Page 72 of Dying Truth

‘What did Christian say when he returned?’

Joanna thought for a moment and then tipped her head. ‘He didn’t return. Not before all the noise sounded in the corridor when Shaun had been discovered.’

Kim felt the dread turn into a wave. ‘So, we don’t know if Christian actually saw something when he went to chivvy up Shaun?’

Joanna shook her head. ‘I certainly haven’t asked him. To my knowledge Shaun had accidentally ingested a nut product.’

Kim glanced at Bryant. The alarm was reflected on his face as they both realised what they’d just learned.

Christian and Shaun had been out of the classroom at the same time. There were two possibilities. Either Christian had murdered Shaun or, if not, he might have seen who had.

Whichever scenario was accurate they needed to speak to the boy right now.

Forty-Nine

Christian Fellows now understood that he had never felt real fear in his thirteen years.

Not when he’d climbed the ancient elm tree in the garden and realised that he didn’t like heights. Or when he’d fallen and broken his left arm. Not even when his parents had sat him down for the ‘chat’ five years ago when he was eight years old. They had talked to him of not getting along, of separate houses and they would both still love him whether they were together or not. He now knew that had not been fear.

This was fear running around his body as though it was attached to his blood cells.

Because right now he was on his own.

He had made sure he’d been amongst people since he’d been sent to find Shaun the previous day.

He had heard Shaun’s cries for help, had seen him crawling across the floor, with a scarf covering his eyes, fighting for breath. He’d known that his classmate was dying, and he’d also known someone else was in the room.

He hadn’t seen the person. He didn’t know who it was. But the person didn’t know that. He wanted to put a sign on both his back and front stating ‘I didn’t see you’ so that whoever it was knew they were in no danger from him. He couldn’t tell anyone, in case he was telling the person who had done it.

He still didn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Shaun. Shaun didn’t upset anyone. He wasn’t the worst at anything or even the best. He was just Shaun.

From the moment he’d run away and hid in the library, trying to form his thoughts, trying to get his own breathing under control, he’d made sure that he was with someone every single minute.

All day he’d attached himself to any group so that whoever had hurt Shaun couldn’t get to him.

But he was alone now.

Mrs Atkinson had instructed him to leave the biology lesson and report to the headmaster’s office.

The hallways were deserted.

One more corridor to go and he’d be outside Mrs Lawson’s office and he’d feel safe again. Just down three stairs and then past the janitor’s room. Just ten more steps and he’d be safe.

He didn’t know why the headmaster wanted to see him. Did he know his secret? Did he know he’d seen Shaun and he’d done nothing but run away in fear? The heat of his shame flushed his cheeks.

If only Miss Wade had sent someone else. Maybe they’d have known what to do. Maybe they wouldn’t have run away, terrified. Maybe Shaun would still be alive.

Please just let me get to the office, he prayed, as a hand grabbed the back of his neck.

Fifty

Kim stepped into the gym hall to either prove or disprove the fear that was growing within her after speaking to Joanna Wade. The room was empty except for an athletic male dragging blue plastic mats to a pile at the side of the room. A pommel horse was the only item of equipment left to move. A line of blue tape was stretched across the doorway to the locker rooms where forensics were searching for clues to help them identify Shaun’s killer.

His face formed an instant frown at the intrusion of strangers into his work area. It faded as he realised who they were.

‘Police officers?’ he said, to make sure.

Both she and Bryant reached into their pockets for their identification.