Page 55 of Worse Than Murder
‘No. But I’m pretty sure Iwouldremember, if I was a teacher and two pupils in my class went missing on that date. Do you remember where you were on Tuesday the eighth of January 2019?’
‘No. Why?’
‘I do. I was being shot. I’ll always remember that day, just as I’d expect you to remember where you were when two of your pupils went missing.’
‘Well, I’m sorry. I can’t.’
‘Why did you leave High Chapel Primary School?’ I ask, changing the subject.
He shakes his head. ‘It wasn’t the same. There was always an atmosphere at the school after they disappeared. And after that business with Alex Costello and how everyone treated him, I felt people looked at each other differently.’
‘I agree with you there,’ Tania admits. ‘The village changed that day. I don’t think it’s been the same since.’
‘Where did you move to?’
‘I got a job in Manchester teaching primary again, but I felt like I was seeing Celia and Jennifer everywhere. I moved again and changed to teaching older students.’
‘You don’t teach now, though,’ Tania says.
He looks at her with hooded eyes. He knows where the conversation is going. ‘No.’
‘Why did you leave?’
‘I think you know why.’
‘Enlighten me,’ Tania says, crossing her legs at the knee.
Damien sighs. He looks defeated. ‘I was teaching sixth form in Newcastle. There was a boy there. We… we started seeing each other,’ he says, almost embarrassed.
‘How old were you?’ Tania asks.
‘I was thirty-one.’
‘You were thirty-one and he was… what? Sixteen?’
‘Yes. Look, I know I was stupid. I know I shouldn’t have done anything, but I didn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to do. I didn’t groom him. The attraction was mutual.’
‘But you were his teacher,’ I say.
‘I know. I know. There isn’t a day goes by without I’m sorry for what I did, but we didn’t actually sleep together. We… kissed, that’s all. We went on dates. We enjoyed each other’s company.’
I can see the hurt in his eyes. He seems genuinely sorry for abusing his position. He’s paid the price by losing his job, his career.
‘What do you think happened to Celia and Jennifer?’
‘You’re the detective, you tell me.’
‘You know those involved, you tell me,’ I fire back.
‘I don’t know. I honestly don’t. But I seem to remember their younger sister, Alison, saying something about waving at them and they waved back? Something like that. That sounds like they were taken by someone they knew, or they wouldn’t have been so relaxed, would they?’
‘Does anyone come to mind?’
He shrugs. ‘The father? I don’t know.’
‘Why the father?’
‘It was just a guess. I really don’t know. It’s usually the father, though, isn’t it?’
