Page 121 of Twisted Lies

One Hundred Four

‘Miss Lennox?’ Stacey asked, showing her identification.

‘It’s Mrs. Not all principals are dried-up old spinsters.’

Stacey looked for humour in her words and found none.

Stacey opened her mouth, but Anna Lennox didn’t appear to be in the mood to listen.

‘Despite your bullying antics, Officer, I have brought you Jacob Powell’s file as soon as I received authorisation from the board to share his details.’

‘Mrs Lennox, I apologise for my overzealousness, but when we’re working a major investigation—’

‘An apology isn’t really an apology if it includes a but,’ Anna said, holding the plain manila folder towards her. ‘I’ve copied everything in his file. I have to ask if this has any connection to an online news article that mentions “a staff member from Ormiston Forge” that was involved in a police incident in Stourbridge earlier today.’

Stacey nodded but said nothing. She really needed to be back at her desk, supporting the boss. There was nothing more to learn here. The file was useless to her now she knew Jacob Powell’s relationship to Emily Harris.

‘Is he… dead?’ she asked, swallowing before the final word.

‘I’m sorry. I can’t really tell you more until family members have been informed.’

‘I understand. Can you just tell me if it’s Liam? He suffers sometimes from bouts of—’

‘No,’ Stacey said, shaking her head. ‘Your supply teacher is perfectly safe, as far as I know.’

Stacey felt something form in her stomach as the woman frowned.

‘I think there’s been some kind of mistake.’

Stacey said nothing and let the woman speak.

When she’d finished, Stacey sprinted to the front desk and picked up the phone.

‘Pass yer phone, Jack,’ she cried.

He did, and she dialled Penn’s internal number with trembling fingers.

‘Penn, we’ve got a problem.’

‘Well, make that two cos that Transit van never came back.’

One Hundred Five

Kim froze as the door opened in front of her.

Emergency lighting illuminated the macabre sight of Leanne King lying half-naked and semi-conscious on a stationary conveyor belt that rose up into the air like an escalator.

Her arms had been stretched around each edge of the belt and tied underneath.

Her top half was clothed, but her lower half was naked except for a pair of plain black panties.

The figure bent over her hadn’t heard Kim enter, and it took her less than a second to realise their mistake.

Liam Docherty was Jacob Powell.

Her mind catapulted back to the first meeting at the school. Anna Lennox hadn’t introduced them. The teacher had come into the office at the school and introduced himself and then introduced his teaching assistant once they reached the classroom. He had swapped their names so that they had been looking for the wrong person. He must have known he was close to finding Leanne and that the confusion would buy him enough time to find her and get Boy X’s location. The absence of an identity photograph had further compounded the mistake.

Kim felt the tension dry her mouth.