‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound facetious. But you saw those kids’ pictures on the wall. I meant everyone’s scared. The adults are no different.’
He thought for a moment.
‘Karen was a really valued team member. But she’d become quite stressed in those last couple of weeks. She was snappy, which was unusual. Definitely distracted. And she’d been making one or two errors in the accounts. Nothing serious, we caught them. But again, it was unlike her. It bothered her. She was normally so precise. So she came to see me about it.’
Karen shut the door behind her. She chose the seat closest to Whitlam’s desk. She sat straight-backed and crossed her legs neatly at the ankles. Her wraparound dress was flattering but modest, with a subtle print of white apples against a red background. Karen was the kind of woman whose youthful good looks had been softened by age and childbirth into something less defined, but just as appealing in their own way. She could easily be cast as a how-does-she-do-it mum in a supermarket ad. Anyone could have confidence in a brand of detergent or cereal Karen Hadler recommended.
Now she was clutching a small stack of papers on her lap.
‘Scott,’ she began, then stopped. He waited. She took a deep breath. ‘Scott, to be honest, I wasn’t sure about coming to you with this. My husband –’ Karen held his gaze, but Whitlam felt she was forcing herself. ‘Luke, well. Look, he wouldn’t be happy.’
Raco leaned forward. ‘Did she sound scared of her husband?’
‘I didn’t think so at the time.’ Whitlam pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘But knowing what happened the next day makes me realise I probably wasn’t listening closely enough. I worry that I missed the signs. I’ve asked myself that every day. But I want to be clear that if I’d suspected for a minute they were in danger, I’d obviously never have let her and Billy go home.’ Whitlam’s words unconsciously echoed Jamie Sullivan’s.
Karen fiddled with her wedding ring.
‘You and I have worked together for a while – worked together well, I would say –’ She looked up and Whitlam nodded. ‘I feel I have to say something.’
She paused again, and took a deep breath.
‘I know there have been some issues lately. With me, and my work. A few mistakes here and there.’
‘One or two perhaps, but there’s no harm done, Karen. You’re a good worker, everyone can see that.’
She nodded once, dropping her eyes. When she looked up, her face was set.
‘Thank you. But there is a problem. And I can’t turn a blind eye to it.’
‘She said the farm was going under,’ Whitlam said. ‘Karen thought they had six months, maybe less. She said Luke didn’t believe it. Apparently he was sure things would turn around, but she said she could see it coming. She was worried. She actually apologised to me.’
Whitlam made a little noise of disbelief.
‘It seems absurd now. But she said she was sorry she’d been so distracted. Karen asked me not to tell Luke that she’d told me. Not that I would have, of course. But she said he’d be upset if he thought she’d been spreading it around town.’
Whitlam chewed his thumbnail.
‘I think she needed to get it off her chest. I got her a glass of water, listened for a while. Reassured her that her job wasn’t at risk, that sort of thing.’
‘Did you know Luke Hadler well?’ Falk said.
‘Not well. I met him a few times, of course. Parents’ night. I’d see him down the pub occasionally, but not really to chat to. He seemed nice enough, though. Active parent as well. I couldn’t believe it when I got that call. It’s bad enough to lose a member of staff, but to lose a student. It’s a teacher’s worst nightmare.’
Falk said, ‘Who told you what had happened?’
‘Someone from Clyde police phoned the school. I suppose because Billy was a pupil. It was late-ish by then, close to seven. I’d been about to leave for the night but I remember sitting here instead, trying to process it. Trying to work out how to tell the children the next day.’
He shrugged sadly.
‘There is no good way. Billy and my daughter were quite good friends, you know? They were in the same class. That’s why it was such a shock to hear Billy was caught up in it.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Raco.
‘Because he was supposed to be round at our place that afternoon,’ Whitlam said, as if it were obvious. He looked back and forth between Falk’s and Raco’s blank faces. He held out his hands, confused.
‘Sorry, I thought you knew. I told the Clyde officers. Billy was supposed to come over and play that day but Karen called my wife and cancelled at the last minute. She said Billy had been under the weather.’
‘He was well enough to come to school though. Did you and your wife believe her?’ Falk asked, leaning forward.
