“They didn’t tell me where she was buried, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Lara, and Fleet noticed the head teacher shift uncomfortably behind her desk. “But sometimes it’s not what people say, is it? It’s how they behave.”
Nicky nodded. “Indeed,” she said, holding Lara in her gaze a fraction longer than was necessary. She looked at her notebook. “And how were they behaving, would you say? Did they seem . . . nervous? Upset? Agitated?”
“Actually,” said Lara, with the assurance of a liar finally drawing on fact, “they were laughing. I remember being quite shocked.”
Lara’s father gave a disapproving tut.
“And once you’d got over your . . . shock,” said Nicky, “did you notice in which direction they headed?”
“They ran off. In a hurry. I didn’t notice in which direction.”
“So you didn’t follow them?” said Nicky, and Fleet watched Lara closely.
“Follow them? Why would I follow them?”
“From what we’ve gathered you were pretty upset. In the wake of an altercation that had allegedly taken place.”
Lara’s mask slipped slightly. “There was no allegedly about it,” she said, bridling. “Mason Payne practically broke Ian’s nose. At the very least you should arrest him for that.”
“Rest assured that any allegation of assault will be fully investigated. But in the meantime,” Nicky went on, “and just for clarity, you’re maintaining you didn’t pursue Sadie’s friends into the woods?”
“Now wait just a minute,” said Sweeney, leaning forward. “What exactly are you insinuating? Are you trying to suggest my daughter had anything to do with what happened out there?” He gestured loosely at the window, toward the trees on the distant horizon. “From what I gather, a boy was killed.”
“That’s right, Mr. Sweeney,” Nicky replied. “A boy was killed. And as much as this investigation is focused on Sadie, we’re also looking to establish exactly how that happened. As it stands, your daughter is the closest thing we have to an independent witness.”
Sweeney smiled and shook his head. “You see?” he said to the head teacher. “This is exactly why I wanted you in here. Talk about independent witnesses . . .” He shook his head again. “Rest assured, officers, that if you start putting words in my daughter’s mouth, Miss Andrews will be there at your tribunal to back me up.”
Fleet saw the head teacher stiffen slightly, whether at Sweeney’s presumption or his failure to use her preferred title, Fleet couldn’t have said.
“Come now, Mr. Sweeney,” said Ms. Andrews. “I’m sure that’s not the police officers’ intention. Please try to remember that someone else’s daughter is missing. This is about the safety of our children, nothing more.”
“I think we all know what this is about,” Sweeney said, glaring at Fleet. “He screws up. He’s got a bee in his bonnet about something that happened almost twenty years ago, and when he takes it out on a bunch of kids, one of them ends up dead. And now he’s looking to cover his arse by blaming my kid. Excuse my French, princess,” Sweeney added as an aside, once again patting his daughter’s hand.
There was tension around Lara’s lips, as though she were suppressing a smile.
“Please,” Fleet said, and he focused on Lara. “Answer the question my colleague asked you. Did you follow Sadie’s friends into the woods?”
Lara didn’t even blink. “No,” she said, turning to Nicky. “I didn’t follow them. Into the woods or anywhere else.”
Nicky turned the pages in her notepad. She spun it so that Lara could read from it. SweeneyTodd2002 and Princess_69 were written and underlined on an otherwise empty page. “Do you recognize either of these Instagram handles, Lara?”
Lara moved only her eyes. “Nope,” she said. “Should I?”
“They don’t belong to you?” Nicky asked her.
“If they did I probably would have recognized them,” said Lara. She exhaled as though suddenly bored, and examined one of her fingernails.
Nicky kept her eyes locked on Lara. “Do you know who does own them?”
“My daughter just said she doesn’t recognize them, Detective Sergeant. If she’s never seen them before, how is she supposed to know who owns them?”
Nicky ignored the interjection. “Lara? Please answer the question.”
“No, I don’t know who owns them,” said Lara. “Why? What does it matter?”
“It matters because we believe that whoever owns these accounts was responsible for starting the rumors that were circulating about Sadie before she went missing. You are aware of those rumors, Lara?”
Lara’s expression, when she looked at Nicky, was a challenge. “You mean the rumors that she was sleeping around? That rather than the goody two-shoes everyone thought she was, she was actually just a common slut?”
“Lara!” exclaimed Ms. Andrews.
Lara looked at the head teacher evenly. “The detective sergeant asked me if I was aware of the rumors, Ms. Andrews. I was only checking to see which rumors she meant.”
“Yes, Lara,” said Nicky. “Those rumors. You’re clearly aware of them. And as I say, they seemed to have originated from these accounts.”
Lara was looking at Nicky now with open contempt. “Seriously?” she said. “Sweeney Todd? Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to set up an account that could so easily be linked back to me?”
It was a reasonable point, and obviously one Fleet had considered himself. On the other hand, Lara seemed exactly the type of person who would want everyone to know what she was saying, and the Instagram handles might well have been a way of conveying her identity while at the same time shielding her from potential repercussions.
Nicky leaned forward in her chair. “Have you heard of the term ‘defamation,’ Lara? Are you aware that it is a civil offense to spread lies about a person’s character that end up doing them harm?”
“Now hold on!” Lara’s father interrupted. “Lara just said she had nothing to do with those accounts. Talk about defamation!”
“And anyway,” said Lara, unperturbed, “it isn’t an offense if it’s true.” She looked at Fleet. “That’s right, isn’t it, Rob?”
Nicky frowned. “Are you saying you know why the rumors started?”
Lara rolled her
