chaotic unless there were enough staff to run things smoothly.
‘Christ,’ Jenny says. ‘Even now she’s trying to promote the school.’
AB: Did you see any members of staff return to the building?
SH: Yes, Rowena White. Or, at least, I didn’t see her but I was told she’d gone to get the medals.
AB: Anyone else?
SH: No.
AB: I know one of my officers asked you about this at the scene of the fire, but if you’d bear with me, I need to go over the same territory again.
SH: Of course.
AB: How easy is it for people to get into the school?
SH: We have one entrance to the school, which is a locked gate. It has a numerical keypad. Only members of staff know the code. Everyone else needs to be buzzed in from the office. Unfortunately, there have been instances in the past where parents have been irresponsible and held open the gate for someone, without checking. We had an incident when a complete stranger got into the school because a parent inadvertently held the gate open for him. Since then we have had a monitor installed and our school secretary has to watch exactly who she is letting in.
AB: So you think your school is secure?
SH: Absolutely. Security for the children is our top priority.
‘Like Annette can be bothered to watch the monitor,’ Jenny says scathingly.
‘Mrs Healey must know what she’s like, surely?’
‘Yes. I don’t suppose she did when she hired her.’
‘And she knows that parents and some children know the code?’
‘Gets really annoyed about it.’
If she’s lying about the security on the gate, what else might she be lying about?
AB: Do you know of anyone who has a grudge against the school?
SH: No, of course not.
AB: I have to tell you that it looks, at this stage, as if the fire was arson. So can you please think if there is anyone who may have a grudge against the school?
[SH is silent.]
AB: Mrs Healey?
SH: How could someone do this?
There are no stage directions for her mood at this point – misery? fury? panic?
AB: Can you answer the question, please.
SH: I cannot think of anyone who would want to do this.
AB: Perhaps a member of staff who-
[SH interrupts.]
SH: No one would do this.
AB: Have any members of staff left the school recently? Say, in the last six months to a year?
SH: But that’s nothing to do with the fire.
AB: Please answer the question.
SH: Yes. Two. Elizabeth Fisher, our former school secretary. And Silas Hyman, a year-three teacher.
AB: What were the circumstances?
SH: Elizabeth Fisher was getting too old to be able to do the job. So sadly I had to let her go. There were no hard feelings. Though I know she misses the children a great deal.
AB: I’ll need her contact details, if that’s possible?
SH: Yes. I have her number and address in my palmtop.
AB: You also said Silas Hyman, a year-three teacher?
SH: Yes. Circumstances there were more unfortunate. There was an accident in the playground when he was on duty.
AB: When was this?
SH: The last week of March. I had to ask him to leave. As I said, health and safety is our top priority.
AB: You actually said security was your top priority.
SH: It all lumps in together, in the end, doesn’t it? Keeping the children safe from physical or criminal harm.
The words ‘or both’ must have hung in the air but weren’t recorded.
AB: Are Silas Hyman’s contact details also in your palmtop?
SH: Yes. I haven’t updated it.
AB: Can you write them down for me.
SH: Now?
AB: Yes.
[SH writes down Silas Hyman’s details.]
AB: If you could please excuse me one moment.
[AB leaves the room and returns six minutes later.]
Baker must have gone to tell Penny about Silas Hyman. Presumably he also sent someone to find him – he’d told you the police had spoken to Silas Hyman that evening.
AB: We were talking about school security. Can you tell me about the fire regulations at the school?
SH: We have appropriate fire-fighting equipment – extinguishers both foam and water, as well as fire blankets and sand buckets on every floor and in vulnerable areas such as the kitchen. The walking distance to the nearest extinguisher does not exceed thirty metres. Staff are trained in the use of appropriate equipment. We have signed exits, both pictorially and in writing, in every classroom and in rooms such as the Art room, dining room and kitchen. We also routinely practise evacuating the building. We have certified smoke detectors and heat detectors, which are linked directly through to the fire station. We have quarterly, yearly and three-yearly maintenance and testing by a qualified engineer as required by BS 5839.
‘It sounds like she’s memorised it all,’ Jen says, and I agree with her, but why?
AB: You have all those facts to hand?
So AB noticed this too.
SH: I am the head teacher of a primary school. As I just told you, safety is my number-one concern. I delegated myself as the fire safety manager. So yes, I have the facts to hand.
AB: Firefighters reported that windows at the top of the school were wide open. Can you comment on that?
SH: No. That’s not possible. We have window locks to prevent them being opened more than ten centimetres.
AB: Where are the keys to the window locks kept?
SH: In the teacher’s desk. But surely…
She must have trailed off at this point. I imagine again that figure going to the top of the school, but now more was required before he could fling open the windows and let the breeze suck the fire upwards.
AB: You said your staff were trained to put out fires?
SH Yes. Clearly containment, alongside evacuation, is the best method of minimising the impact of a fire.
AB: But the staff were all out at sports day? Apart from the three you told me about?
[SH nods.]
AB: Why was Jennifer Covey inside the school and not at sports day too?
SH: She was in charge of the medical room. For minor injuries.
AB: Where is the medical room?
SH: On the third floor.
AB: At the top of the building?
SH: Yes. We used to use the secretary’s office. Elizabeth was a qualified nurse. There was a sofa in there and we had a blanket. Just to hold the fort until a parent arrived to take the child home. But the new secretary isn’t medically trained in any way so there was no point keeping it there. Mr Davidson, our head of upper school, has it on his floor. He’s our trained first-aider but he was needed at sports day.
