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looking woman too: nicely dressed, neat figure as if she went to the gym a lot, soft fair hair down to
her shoulders, nice eyes.
They told us that for the past forty-eight hours they’d had their hands full, dealing with children
who were understandably frightened and confused about what had happened to Ben, and they’d also
been inundated with phone calls and emails from parents who wanted information and reassurance,
and were questioning the school’s security procedures.
‘It’s a level of panic,’ the Head said tiredly, ‘which suggests that there’s a precedent for the
disappearance of one child to lead to a rash of kidnappings.’
I did what I was supposed to do. I promised we’d keep them updated and that we’d send an officer
to attend a meeting for parents. We spoke about counselling for the children, but I explained the police
view was that it was a bit too soon, that it was something to discuss down the line, depending on the
outcome of the case.
‘We’ll need a list of staff at school,’ I told the Head. ‘In order of those who have the most direct
contact with Ben.’
‘We thought you might,’ he said, ‘so we’ve started to draw one up, and we’ll send that over to you
as soon as it’s complete.’
‘We’ll need that as soon as possible.’
‘I appreciate that, Inspector, and I’ll prioritise it of course. However, there are a large number of
people involved with school and we want to make sure we include anybody who Ben might have
crossed paths with.’
‘It’s not just teaching staff,’ said Miss May. ‘There are the teaching assistants, support staff,
catering assistants…⁠’
‘Domestic staff, site maintenance, parents who help out with clubs…⁠’ the Head went on.
‘Fine,’ I said. ‘Comprehensive is good, but why don’t you send me over what you’ve got so far, so
we can make a start and then you can forward any other names as you think of them.’
‘Of course,’ said the Head. ‘Of course. I’ll ask Anthea to do that.’
He waved a chubby hand at the glass panel set into his office door. Behind it, the secretary hastily
turned away and sat down at her desk, pushing her glasses self-consciously up her nose and trying to
look busy. I wondered how many of his conversations she eavesdropped on.
I felt a headache coming on. Dealing with the school was going to be a minefield. We were going to
have to work all the hours God gave just to get through background checks on everyone who might
have had contact with Ben.
‘In advance of the list, is there anyone working at school who’s given you cause for concern lately,
in terms of their behaviour or in any other way?’ I asked him.
He shook his head. The frown on his forehead seemed to deepen by the minute.
‘Obviously I’ve been racking my brain since this happened,’ he said. ‘But I should say that I am
stressing to parents that it didn’t happen in or near school property. I think that’s worth bearing in
mind, Inspector, when you’re looking for suspects.’
‘As is the fact that this place is the single biggest opportunity for Ben Finch to come into contact
with a wide range of adults.’
‘All of whom are CRB checked.’
‘There’s no need to be defensive, Mr Allen. You know as well as I do that the CRB check is only a
reliable check of previous convictions, not of possible impulses or intentions.’
‘I’m simply keen that the school doesn’t become a particular focus of the investigation.’
That wasn’t worth responding to, it was the kind of jobsworth comment that made me want to slap