Page 27 of Maybe Tomorrow

Typing stopped and calls were finished. Ritter, Tyler, Osborne and the rest of CID grabbed their notebooks and sat, pens poised, for Bishop to begin.

‘Right then. Monday October the tenth. It’s an ordinary day. Alice goes to Whitby Community College as normal. Her father drops her off in his van and goes to work. He sees Alice go into the college. What happened next?’ He turned to look at his team.

DC Chris Tyler cleared his throat. ‘Me and Stephen went to the college and interviewed everyone who shares classes with Alice, and spoke to her tutors.’

‘And?’ Bishop asked.

‘Alice was a bit of a loner,’ Chris continued. ‘She had a few friends, but not many. According to some of the students, there was a gang of girls who picked on her.’

‘In what way?’

‘There was one,’ he said, scrolling through his notebook. ‘Rosie Clegg. The word used to describe her by most of the other students is “bitch”. She’s at the college retaking her O-levels. She fancies herself and flirts with all the lads. She’s a good-looking lass and knows it.’

‘So, why is she picking on Alice Patterson?’

Chris shrugged. ‘I’m guessing because she’s an easy target.’

‘Did you talk to this Rosie… what is it?’

‘Clegg. Yes, we did. She was very cruel about Alice. She said someone like her shouldn’t be at the college.’

‘Someone like her?’

‘Someone with Down’s syndrome.’

‘Only, she didn’t call it Down’s syndrome,’ Osborne spoke up.

Bishop turned in his seat to face DS Osborne who was leaning against a wall at the back of the room. He had a mug of tea in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

‘What did she call it?’

‘I’d rather not say,’ Osborne replied, nodding towards DC Tyler. ‘Let’s just say Chris tore a strip off her and she went quiet.’

Chris reddened. ‘I didn’t mean to, sir. It’s just… she shouldn’t have said what she said, especially not about someone who’d been killed. The girl had no compassion at all.’

Bishop nodded. ‘Don’t worry about it, Chris. Now, we know our killer is a man because Alice was raped. But could this Rosie Clegg have had anything to do with it?’

‘I don’t think so,’ Chris answered. ‘She’s too wrapped up in herself.’

Bishop looked back to Stephen who shook his head.

‘Is there anyone at the college we should be interested in? Any male teachers or male students who seem a bit dodgy? Caretakers and catering staff?’

‘Alice was at the college for two subjects– English and Maths,’ Chris said. ‘Both her tutors were female. All the male students we spoke to have alibis that more or less check out.’

‘More or less?’ Bishop asked.

‘A couple alibi each other. With the exception of Rosie Clegg, they were all really shocked by what happened.’

‘OK. Now, what about Alice’s father? Does his alibi stand up?’

‘He arrived at the building site in High Stakesby just after quarter past nine,’ DC Edward Ritter said, looking intently at his battered notebook. ‘He was there all day according to the lads on the site. When the weather turned, they all downed tools and went to the café across the road for the rest of the day. It was only when the woman in the café told them she was shutting early that they went their separate ways home. Now, normally, Geoff Patterson would have gone home on his own. This particular day, however, he gave a lift to… hang on a minute,’ Ritter said as he flicked back and forth through his notebook. ‘Sean someone or other. I’m sure I wrote his last name down. Anyway, this Sean’s car wouldn’t start so Geoff gave him a lift home. He dropped Sean off at just after five then went straight home. I’ve done the journey from Sean’s house to Geoff’s house, adding a bit extra for cautious driving during the storm and the time checks out.’

‘So, we can definitely rule out the father,’ DS Osborne said.

‘Unless,’ Bishop began, ‘Geoff and this Sean bloke killed her together.’

‘Why would they do that?’ Tyler asked.