‘Definitely not. All I hear all day is Miss Dean this, Miss Dean that. Miriam is a blessed change.’
‘Thanks, Miriam. Could you tell me a little about your relationship with Annabel?’
‘I know her to say good morning to. Sometimes we talk about the latestEastEnderscliffhanger, but that’s it really. We’ve never had what I’d call personal conversations.’
‘Do you remember seeing her at the Christmas party on the barge?’
‘Oh, that infamous night. She was so drunk and by drunk, I mean she was falling over everywhere. I helped her up once. It was like she’d been let out of a box.’
‘A box?’
‘You know? Pressures of a young family. Having a night off to let her hair down.’
‘Later that night, she was seen crying. Did you see her?’
She scrunched her brow. ‘Yes. It’s vague as I was a bit hammered myself. She went off walking, alone. I was at the bar laughing and joking with some of our colleagues then I saw her with Tom Whittle.’ Miriam’s smile dropped and she paused.
‘What did they do?’
‘He came to the bar and bought her a drink. I think it was a bottle of something. Beer maybe. He went over to her and gave her the drink. They looked like they were talking for a minute or so, then she walked away from him with the beer. That’s when I turned back to the people I was talking with and I didn’t see her until she appeared back by the tree about half an hour later. Her hair had fallen from the pleat it was in and she was drunkenly shouting at Tom.’
‘Did you hear what she said?’
‘I wish I did but with it being a bit windy, I was wearing a scarf too that I’d hitched up over my ears. It was so cold. Anyway, I went to go over but he gave me a look.’
‘A look?’
‘As if to say, stay away and, frankly, I didn’t want to go anywhere near him anyway.’
‘You’ve had some sort of trouble with Mr Whittle?’
‘You know, don’t you?’
‘Ms Law told us about the allegation that you reported, then withdrew.’
‘I never want to talk about that again. She shouldn’t have said anything. It was confidential.’ Her cheeks reddened.
‘It would really help us if you did. I know you don’t want to but Ms Law was only trying to help Annabel.’
She swallowed and leaned back. ‘You’re right. This isn’t about me. Maybe it’s time to speak up and not let that man get to me. I know what happened.’ Swinging around on the chair, she stared out of the window and began to speak. ‘It was in November, last year. I’d just come out of the staff-only ladies. It was quiet as it was during lesson time. As I entered the corridor, I stopped to tie my hair back up, that’s when I felt his slimy tongue on my neck. He turned me around and pressed me against the wall, telling me that he knew I wanted him. Anyway, I slapped him and pushed him away. I noticed how hard I’d hit him. His face was red. He said that if I said anything, he’d say I tried to kiss him and then slapped him when he said he didn’t want me to touch him.’
‘You told Ms Law.’
Miriam nodded. ‘Yes, I had to. It was eating me up and I couldn’t face the man. It was horrible so I told her what happened. She questioned him, of course, and forwarded the complaint to the head. Literally, within hours, I’d had enough of the stares. Some of the staff thought I was making it up and others believed me but there was no proof and Tom was claiming that I assaulted him. Can you believe the nerve of the man? The thing is, he comes across as lovely and caring. They can’t see what he’s really like. I told Ms Law that I wanted to drop it and it had all been a misunderstanding. It seemed so trivial when I’d thought about it and I kept questioning whether something I said or did gave him the wrong impression. He also said he wanted to drop it. Since then, he’s stayed away from me. He did do it though. I’m not lying. It was in no way my fault. That man is a snake.’
‘Thank you for being so open, Miriam. It must be hard reliving that moment and if you want to formally report it so that we can investigate, our door is always open.’
‘I don’t want to. I really want it to go away. I don’t want to be school gossip. I’m telling you so that I can help Annabel.’
Gina nodded, not wanting to upset Miriam. ‘Did you ever see him approaching Annabel at school?’
‘No, but I did see him and Annabel outside talking together and they seemed to be smiling and laughing. This was just before the party but I couldn’t give you an exact date. I remember thinking she was mad letting him anywhere near her. I could see his hand on her lower back and she tilted her head. For a moment, I thought they might kiss, but they didn’t. I think there was something going on. After seeing that, I kept away from her, too. Everyone knew what I’d accused him of but no one else saw that side of him. If you meet him, you’ll know what I mean. It’s also no secret that Annabel was in an unhappy marriage. She was vulnerable to his charm and attention.’
‘When was the last time you saw him?’
‘About two and a half weeks ago. Thinking about it now, something did happen. A few days earlier, I saw Annabel whispering something to him in the gym block corridor. She looked really fed up. I’ve seen them loitering there to talk before.’
‘Did you hear anything?’
