They wanted to scare her. And she was; terror chased away her sleep, made her watch out of the dark window these last two nights. But daytime Pip was more rational than the one at night. If this person was really prepared to hurt her or her family, wouldn’t they have done it by now? She couldn’t walk away from this, from Sal and Ravi, from Cara and Naomi. She was in too deep and the only way was down.
There was a killer hiding in Little Kilton. They’d seen her last production log entry and now they were reacting. Which meant that Pip was on the right track somewhere. A warning was all it was, she had to believe that, had to tell herself that when she lay sleepless at night. And although Unknown might be closing in on her, she was also closing in on them.
Pip pushed the classroom door with the spine of her textbook and it swung open much harder than she’d meant.
‘Ouch,’ Elliot said as the door crashed into his elbow.
The door bounded back into Pip and she tripped, dropping her textbook. It landed with a loud thwack.
‘Sorry, El– Mr Ward,’ she said. ‘I didn’t know you were right there.’
‘That’s OK,’ he smiled. ‘I’ll interpret it as your eagerness for learning rather than an assassination attempt.’
‘Well, we are learning about 1930s Russia.’
‘Ah, I see,’ he said, bending to pick up her book, ‘so it was a practical demonstration?’
The note slipped out from the cover and glided to the floor. It landed on its crease and came to rest, partly open. Pip lunged for the paper, scrunching it up in her hands.
‘Pip?’
She could see Elliot trying to make eye contact with her. But she stared straight ahead.
‘Pip, are you OK?’ he asked.
‘Yep,’ she nodded, flashing a closed-mouth smile, biting back that feeling you get when someone asks if you’re OK and you’re anything but. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Listen,’ he said gently, ‘if you’re being bullied, the worst thing to do is keep it to yourself.’
‘I’m not,’ she said, turning to him. ‘I’m fine, really.’
‘Pip?’
‘I’m good, Mr Ward,’ she said as the first group of chattering students slipped in the door behind them.
She took her textbook from Elliot’s hands and wandered over to her seat, knowing his eyes were following her as she went.
‘Pips,’ Connor said as he shoved his bag down on the place beside her. ‘Lost you after lunch.’ And then, in a whisper, he added, ‘So why are you and Cara acting all frosty? You fallen out or something?’
‘No,’ she said, ‘we’re all fine. Everything’s fine.’
Pippa Fitz-Amobi
EPQ 21/10/2017
Production Log – Entry 33
I’m not ignoring the fact that I saw Nat da Silva in school just a few hours before I found the note in my locker. Especially considering her history with death threats in lockers. And although her name has now climbed to the top of the suspect list, it is in no way definitive. In a small town like Kilton, sometimes things that seem connected are entirely coincidental, and vice versa. Running into someone in the only high school in town does not a murderer make.
Almost everyone on my suspect list has a connection with that school. Both Max Hastings and Nat da Silva went there, Daniel da Silva used to work there as a caretaker, both of Jason Bell’s daughters went there. I actually don’t know if Howie Bowers went to Kilton Grammar or not; I can’t seem to find any information online about him. But all of these suspects would know I go there; they could have followed me, could have been watching me on Friday morning when I was at my locker with Cara. It’s not like there’s any security at the school; anyone can walk in unchallenged.
So maybe Nat, but maybe the others too. And I’ve just talked myself back round to square one. Who is the killer? Time is running out and I’m still no closer to pointing my finger.
From everything Ravi and I have learned I still consider Andie’s burner phone as the most important lead. It’s missing but if we can find it or the person who has it then our job here is done. The phone is physical, tangible evidence. Exactly what we need if we’re going to find a way to bring the police in on this. A printed photo with blurry details they might sneer at, but no one could ignore the secret second phone of the victim.
Yes, I’ve mused before that maybe the burner phone