‘Don’t Mum me. Up, now.’ She threw my school shirt onto the bed and left the room.
There’s no way I can go to school today but Mum is giving me no choice. I snatch my crumpled shirt and put it on while sitting in bed. Then, I check my phone. Notifications galore fill it. Taylor had made the news. Everyone knows that she’s been murdered, but only I was there at the time. Gulping, I throw my phone onto the bed and step out into the chilly room.
Pulling my curtains back, I peer out of the window, wondering if the killer is out there. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be at home alone. Another person knows I was there last night and I know they’re coming for me. Soon I will have enough information to go to the police, when Mr Whittle turns up. If he can threaten to hurt my mum like he did, he’s capable of hurting Annabel. I swallow. If I do tell the police, I have to tell them I’ve been watching Annabel and Whittle, and that I was there when Taylor got killed. They’ll arrest me for stalking at the very least. People have seen me hanging around. Shaking, I realise I’ve done my buttons up wrong so I try to undo them. My fingers feel too fat to do it and I can’t undo the top one. In frustration I pull it apart and the button pings off my laptop screen. I put my tie on to hide the missing button. The last thing I need is Ms Law on my back today.
‘Are you nearly ready, Omar? Hurry up, I’ll give you a lift.’
I throw my trousers on and gel my hair. I stink but I don’t care. I literally have bigger things to worry about now I am being dropped off at school. ‘I’m okay, Mum. I’ll use my bike.’ It’s worth asking.
‘No, you won’t. I’m taking you to school.’
I kick the bedroom door and grab a tub of chewing gum. I wish she’d just leave me alone. Something big is happening and I’m on the cusp of it all. It’s either me or the murderer and Mum is putting me at a disadvantage now. As I pass Mum in the hallway, I slip the spare key off the hook while she’s putting her shoes on. It’s a race against me solving everything or me being killed and I have no idea how this will go.
FORTY-ONE
‘Ms Law, we’re really sorry to interrupt your lessons again.’ Gina smiled.
The apples of Kirsty Law’s cheeks were a shimmery brown as she passed under the strip light and opened her office door. ‘That’s no problem at all. I’ve left Miriam with my class for now. How can I help you? Is there any news about Annabel? We’re all really worried.’ She pushed the door to her office open and they all sat in the same seats as the other day.
‘I’m afraid not.’
Kirsty bit her bottom lip and exhaled. ‘I know the girl who was murdered. I saw the news this morning. Taylor used to be a student of ours and I know she was Annabel’s childminder. We’re all really sad to hear what’s happened and there is a lot of speculation that her murder is linked to Annabel’s disappearance. It’s too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?’
‘We are treating both incidents as linked. We’re looking for a student of yours? Lad of about fourteen, maybe fifteen. Black hair. Described as thin and as having a crush on Annabel.’
Kirsty’s nostrils flared as she inhaled. Eyes stark, she paused. ‘Omar Abidar. He has the biggest crush on her and everyone knows it. He stays behind after her lessons and asks her question after question just to keep her in the room. You don’t think he could be involved? I mean, he’s just a kid.’
‘We simply need to speak to him. We’re considering him to be a witness at this stage.’
‘Witness. This didn’t happen at school. How could he witness anything? Wait, Annabel did mention once that she thought she saw him hanging around by her house and her neighbour saw a boy of his description looking through one of her windows. We didn’t do enough, did we? Annabel wasn’t worried so we never mentioned it again. She said she’d had a word with him and everything was now okay.’ Kirsty slumped back in her chair. ‘Do we have to worry about him?’
Gina unbuttoned her coat. It was getting stuffy in the little office. ‘As I said, we need to speak to him. Could I please have his address and parents’ phone number?’
‘Parent. His father died a few years ago. It’s just him and his mother now.’ She tapped a few keys. ‘He lives on Spool Close.’ She stared at the screen. ‘That’s really close to where Mr Whittle lives.’
‘Do you have his mother’s number?’ Gina made a mental note of the proximity to Whittle.
The woman began to write it down and passed the piece of paper over and Wyre took it.
‘Is he in school today?’
‘Let me check the registration records.’ She clicked her mouse and scrolled before squinting. ‘No, he’s down as an unauthorised absence. It looks like we’ve tried to call his mother but she didn’t answer her phone.’
Gina’s heart rate picked up. As Omar didn’t turn up at school it was looking more likely that he was at the scene of the murder. They needed to speak to him and they’d need his mother to be there. ‘Where does his mother work?’
‘At the post office on Cleevesford High Street.’
‘How has he seemed lately?’
‘Now that I think about it, he’s seemed a bit odd. He’s missed a few classes. He looks worried, like he has something on his mind and his classwork hasn’t been neat. He gets bullied a little. Generally, he’s keen, loves school and is very intelligent. As for his behaviour, it wouldn’t be the first time a teen has had a bit of a crush on a teacher. They normally move on and start paying attention to kids their own age. It’s not something I worried about with Annabel. She seemed to be handling it fine. Do you think he could have something to do with Annabel’s disappearance?’ She shook her head. ‘No, it’s just a silly crush. Omar is a lovely kid.’
Gina waited for Wyre to catch up on the note-taking. ‘Thank you for all that you’ve given us, here.’
‘Something else has come to light,’ Kirsty Law said.
Leaning a little, Gina laid her hands on the desk and listened.
‘Mr Whittle. Two more women have come forward since Annabel’s disappearance. They claimed that he touched them inappropriately and they are convinced he has something to do with it. One is a lunchtime superintendent and the other is an evening cleaner. I was going to call you.’
