I glance at Harriet, then at Nat. ‘How come?’
Nat sighs. ‘Because I have doubts about Croon’s motive for wanting to know who’s behind Amelia Westlake. What if it’s less about finding out the truth about Hadley, and more about shutting down the hoax and sweeping everything it’s drawing attention to under the carpet? Everyone knows sexual harassment by teachers is notoriously under-reported. If Croon was acting responsibly she’d make some proactive investigations.’
Harriet bites her lip. ‘You can’t possibly be saying Principal Croon’s motive is to protect Coach Hadley.’
‘It’s a distinct possibility,’ Nat says. ‘Protecting him is the same as protecting herself. Hadley is one of the greatest assets the school has. Parents enrol their kids on the basis of his medal-winning reputation. And Amelia Westlake has been causing Croon all sorts of headaches. That computer donation debacle, for example. And the robotics competition screw-up on live television. Of course, I don’t know for sure that I’m right about this. It’s no more than a gut feeling. That said, I can’t help but feel that by handing you over to Croon I’d be playing into her hands. There is shit going down at Rosemead that needs exposing. And as much as I hate to admit it, Amelia Westlake is the only one making any progress on that front.’
We are silent for a moment.
‘So what are you going to do?’ Harriet finally asks.
‘Hold off saying anything to anyone on one condition.’
‘Being?’
Nat looks at us both. ‘I want in.’
Chapter 26
HARRIET
Involving Natasha Nguyen in Amelia Westlake is obviously a terrible idea. Will tries to talk her out of it immediately. ‘You can’t be serious. What if we get caught? What about your future journalism career?’
‘As long as I don’t do anything like breaking into school property, for example,’ Natasha looks pointedly at Will, ‘Croon’s hands are tied. The way I calculate it, punishing me means punishing Harriet, and she’ll avoid that at all costs.’
Will appears as conflicted as I feel. She meets my eye and I shrug helplessly. I don’t see that we have a choice.
Will sets her jaw. ‘If you’re in, then we need your help with something.’
‘Shoot,’ says Natasha.
Will glances at me again. ‘We have a plan to leverage Rosemead’s newsletter mailing list to raise money for charity.’
Natasha nods slowly and grins. ‘I like it. Talk me through the details.’
‘We want to hijack the Buy A Tile fundraising envelopes,’ Will says.
The three of us draw into a huddle. ‘We want to get them printed with the details of a charity, so that the money goes to the charity instead of the school.’
‘Which charity?’
‘The Fund for Australian Women. It helps victims of domestic violence.’
Natasha’s grin fades.
‘What?’ Will asks.
Natasha breaks the huddle and falls back against the couch cushions. ‘Fighting domestic violence is a worthy cause, but I’ve heard some less-than-positive things about Australian Women. Apparently, they have a pretty exclusive idea about who they consider to be “Australian”.’
This is extremely alarming news. ‘What have you heard?’ I ask.
‘That they’ve turned away women who are on temporary immigration visas.’
I look at Will. From the panic on her face she is clearly as concerned as I am. ‘But they’re the ones who often need the most help!’ I cry. I know this for a fact. It was on Four Corners. ‘Especially if they’re relying on a violent partner to gain citizenship. Did you know about this, Will?’
‘I had no idea,’ she admits. ‘I chose the charity for its initials, to be honest.’ She wipes her face with a hand.
I wish we had done more research. It’s just as well we have Natasha to consult. ‘Can you think of an alternative charity?’ I ask her.
‘How about the Domestic Violence Australia network?’ she suggests. ‘They have a special service to assist women who need help with immigration issues. And a lot of other culturally specific services, too.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ I say. Thank God she’s on board.
Natasha nods. ‘Good. Now, what part of the plan did you need my help with?’
I explain that we need to get in touch with the company that prints the envelopes for the newsletter mail out and were hoping she could give us the name of her contact at Parsons Printing.
Natasha looks confused. ‘I don’t get it. What does Parsons have to do with this?’
Will and I look at each other. ‘We assumed, since they print the Messenger, that they must print the school newsletter as well,’ Will says.
Natasha shakes her head. ‘You assumed wrongly. I arranged the printing deal with Parsons for the Messenger myself. We’re the only school group that uses them. I know that for a fact.’
So the ruse of Arthur’s concert, the newsroom break-in and Will’s arm injury were all for nothing.
‘Fuck,’ Will says with feeling. ‘Then we need another plan.’
‘I reckon we get Liz involved,’ is Natasha’s first suggestion when we meet at the Messenger newsroom on the first day back at school. She pitches a handful of pistachio shells towards an open window and misses.
‘Liz Newcomb?’ I am standing in the middle of the room, making sure not to accidentally touch anything. The place smells of rotting food and dead cockroaches. I swear the couch Will is sitting on is more mouldy pastry than upholstery. ‘We have enough people involved already,’ I say firmly.
Natasha cracks open another nut and chews it with her mouth open. ‘Liz is a huge fan of Amelia Westlake and, more importantly, as Tawney Shield captain she’s got a key to the gym staffroom. If Hadley’s organising the fundraising, he’s bound to have the printer’s contact details in there.’
I shake my head. ‘No way. Not Liz Newcomb.’
Will, who has been staring at me on-and-off in the most distracting way for the last ten minutes, raises an eyebrow.
Natasha grabs another handful of pistachios. ‘Why not? We don’t have to tell her who’s behind Amelia. We can just recruit her on Amelia’s behalf.’
‘We simply can’t trust her,’ I say, turning to
