The Mistress - Jill Childs Page 0,16

‘Check your inbox. Should be there by morning break.’ She looked round, unusually wary. ‘Let him know if you have any concerns or see, you know, signs of distress in the children. I’m arranging support in school.’ She sucked on her teeth as she turned away. ‘Dreadful thing. Quite dreadful. Poor Anna.’

I set down the pile of books on my desk and sat heavily, looking out over the deserted classroom. In a moment, the day would rush in on me in all its noise and fury.

Split diagraphs and the eight times table. A playlet about the Great Fire of London. Models of seventeenth-century houses fashioned from painted cereal boxes, with straw for thatch.

Hilary’s news had pulled the rug from under me. I sat in the silence, trying to stop trembling, trying to find calm. I had no idea if I could make it through.

To all staff, Lower School

Status, Confidential

Dear Colleague,

It is with great sadness that I am writing to you about concerns for our Upper School colleague, English teacher Ralph Wilson.

As some of you may have heard, the police are pursuing several lines of inquiry. I will update you when more information is available.

Naturally, our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs Wilson and their daughter, Anna, at this difficult time.

Miss Abbott has arranged for a counsellor, specialising in loss, to be on call throughout the week. Please feel free to refer to her any child who seems distressed by these events or indeed to contact her if you also feel in need of particular support.

This information is shared with you in the strictest confidence. The heads of Lower and Upper School have been authorised by the board of governors to speak to the media. Please refer any inquiries to me or to Miss Baldini.

I was on outside duty at morning break. I read the email in haste on my phone as I put my coat on.

As soon as I stepped out into the playground, swallowed up at once by the shrieks and cries of Lower School children, Olivia Fry, her coat unbuttoned, a scarf loose around her neck, came across to me, a young child attached to each hand.

Her face was ashen, her voice a whisper. ‘Have you seen?’

I didn’t need to ask what she meant. The email, of course. It was the only topic of conversation.

‘Terrible.’

‘His poor wife.’ She slid her eyes away from mine as she spoke, gazing out across the throng of teeming, screaming children, running, tugging at each other’s coats, swinging each other round.

Something in her tone, in her pallor, in the way she avoided looking directly at me made me pause. What was it that made me suddenly suspicious of her? Had she also…? Olivia? I shuddered, remembering her at the writing group. The long princess hair. The round eyes. Her voice, shy and slightly hesitant, as she started to read her children’s story to the group and Ralph, sitting forward in his chair, his eyes on her face, encouraging her.

I turned my back to her, trying to find space. A small child, Emma Something in reception, barrelled into my legs and flung her arms around my thighs, hugging me for a moment’s comfort before turning and spinning off again into the chaos of whirling children.

If I was right, was Olivia before or after me? Or during, even? Did she know, then, about Ralph and me? My mouth felt unnaturally dry. What if she told people? What if she told the police?

She stepped forward into the fray to separate two fighting year one boys and sent them off in different directions, on warning.

When she came back into range, I whispered, ‘What’s the latest?’

I meant, have they found him, that floating, bloating, rotting corpse which once made love to me and perhaps to you too? It was too horrible to mention.

She whispered back, ‘They’re searching the heath. He used to take long walks there, apparently.’

The heath? I blinked. I’d never known Ralph to walk anywhere, if he could help it. Then I thought, that’s Helen’s lie. She’s plotting to throw them off the scent.

Bile rose in my throat.

Twelve

The police came, heralded by a second staff memo.

To all staff, Upper and Lower School

Police officers investigating the disappearance of our colleague, Mr Ralph Wilson, will attend school today to conduct interviews. They have requested any member of staff who feels able to share information about Mr Wilson – however trivial – to access the link below to select an interview time. Please endeavour to timetable these interviews in