Page 58 of The Guilty Girl

‘Yeah, I used to teach. I don’t do cleaning work to supplement my income, I do it because I have to pay the rent somehow.’

Lottie wondered why she was no longer teaching. ‘What subjects?’

‘Why do you need to know that?’

She smiled sweetly. ‘I like to be thorough.’

‘I taught business and geography. I also covered the PE classes when I was needed.’

‘So you must know Noel Glennon. He’s the PE teacher and athletics coach.’

Sarah’s hand shook and the tissue fluttered like snow to the floor. When she looked over at Lottie, her eyes were hard as lead.

‘Noel Glennon is the reason I gave up my job.’

‘What happened?’ Lottie inched to the edge of the couch in case she missed anything crucial.

‘It’s not relevant to your investigation.’

‘We don’t know what’s relevant at this stage. Noel Glennon was working at Lucy’s last night.’

‘That really disturbs me.’ Sarah paled.

‘Why?’

‘Others might tell you he can do no wrong, but I don’t believe that for a minute.’

Lottie perked up at this snippet of information. ‘Please, Sarah, tell me what happened.’

‘I accused him of stalking a student. She had come to me in confidence. Told me how she thought he was watching her. Hanging around the changing rooms. That type of thing. She was distraught. I handled it all wrong.’

‘How did you handle it?’

‘I tried to deal with it myself when I should have reported it to the principal and informed her parents. The whole thing blew up in my face.’ Sarah found another tissue under a cushion and blew her nose loudly.

Lottie remained silent. Best way to let the woman reveal her story.

‘You see, I confronted Noel. First mistake. He laughed in my face. Such an awful man.’

Silence ensued, so Lottie said, ‘What happened?’

‘He got to the principal before I did and twisted everything. He made out that I was the one harassing students. The thing is, I previously had a problem with alcohol, and I’d already had a warning against me. I was fragile at that time and my defence got lost in the myriad of accusations he flung my way. My job became untenable. I had to leave before I literally cracked up.’

‘The school couldn’t dismiss you without a proper investigation, surely?’

‘I couldn’t take it. Not with a previous warning hanging over me. I lost my confidence in one fell swoop. I quit.’ She looked up at Lottie, her eyes a blaze of burning rage.

‘Do you mind telling me who brought you the original allegation of stalking?’

‘I can’t break her confidence.’

‘A seventeen-year-old girl has been murdered. Noel Glennon was present at her party. It is imperative that I know who he was stalking.’

Sarah’s eyes dulled as she lost her fight. ‘It was Ivy Jones.’

‘Thank you for telling me.’

The revelation worried Lottie. She needed to dig deep on Noel Glennon before she hauled him in again. She’d have to talk to Ivy about it, and that meant breaking a confidence.