Page 105 of Good Girl, Bad Blood

So, he wanted to play it that way, did he?

‘Oh, OK,’ Pip said, ‘my mistake.’ She stood up, heading towards the door. Behind her, she heard Mr Clark breathe a sigh of relief. That’s when she stopped, turned back. ‘It’s just,’ she said, scratching her head like she was confused, ‘it’s strange, then.’

‘Sorry?’ said Mr Clark.

‘I mean, it’s strange that you’ve never heard the name Layla Mead before, when you follow her on Instagram and have liked several of her posts.’ Pip looked up at the ceiling, like she was searching for an explanation. ‘Maybe you forgot about that?’

‘I . . . I,’ he stammered, watching Pip warily as she stepped forward.

‘Yeah, you must have forgot about it,’ she said. ‘Because I know you wouldn’t intentionally lie about something that could help save an ex-pupil’s life.’

‘My brother,’ Connor chimed in, and Pip hated to admit it, but his timing was perfect. And that glassy, imploring look in his eyes too: spot on.

‘Um, I . . . I don’t think this is appropriate,’ Mr Clark said, a flush of red appearing above his collar. ‘Do you know how strict they are now, after everything with Mr Ward and Andie Bell? All these safeguarding measures, I shouldn’t even be alone with any student.’

‘Well, we aren’t alone.’ Pip gestured to Connor. ‘And the door can stay wide open, if you want. All I care about is finding Jamie Reynolds alive. And to do that, I need to you to tell me everything you know about Layla Mead.’

‘Stop,’ Mr Clark said, the red creeping above his beard into his cheeks now. ‘I am your teacher, please stop trying to manipulate me.’

‘No one’s manipulating here,’ Pip said coolly, glancing back at Connor. She knew exactly what she was about to do, and that pit in her stomach knew too, reflooding with guilt.Ignore it, just ignore it. ‘Although I do wonder whether you knew Layla was using the photos of a current student here at Kilton: Stella Chapman?’

‘I didn’t know that at the time,’ he said, voice dipping into whispers. ‘I don’t teach her, I only worked it out a few weeks ago when I saw her walking down the hall, and that was already after me and Layla had stopped talking.’

‘Still,’ Pip pulled a face with gritted teeth, sucking in a breath between them. ‘I wonder if that would get you into hot water if anyone found out.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Here’s what I suggest,’ she said, replacing her expression with an innocent smile. ‘You record an interview with me in which I use a plug-in to distort your voice. Your name will never be mentioned and I’ll bleep out any information that might potentially identify you. But you tell me everything you know about Layla Mead. If you do that, I’m sure no one will ever find out anything you wouldn’t want them to.’

Mr Clark paused for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek, glancing at Connor as though he could help. ‘Is that blackmail?’

‘No sir,’ Pip said. ‘It’s just persuasion.’

Pip:

So, let’s start with how you and Layla met.

Anonymous: