***
“Now, what is all this,” said Packard as he pushed past Mary to get out of the rain. “Calling me out of the blue and demanding that I come over, this won’t do Mary.”
“It’s that school investigator!” replied Mary, who quickly closed her front door, straightened her dress, then lit another cigarette. “You told me to call her, and that’s just what I did. But now she’s coming this evening to discuss what it’s all about. What can I say?”
“Well, this is a little bit of a pickle,” replied Packard in a good-humoured tone, his disgruntled mood seemingly fading away after listening to Mary’s words.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m afraid to say that things just aren’t ready yet.”
“Not ready? But she’s coming tonight. What will I tell her?”
“This wasn’t part of the plan at all,” answered Packard, who examined the extent to which the wallpaper in the hall was peeling away from the walls. “I said I would be in touch, to tell you the next stage of the plan. Things just are not ready yet. And as much as I trust you, I can’t tell you anything more, otherwise, you might get into more trouble than you are now. Oh, Mary, why did you go and organise a meeting with her?”
“Me? I did no such thing. She just invited herself over last night, then the window broke, and in confusion that followed, she waltzed right in without permission. I managed to get rid of her, but then she called again today and just said she was coming to get the information!”
“Slow down, Mary, slow down. You’re not making much sense. What’s all this about a window? No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. When she comes tonight, just fob her off with some excuse, tell her you’re not ready. I don’t know.”
“Come on, Mr Packard. I did everything you said in the letter you left me: I called her, told her that I had something important to tell her, and this has led her right back to my door. Please, just tell me what to do.”
“Give me a minute,” said Packard.
Mary made to say something, but Packard held up his finger to reinforce his point. With a measured step, he walked up and down Mary’s hall leaving flecks of mud on the brown carpet. Mary watched on in silence, flittering internally between her anxiety over getting into trouble with the school – her supplier of blood; her fears about whether the school was already keeping a closer eye on her home – something that had been on her mind ever since the breaking of her window just after Amanda arrived the night before; and her concerns that Packard would think of nothing, before abandoning her to deal with Amanda on her own.
After muttering something under his breath, Packard determined that it was necessary for him to get out of what he thought to be the absent gaze of the woman standing idly by and burst into Mary’s front room. The first thing to catch his attention as he dropped himself down on a couch was the cream Bakelite phone that was sitting on a rather worn telephone table in the corner of the room.
“What time did you say she’s coming round?”
“Sorry?” said Mary, appearing with a confused expression at the door.
“The girl! When’s she getting here?”
“Seven, I think. What’s this about? Have you got an idea?”
“Yes, I’ve got something. But I have to tell you that it’s not a foolproof plan and you’re going to have to play your part. Nevertheless, it might just work and provide us with enough of a reprieve for me to organise things so that we can achieve our main objective.”
“You mean to get her out of the town?”
“To get that invasive and interfering school out of affairs here in Radcliff, yes.”
“Oh, you smart man. Thank you! What do you need me to do?”
“Now, don’t get too excited. I’m quite sure that young Amanda will not be distracted by this plan for long. Indeed, it may only give us a day. But that’s better than nothing. You said she’s coming at seven? Well, what we’ll do is this: after she arrives, invite her in and make her think that you’re going to tell her what she wants to hear. Then, just after seven, I’ll give you a call. You’ll excuse yourself and answer. I’ll tell you that you have to come over for one reason or another right away. After the call, you can excuse yourself and say something along the lines of how sorry you are, but that there just isn’t the time to go into what you want to tell her, that you have to leave that instant. That'll be the tricky part for you, convincing her that this is the truth.”
“But why would I need to leave right away.”
“Don’t concern yourself with that now. There’s still quite a few hours left before she comes and I’ll think of something. It’ll make the thing all the more real as well if I tell you when I call. Yes, I believe that’s for the best.”
“Oh thank you, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you had not come.”
“Don’t thank me yet, it’s all still to be done. Ah yes, one wrinkle. It may be the case that the investigator may turn up late. Or worse, she may turn up just as I ring and hear the phone. I think the best thing would be if you were to remain here, near the phone, just in case.”
“Oh, you really think of everything.”
***
As always, the slow moving Arnold was the last member of Ms Halford’s class to leave, something caused by the dawdling pace he
