As she looked at what had been drawn on the paper, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Fifty-four
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ said Frank Reed, a broad smile spreading across his face.
Cath raised her eyebrows as she slipped inside his office and smiled back.
‘I thought you’d have been out gathering information for some Pulitzer Prize-winning article’ Reed chuckled, offering her a seat.
‘Not quite, Frank’ she answered, accepting it. ‘But this isn’t a social call.
I need your help on something.’
‘So, what else is new?’
‘You’ve seen the papers this morning? The news?’
‘The police raids, you mean?’
She nodded.
‘I didn’t expect things to go quite this far’ he said, softly.
‘Jesus, Frank, what did you think was going to happen? You scream child abuse and it warrants more than a few polite enquiries by the neighbourhood bobby on the beat.’
‘I heard somewhere they’d raided twenty-three houses.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Cath, what I did, I did for the good of those children. It had to be reported. What the hell was I supposed to do, sit around and let it just happen?’ he said, challengingly. ‘Anyway, what’s your problem? It’s given you something to write about, hasn’t it?’
‘Look, take it easy, I’m on your side, right?’
He sat back in his seat, glancing out of his office window. There was a group of children crossing the playground, chattering loudly until the teacher leading them called for silence.
‘So, what can I do to help?’ Reed said, finally.
Cath reached into her handbag and pulled out the computer print-out which had spent most of that morning stuffed into her glove compartment. She stood up and walked around the desk so that she was standing next to her brother; then she laid the print-out down before him, smoothing out the creases as best she could.
‘It’s a list of the families whose houses were raided this morning’ she told him. ‘I want to know how many of the kids go to school here.’
Reed looked up at Cath, then at the print-out.
‘Why?’ he asked.
‘I’m looking for links, Frank, anything that ties these cases together.’
He spotted one name immediately.
Paul O’Brian.
Reed jabbed a finger at it.
‘I know. I’ve already been there this morning. The parents, well, the father at any rate, wasn’t very cooperative’ she informed him.
Reed studied the list.
He pointed to another name.
‘What about the address?’ said Cath.
The door to Reed’s office opened unexpectedly and both he and Cath watched as Noel Hardy entered.
The Headmaster glared at Cath, then at her brother, paused in the doorway a moment, then slammed the door behind him and strode across to the desk.
‘Haven’t we had enough of the press already today?’ the older man said, acidly.
T hate to tell you, Mr …’
‘Hardy’ the older man snapped. ‘In case your brother hadn’t told you, I’m the Headmaster here. This is my school. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave.’
‘You said that other members of the press had been here today. I think I’m entitled to the same courtesy you may have extended to them’ Cath said, officiously.
‘There was no courtesy extended to any of them’ Hardy assured her. ‘But I’ll give you the same statement I gave the rest of them. No comment.’
‘A number of the children taken into care attended your school,’ Cath informed him. ‘Doesn’t that bother you?’
‘Are you trying to infer that the school is somehow to blame for what has happened to these children?’
‘I’m not trying to infer anything, Mr Hardy, but if you’re worried that inference might be attached to yourself or your school…’ She allowed the sentence to trail off.
‘I knew nothing of this …’
‘Abuse’ Cath said, with an air of finality.
‘Nothing’s been proved yet,’ the Headmaster reminded her.
‘Come on, Noel’ snapped Reed. ‘You know what’s going on here. We all do.’
‘I warned you,’ Hardy snapped, angrily. ‘I said that if this was reported it could damage the reputation of the school, whether you were right or wrong.’
‘So what matters more to you?’ Reed wanted to know. ‘The welfare of the children or the reputation of the school?’
‘I have to take into consideration the damage this publicity could do to St Michael’s,’ said Hardy.
‘What about the damage that’s already been done to those kids?’ snapped Reed.
‘That’s nothing to do with this school.’
‘Then why worry about it?’ Cath interjected. ‘It’s not you or your school that’s on trial, Mr Hardy. I’m just looking for the facts.’
‘Journalists’ clichAS number one’ Hardy snorted, as he moved towards the door.
‘Look, I didn’t come here to see you, I came to see my brother’ Cath said, irritably.
Hardy opened the office door and let it swing wide.
‘Then do it somewhere else,’ he said, angrily. ‘If you’re not off these premises in thirty seconds I’ll call the police.’
Cath shrugged, gathered up the computer print-out and pushed it back into her handbag.
‘Nice to see you again, Mr Hardy’ she said flatly, as she reached the door.
Then, turning to her brother ‘I’ll speak to you later, Frank.’
Hardy slammed the door behind her.
‘You can’t run away from this, Noel’ Reed told him.
‘I’m trying to protect this school.’
‘And I was trying to protect those kids.’
Hardy turned to leave, pausing in the doorway briefly. ‘Perhaps you should start thinking about your own job’ he said menacingly.
‘Are you threatening me?’
‘I’m just protecting the school’ Hardy snapped then he was gone, the door
slamming behind him.
Reed sat back in his chair, exhaled deeply then looked down at the phone.
He waited a moment, then dialled.
Fifty-five
Dorothy Talbot sipped at her tea, then carefully replaced the cup and saucer on the table close to her, the china rattling.
James Talbot shot out a hand to steady the cup, fearing it would overbalance, but he withdrew it just as suddenly when he saw his mother push the cup further onto the table.
‘It’s all right, Jim, I can manage,’ she said, smiling. ‘I’m not a cripple, you know.’
No. You’re just dying of cancer.
They were the only two people in the day room at Litton Vale. The other residents, or a party of twenty of
