was a bit shocked but not surprised. I mean, we all know Jenny’s no virgin and she’d just got into a man’s parked car. They weren’t going to be playing chess in there, were they?

So, just when I thought I couldn’t take much more of the cold, the car engine started up again and pulled over towards Hayley. The window came down and Jenny, in the front seat, said something – must have been about dropping them nearer home or whatever, and I caught a glimpse of the man behind the wheel. It was Mr Garrick. I was pretty sure of it.

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I mean, Mr Garrick? He seemed so sweet. Awkward, almost. Not like
hot
or anything? How could he be fucking Jenny? All I could think was that she was trying to screw her way to getting the Maths exam paper early or something. I was totally spinning out. By the time I arrived home I wasn’t sure if I’d seen him at all. Maybe it was some other man who just looked a bit like him. I only caught a glimpse. I could be totally wrong. I didn’t know what to think.

So I got up early on Friday – took my warmest coat this time – and loitered out by the school car park. I made it look like I was waiting for someone and had an excuse ready – my mum bringing in a forgotten book or something. Not that anyone asked. Have you seen teachers in the morning? I think they hate school more than we do until they’ve topped up their coffee breath in the staff room. Anyway, finally I saw the car. Same number plate – I couldn’t remember it all, I’m not a detective or anything, but the first three bits were lodged in my head. And it was him. It was Mr Garrick.

I actually felt sick. Really properly sick. I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that it was wrong and it had to stop. This must have been why they didn’t tell me. They
knew
I wouldn’t be okay with it. I mean, he’s a teacher and married with kids and everything. And he isn’t even hot. I didn’t understand it. Maybe he was using the exams to get at Jenny? Maybe she wasn’t willing at all? My head was buzzing with questions.

I couldn’t concentrate and then at break there was the announcement about the school play auditions and so I texted them and said I’d buy them lunch in the café – that one just past the newsagent’s? It’s not great but they do good paninis and you can eat what you want without everyone watching to see if you’re getting fat. Being us at school isn’t always easy. I keep reading things in the papers and stuff about me and how popular we are, but popular is weird. It’s got a serrated edge, if you know what I mean? Sometimes I think it would be way better to just be like Bex or poor Hannah.

So, anyway, we go for lunch. We start out talking about the play and it’s like I’m waiting for them to say something about
it
, but of course they don’t. In the end I can’t stay quiet. I come straight out and say that I followed them. I saw what happened. Their faces – I can still see them now, Jenny’s mouth half-open and filled with melted cheese and ham sandwich. Hayley staring at me in that way she does – her lack of expression means it’s
all
going on inside. She looked at me that way when I kissed Mark Pritchard at his party and I still don’t know why I did that, except that maybe on some level a part of me still remembered everything and wanted to hurt her back.

So they stare at me. Jenny is straight away all ‘you can’t tell anyone’ and that kind of thing. She says she needs him for her exams, so she can make sure she passes her Maths resit and then she can get out of this town. Hayley tells me it’s none of my business and I shouldn’t have followed them. I say that it’s wrong and can’t continue and I’m going to tell someone unless they stop it. I say he’s being a creep, whatever Jenny thinks. You can’t go around fucking your students, it’s just plain wrong. He’s a paedo. I won’t let him hurt one of my friends like that,
I won’t
. Hayley says that’s why they didn’t tell me. They knew I wouldn’t leave it alone. We argue a bit. I’m surprised Hayley’s so cool with it. Jenny’s dad fucked her up and now she’s basically shagging a dad replacement?

So, I tell them they’ve got till Monday to sort it out. And by that I don’t mean just finish it, I mean they have to report him. If it’s not done by then, I’ll go to the Head. Hayley tries to claim no one will believe me but she knows that isn’t true. And she knows Jenny’s not a great liar, either – not under pressure. I tell them I don’t want to fight about it, but he was taking advantage of Jenny. It was pretty much abuse – even if she was going to get through her exams because of him – and she was worth more than that. I loved them but it couldn’t go on.

Then lunch was over and we had to head out. They said they’d think about it. I started to cry like an idiot because I hated the fighting. Then Jenny started crying, too, and we all hugged. Hayley said I was probably right and maybe it was all a bit of a mess, but even though we went back into school kind of okay I still felt so awful. It was all round shit. I felt like shit. They were my best friends.

Of course, I didn’t realise then how much they hated me.

What happened that night?

I couldn’t sleep. Just for thinking about it all. I found Jenny after school for a moment – she was in the toilets texting. Using a different phone. Something cheap. Basic. I figured it was the phone she used to text Mr Garrick. I asked her if she was telling him what I’d said. She said no. She was edgy, maybe a bit high, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell with Jen sometimes. She says she only does shit with me and Hayley, but you’ve seen her mum, right? Maybe she had vodka or something in her bag, if she didn’t have drugs. She definitely gets high more than me. I only started doing Mandy to keep in with them, but you know, it does feel good. Is that going to get me into trouble, saying that? I don’t know where she bought it or anything and it was only ever for us and our friends.

I told her maybe she should tell him. She said I had to give her time. It was so weird. It was as if she actually
liked
him. Properly liked him. Anyway, as I said, I couldn’t sleep. When the text came in, at first I was confused and thought it was a wrong number. I didn’t answer it, it just irritated me. I had too much else in my head. And then, as I was finally dozing off at about two-thirty, it hit me. The
usual place
was what we used to call the clearing in the woods. I figured maybe Jenny was drunk or something and had texted me on that phone I’d seen her with. I didn’t text back because I had no clue whether I was actually going to meet them or not. I thought I’d just go and see if they were there. I wasn’t sure I really wanted to talk to them. Maybe Mr Garrick was with them? I really didn’t want to face him in the middle of the night. Definitely not without an adult or another teacher present.