Chapter 99
NINETY-NINE
James pulled the cork out of the wine bottle with a satisfying pop.
He breathed in the scent of the Chilean Malbec.
Then he poured himself a glass, the rippling sound of the wine leaving the bottle putting him in a good place.
Carol had taken her grandchildren to the Straw Bear Festival and the rest of the evening was his alone.
He intended to drink his wine in front of the television, and watch the rugby.
He eased himself into the leather armchair and pointed the remote control at the TV.
It burst into life and the lead-up to the match was on.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. He lifted his glass, ready to savour the first sip of ruby liquid when his phone rang.
The glass paused halfway to his lips. He looked at the screen of his phone.
It was Esther, from the school office. On a Saturday. He frowned.
‘Hello, Esther,’ he answered, already knowing he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.
‘Sorry to disturb you at the weekend,’ said Esther. ‘I wasn’t sure whether to call or not but then I thought I had better, just in case.’
‘Go on.’
‘I’m at the school. The caretaker rang me because the alarms had gone off.’
‘Everything all right?’ asked James.
‘Oh yes, everything’s fine. That is, there was no break-in.’
‘Did you check the CCTV?’
‘Now you know I’m not the most technical—’
‘Esther, you really need to get yourself on a course or some—’
‘If you’ll let me finish,’ said Esther. ‘I eventually found the footage for today. There was nothing untoward. But while I was working it out, I found something else.’ She paused meaningfully.
James put aside his mild frustration. ‘What?’
‘I think you’d better come and see for yourself,’ said Esther.
James wasn’t in the best of moods as he walked into the school office. His evening had been interrupted and he didn’t much like Esther’s insistence on mystery. But she had refused to explain what had made her ask him to come in.
She was sitting in front of the computer and when he arrived, she got up and indicated he should take her place. Then she clicked a button on the keyboard. In front of him, CCTV footage began to play out.
He didn’t understand at first. There was Lorna Fielding – his wife’s daughter – sitting at a table in the staffroom. Alone.
‘We were scrolling through the footage to get to this evening,’ said Esther. ‘And we saw this.’
‘What’s she doing?’ asked James impatiently. Then his jaw dropped as he realized.