“So you’d soon find out who’s a troublemaker, for example?”
“Yes. Not that we have any troublemakers. Nothing serious, anyway. We did catch one girl smoking marijuana in the dorm last year, and some years ago one of our upper-sixth girls got pregnant. But these are extremes, you understand, quite rare.”
“Have you ever had any inkling of widespread problems here?”
“Such as what?”
“Drugs, perhaps, or pornography.”
“Chief Inspector, this isn’t a comprehensive, you know.”
“Perhaps not. But girls will be girls.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that, but to answer your question, no, there’s been nothing of that nature at St. Mary’s.”
“Do you live on the school grounds?”
Dr. Green nodded. “There’s a small block of flats for members of staff-for some of us, anyway-and I live there.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. Alone.”
“So what can you tell me about Deborah Harrison?”
Dr. Green shrugged. “Just superficial things, really. She was a bright girl. Very intelligent. I don’t think there’s much doubt she would have ended up at Oxford or Cambridge, had she lived.”
“Where did her strengths lie?”
“She was something of an all-rounder, but she excelled in the sciences-maths and physics, in particular. She was also good at modern languages. She had just entered the lower sixth this year. The school offers twenty-three subjects at A-level. Deborah was taking four: mathematics, French, German and physics.”
“What about her personality?”
Dr. Green leaned back and put her hands on the arms of her chair. “Again, I can only be fairly superficial.”
“That’s all right.”
“She always seemed cheerful and lively. You know, some girls can get very moody and withdrawn in the lower sixth-they go through a very difficult period in their lives-but Deborah seemed to be outgoing. She was an outstanding athlete. Swimming, tennis, running, field events. She was a good equestrian, too.”
“I understand she belonged to the chess club?”
“Yes. She was a fine player. A superb strategist.”
“You sound as if you play, yourself.”
She smiled. “Moderately well.”
“I’d appreciate it if you could provide me with a list of the other members.”
“Of course.” Dr. Green searched through one of the filing cabinets and handed Banks a sheet of paper with ten names on it. Then she paused, scratched her cheek, and said, “I must admit, Chief Inspector, the questions you’re asking surprise me.”
“They do? Why?”
“Well, I know nothing of police work, of course, but I fail to understand why you should require my impressions of Deborah in order to apprehend the criminal who attacked and murdered her.”
“What kind of questions do you think I should be asking?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. About strangers in the area, that sort of thing.”
“Have you noticed any suspicious strangers hanging around the area lately?”
“No.”
Banks blew his nose. “Sorry. Well, that covers that one, doesn’t it? Now, what about Deborah’s faults?”
“Faults?”
“Yes, was she mischievous, disobedient, dishonest, willful?”
“No more than any other child of her age. Less than most, actually.” She thought for a moment. “No, I’d say if Deborah did have a fault it was that she tended to show off her abilities to some extent. She could sometimes make the other girls feel small, or awkward and clumsy. She had a tendency to belittle people.”
“Was she boastful?”
“Not at all. No, that’s not what I mean. She never boasted about her abilities, she just used them to the full. She wasn’t the kind to hide her light under a bushel. Half the time it was as if she didn’t even realize she was so much brighter and more fortunate than many. She liked the way her quickness with figures impressed people, for example, so she would add up or multiply things in her head quicker than some of the other girls could do it with a calculator.”
“That’s one good way to make enemies.” Banks remembered his own school math reports: Could do better than this; Harder work needed; Watch that arithmetic!
“It was hardly serious,” Dr. Green went on, shrugging. “Simply a matter of girlish exuberance, a young woman taking full joy in her talents.” Her eyes sparkled for a moment. “Have you forgotten what it was like to be young, to be popular, gifted?”
“I don’t know that I was ever gifted or popular,” Banks said, with a sidelong glance at Susan, who was smiling down into her notebook. “But I do remember what it was like to be young. I thought I would live forever.”
After the awkward silence that followed, Banks asked, “Was Deborah popular with the other girls?”
“What do you mean?”
“She sounds like a right little madam to me, a proper pain in the neck. I was wondering how she got on with her classmates?”
“Really, Chief Inspector,” Dr. Green said through tight lips. “These were very minor faults I’m talking about. Mostly, Deborah was friendly, cheerful and helpful.”
“Was there any friend in particular?”
“Yes. Megan Preece. Her name’s on the list I gave you.”
“I understand from Daniel Charters,” Banks went on, “that there was some trouble with Ive Jelacic, the sexton.”
“Yes.” Julia Green rubbed her cheek. “He’d been bothering the girls. Saying things, making lewd gestures, that sort of thing.”
“Had Deborah, in particular, complained about him?”
“I believe she had.”
“Did she continue going to the church after Mr. Jelacic made his accusations against Daniel Charters? It was my impression that her father seemed more upset about what Charters had been accused of, rather than what Jelacic did.”
Julia Green paused for a moment, then said, “Yes, yes he was. I don’t understand it myself. The school stands one hundred per cent behind Father Charters, but Sir Geoffrey forbade Deborah from singing with the choir or attending any services.”
“Why do you think he did that?”
“I don’t know. Some people are just…well, very funny about any hint of homosexuality in the ministry.”
“Did Deborah obey him?”
“As far as I know she did. I never saw her there, anyway.”
“Did Deborah keep any of her belongings here at school?”
“All the girls have desks.”
“No lockers or anything?”
She shook her head. “Not the day-girls. They bring what they need from day to day, mostly.”
“Might we have a look?”
“Of course. We’ve canceled classes for the day, so the room should be empty.”
She led them through a maze of high corridors to a small room. It wasn’t like any classroom Banks had ever seen before, with its well-polished woodwork and nicely spaced desks.
“This one,” said Dr. Green, pointing to a desk.
Banks lifted the hinged flap. He hadn’t expected much-school desks are hardly the most private of places-but he was disappointed by how little there was: a couple of school exercise books, a computer magazine, textbooks, pens and pencils. There was also a tattered paperback Jeffrey Archer. Deborah’s intelligence obviously hadn’t stretched
