Page 114 of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

‘Yeah, sorry,’ Pip said, grasping for her stash of courage but it leaked out of reach. ‘Um . . .’

‘Everything OK?’ Elliot said, sitting back on his desk, his arms and legs crossed. ‘You worrying about university applications? We can go over your personal statement some time if –’

‘No, it’s not that.’ She took a breath and blew out her top lip. ‘I . . . when I interviewed you before you said you didn’t have anything to do with Andie in the last two years of school.’

‘Yes, correct.’ He blinked. ‘She didn’t take history.’

‘OK, but –’ the courage trickled back all at once and her words raced each other out – ‘one of Andie’s friends said that, excuse the language, Andie referred to you as an arsehole and other unsavoury words sometime in the weeks before she went missing.’

The why question was evidently there hiding beneath her words; she didn’t need to speak it.

‘Oh,’ Elliot said, rubbing the dark hair back from his face. He looked at her and sighed. ‘Well, I was hoping this wouldn’t come up. I don’t see what good it can do to dwell on it now. But I can see you’re being very thorough with your project.’

Pip nodded, her long silence beckoning an answer.

Elliot shuffled. ‘I don’t feel too comfortable about it, saying unpleasant things about a student who has lost their life.’ He glanced up at the open classroom door and scooted over to shut it. ‘Um, I didn’t have much to do with Andie at school but I knew of her, of course, as Naomi’s dad. And . . . it was in that capacity, through Naomi, that I learned some things about Andie Bell.’

‘Yes?’

‘No soft way of saying it but . . . she was a bully. She was bullying another girl in their year. I can’t remember her name now, something Portuguese-sounding. There was some sort of incident, a video online that Andie had posted.’

Pip was both surprised and not at all. Yet another path opening up in the maze of Andie Bell’s life. Palimpsest upon palimpsest, the original concept of Andie only just peeking out through all the overlaying scribbles.

‘I knew enough to understand that Andie would be in trouble with both the school and the police for what she’d done,’ Elliot continued. ‘And I . . . I thought it was a shame because it was the first week back after Easter and her A-level exams were coming up. Exams that would determine her entire future.’ He sighed. ‘What I should have done, when I found out, was tell the head teacher about the incident. But the school has a no-tolerance policy on bullying or cyber-bullying and I knew Andie would be expelled immediately. No A levels, no university and I, well, I just couldn’t do it. Even though she was a bully, I couldn’t live with myself knowing I’d play a part in ruining a student’s future.’

‘So what did you do?’ Pip asked.

‘I looked up her father’s contact details and I called him, the first day of term after the Easter holidays.’

‘You mean the Monday of the week Andie disappeared?’

Elliot nodded. ‘Yes, I suppose it was. I phoned Jason Bell and I told him everything I’d learned and said that he needed to have a very serious talk with his daughter about bullying and consequences. And I suggested restricting her online access. I said I was trusting him to sort this out, otherwise I would have no choice but to inform the school and have Andie expelled.’

‘And what did he say?’

‘Well, he was thankful that I was giving his daughter a second chance she possibly didn’t deserve. And he promised he would sort it out and talk to her. I’m guessing now that when Mr Bell did speak to Andie he mentioned that I was the source of the information. So, if I was the target of some choice words from Andie that week, I’m not entirely surprised, I must say. Disappointed is all.’

Pip took a deep breath, one glazed with undisguised relief.

‘What’s that for?’

‘I’m just glad you weren’t lying for a worse reason.’

‘Think you’ve read too many mystery novels, Pip. Why not some historical biographies instead?’ He smiled gently.

‘They can be just as disturbing as fiction.’ She paused. ‘You’d never told anyone before, had you . . . about Andie’s bullying?’

‘Of course not. It seemed pointless after everything that happened. Insensitive too.’ He scratched his chin. ‘I try not to think about it because I get lost in butterfly-effect theories. What if I had just told the school and Andie was expelled that week? Would it have changed the outcome? Would the conditions that led to Sal killing her not have been in place? Would those two still be alive?’

‘That’s a rabbit hole you shouldn’t go down,’ Pip said. ‘And you definitely don’t remember the girl that who bullied?’

‘No, sorry,’ he said. ‘Naomi would remember; you could ask her about it. Not sure what this has to do with use of media in criminal investigations, though.’ He looked at her with a slightly scolding look.

‘Well, I’m yet to decide on my final title,’ she smiled.

‘OK, well, don’t go falling down your own rabbit hole.’ He wagged his finger. ‘And now I’m running away from you because I’m desperate for a tuna melt.’ He smiled and dashed out into the corridor.

Pip felt lighter, the bulk of doubt disappearing, just as Elliot now had through the door. And instead of misplaced speculation leading her astray, she now had another real lead to follow. And one less name on her list. It was a good trade to make.