After Liz finished her account of what had happened at Hollinby Quernhow, Becky took a thoughtful sip of water. ‘When I think of Nev I always remember that old saying: intelligence is knowing tomato is a fruit … wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad,’ she said.
Liz frowned. ‘Neville was intelligent but not wise?’ she said.
‘He had no sense of howotherpeople might be feeling,’ said Becky. ‘Or if he did, that wasn’t important as long as whathewanted to happen was happening. It was either his way or the highway, if you get my meaning.’
‘But surely,’ said Liz. ‘Surely youneedthat as a head teacher?’
Becky nodded. ‘I’m not saying you don’t need to be decisive,’ she said. ‘It comes back to what I was saying about wisdom – it’s what you’re decisiveabout.’ She gazed at the slab of glaring blue sky visible from the window. ‘There was this one time at Bullamoor Park. Our improvement officer had said school needed to improve its attendance scores, so we introduced this rewards system and the kids took it really seriously – I mean really seriously. And there was this one child – she had the day off to attend her grandmother’s funeral, but Nev refused point-blank to be flexible about it. The child wasn’t in school, so the child could not have her attendance point. There was no end of argy-bargy. It even made theNorthern Echo.’
Liz nodded. ‘So, he was someone who annoyed people.’
Becky nodded. ‘Having said that,’ she said, ‘I mean I don’t think he ever meant any actual harm. I honestly don’t think the man had a mean bone in his body.’
Maybe not a mean bone, Liz thought, but plenty of obstinate ones. ‘So, you couldn’t think of anyone who’d wish to attack him?’ she said.
‘If someone had landed him one in the pub, I could see that,’ said Becky. ‘But for someone to actually turn up at his house and scream in his face …’ She shrugged. ‘Mind you’ – she glanced at the shelves and shelves of ring binders – ‘I could imagine him being a bit of a nightmare as an Ofsted inspector.’
‘Oh?’ said Liz.
Becky frowned at the assembled files on the shelves. ‘He wasn’t very experienced. He was only a head for what – barely three years? – before he did the inspector training. You see, because of being short-staffed they’ve been taking on more and more people who haven’t got so much experience to be inspectors. You should see some of the comments on my head teacher WhatsApp groups. I’m just praying we don’t get one like that.’
The door was abruptly flung open to reveal Linda Barley looking at her watch. ‘Five, four, three, two, one, and it’s one fifteen!’ She gave a little cheer and punched the air. ‘Summer starts here!’
Becky stood up, relief palpable on her face in spite of what she’d said earlier, and turned to her office manager, suddenly brisk and business-like.
‘Can you tell all the staff please, Linda? Perhaps nip down to the bakery, get some buns? And order the skip for tomorrow. Tell the staff they can start stripping displays and clearing out. Oh, and remind them there’s the final Goal Enabling with Bun Widdup Zoom at three fifteen.’
Linda nodded and was gone, leaving Liz briefly wondering what a Bun Widdup Zoom entailed. She stood up. ‘I’m going to let you get on,’ she said.
‘I can’t see I’ve been much help,’ said Becky. ‘About Nev. The thing is – and I know this sounds horrible – but I just can’t see anyone caring enough about him in the first place to do him any actual harm.’
* * *
The afternoon traffic coming out of Leeds was heavy, and even with the air-conditioning on, the air inside the Yeti still felt thick and stuffy. Outside the car everything felt thick and soupy with exhaust fumes. Crawling up Scott Hall Road, Pat felt too tired and heavy to put her tangled thoughts into any semblance of order. What had she actually learned? Those rumours. Butwhathad Nev really done to provoke them in the first place? Something that would give anyone any sort of motive for harming him. But what?
The person walking down Scott Hall Road, deep in thought, gave Pat a jolt of recognition but it was that strange thing of seeing a familiar face in an unfamiliar context and as such she didn’t immediately recognise Tiffany-Jane.
A very subdued Tiffany-Jane …
What on earth was she doing in Leeds? Why was the energetic, motivated Ms T.J. Rox looking so tired and grim? And – and somehow this was the most shocking thing of all – why was she without make-up?
Chapter Eight
Monday 14th July
Voice of the Vale, Thirsk FM Radio: Today’s beat-the-heat tip!
Hey, hot Thirskians! Today’s the ideal day to defrost that freezer! And save all those lovely chunks of ice … Put them in a bowl in front of a fan – and voila! Your own home air-conditioner!
About two hours later, Jax’s cherry-red hatchback could be seen zipping down the lanes to Hollinby Quernhow.
‘I could tell Nev hadn’t been happy for a while.’ Jax smartly changed gear and the car roared accordingly. ‘I used to be sat there talking to him and I’d think:You’re not happy.’
Thelma clutched her seatbelt and tried to focus on what Jax was saying, as opposed to how she was driving. Ideally, she would have driven herself and met Jax at the Old Barn – but things were far from ideal. Again, she thought of the letter that had been awaiting her when she arrived home yesterday and was now sitting unopened in her desk drawer.
No … ! Focus on the task in hand, Thelma!
‘So, you were still in touch with Neville then?’ she said,reflexively pushing with her braking foot as the car nipped round a bend in the road.
