its effect.
‘First of all, technology is not on our side. Many of the school’s CCTV cameras are broken, awaiting the start of the new financial year before they can be repaired. The school has a swipe card system, but it’s a very basic one. Staff members’ cards are divided into groups depending on which doors they have permission to open and at what time, but the cards themselves don’t have any identifying information. The SLT group for example have full access, including out of hours, but normal teaching staff and admin can’t come on site before 7 a.m. and can’t re-enter after 5 p.m.
‘Individual internal door locks remember the last time they were opened, but not by whom. For fire safety, most doors can be opened manually by pressing a release button or using a mechanical handle on the inside, so there’s no log of when people exit. The main external doors do log entries but only record basic information, such as what group of card was used. And staff routinely come in and out in groups.’
‘Well, we wouldn’t want to make it too easy for an experienced detective such as yourself, Tony. What have we got so far?’ asked Warren.
‘We’ve accounted for most staff’s whereabouts. Aside from the site team and the SLT, most staff were long gone by the time the meeting was finished. The school is typically locked up by six or six-thirty, but pretty much everyone had left by five-thirty. The school is on an energy-saving drive and they turn the heating off at three-thirty after the kids go home. Apparently, the building is old and draughty, and this time of year it gets decidedly chilly within an hour or so. Most staff take their marking home or log on to the school network remotely.’
‘What about the SLT? I can’t imagine them sitting around in coats and scarves in their after-school meeting,’ asked Warren.
‘The school has bought a number of portable oil-filled electric radiators that can be used to heat individual rooms and offices. It works out cheaper than keeping the heating on.’
‘Did Gwinnett have one?’ asked Hutchinson.
‘Yes, but it wasn’t switched on,’ said Sutton.
‘Which suggests that she wasn’t expecting to stay too late that evening,’ noted Warren.
‘Or her killer was worried about the school’s electricity bill,’ said Rachel Pymm, only half joking.
‘So all of the teaching staff, except for the SLT, were gone by five-thirty?’
‘Almost all. The majority of staff drive or lift-share, so we’re cross-referencing the times they claim to have left with ANPR cameras. Three members of staff said they used public transport, we’re also checking them out. The only person unaccounted for so far is Giles Sanders, the head of Science. He says he walked home. He also claims not to have left until 6 p.m. I guess he must have kept his coat on.’
‘Any CCTV?’
Mags Richardson shook her head.
‘Nothing. The camera above the main entrance has been broken for weeks. Depending on his route home, he might pass by a local newsagent whose camera covers a few metres of the pavement outside her shop, but it’s unlikely.’
‘OK, let’s put him on the list for a follow-up interview. If we’re still struggling to rule him out, we’ll raise a warrant to track down his phone’s movements. Anything from the door-to-door, Hutch?’
‘Nothing,’ said Hutchinson. ‘As you said it was dark by 5 p.m. so even those who were home yesterday evening had their curtains closed.’
‘What about non-teaching staff?’
Sutton flicked over his notepad.
‘There were four cleaners on duty Monday. To keep costs down, they start cleaning at 2 p.m. in unused classrooms and the canteen and then knock-off at 5 p.m. They have all undergone criminal record checks, obviously, and they wear ID badges, but don’t have swipe card access. They sign in and out of the visitors’ log, and the receptionist remembers seeing them leave.’
‘How do they clean locked offices then?’ asked Ruskin.
‘They don’t really. Waste bins are left outside the door for emptying and sensitive paperwork is taken directly to the communal shredder. About once a month, the cleaners do a quick dust and hoover, but have to be let in to the office to do so. The occupant is expected to either stay in there or ensure that sensitive material is not on display and computers are password locked.’
‘Who else is on the list?’ asked Warren.
‘The canteen staff were all gone by three-thirty – again, they signed out at reception. The last to leave was the canteen head, who delivered a tray of refreshments to the conference room where the SLT had their meeting. She left it, planning to pick it up the following morning.’
‘What time did the reception and admin staff leave?’
‘Everyone was out by a few minutes past five. They all either drive or lift-share, so we’re checking them out.’
‘What about the rest of the governors? Father Beresford said that none of them attended yesterday’s SLT meeting, however he has no alibi.’
Sutton consulted his notebook again.
‘In addition to Father Beresford, the governing body consists of seven members, including two members of staff who have already been checked out. Of the remaining governors, two have alibis, the rest don’t.’
‘Start with those who don’t have an alibi,’ instructed Warren.
‘Mick Shorting is a parent governor. He separated from his wife last year. His kids stay three nights a week at their mum’s, and he doesn’t have a new partner. Guess where they were Monday? He works for the post office and does the early shift, so he reckons he was at home from mid-afternoon and in bed by about nine. We’re canvassing his neighbours, to see if anyone saw him.’
Sutton flicked over to the next page.
‘Samantha Maitland is a businesswoman, forty-two years old and married, no kids. No prior ties to the school before joining the board, but she has known Noah Ball for years because she is heavily involved in Catholic education charities. Apparently, she’s training for a marathon and says she was doing circuits of Middlesbury Common yesterday. She reckons it’s safer than running on the roads in the dark. We’ll pull the CCTV from the area to see if we can locate her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t wear one of those GPS fitness trackers.’
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