Against the Clock by John Carson (best mobile ebook reader TXT) 📕

to get her thoughts in order. ‘I’ve been seeing him for a while now. I can’t help it. I’m forty, divorced, no man in my life. I go home to two cats, who I love dearly, but I have physical needs. Marshall was there to lean on when I got divorced, and things went from there. We’re not doing anything wrong, though.’

‘Nobody’s saying that you are. I just wanted to have a little chat here, rather than asking you to come to the station.’

‘That would be embarrassing. And a little exciting. I’ve never been in a police station before.’

‘Trust me, when you’re on the receiving end, it’s not fun.’

‘What is it you want to ask me?’ Janice asked.

‘First of all, where were you going when we came in?’

‘Around to see Marshall. Mike was just getting in with the extra bus that’s put on for the rush hour. I tell him that I have to go out and get some supplies, and he lets me go without question. He answers the phone and does some of the admin work in the office, so he doesn’t mind me going to get stuff.’

‘But you go and see Marshall Mann instead?’ Lillian said.

‘Yes. He lives round the corner and I go to his house.’

‘Isn’t he married?’

‘Oh no, his wife died.’

‘When did this happen?’

‘A few years ago. I’m not sure exactly when. He doesn’t talk about her much. He doesn’t have any family either. He lives on his own, so we’re not disturbed.’

‘Is he at home now?’

‘Yes. He’ll be expecting me.’

Lillian nodded. He won’t be expecting me, she thought.

‘How long have you worked here?’

‘A couple of months. It’s hard to get a job when you’re my age. I was lucky to get this.’

‘And the benefits are good too.’ Lillian drank some of the coffee.

Janice giggled. ‘I suppose so.’

‘You know Marshall’s a teacher too, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I know that. He’s taking a break at the moment.’

‘Is that what he told you?’

‘Yes. He needs to get a break from the kids sometimes.’

‘He likes the kids, doesn’t he? Especially the young girls.’

Janice looked puzzled for a second. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Did he tell you he was suspended from the school?’

‘What? No, he isn’t. He’s taking a break.’

‘He’s been suspended on suspicion of seeing one of the pupils from his school. She’s seventeen, so she isn’t a minor, but it’s inappropriate nonetheless.’

‘A girl? He wouldn’t do that. You know what some of those schoolgirls are like. They think they’re the teacher’s girlfriend.’

‘Did you know he taught the two teenagers who were abducted a couple of weeks ago?’

‘No, I didn’t know that. Look, this is just a coincidence. He’s a good teacher, so it’s natural that some girls might have a crush on him.’

‘He’s the teacher of two missing girls. There’s no smoke without fire, Janice.’

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘Can you think of anything that you might have found…strange? Maybe something that made you feel uneasy?’

‘No…nothing,’ Janice answered, looking down into her mug.

‘Are you sure?’ Lillian said, looking across at her and not taking her eyes off her.

‘There was just one thing a couple of weeks ago. It bothered me at the time, but I didn’t say anything.’

‘What was it?’

‘I went round to his house on the Sunday. We were going to have lunch. He was off, so he said we could have a fun afternoon. When I went round, he was washing the dishes in the sink. And over to one side, there were three wine glasses. With a little bit of wine in the three of them. As if he’d had two other people round.’

Thirty-Four

‘We want to talk to you about Marshall Mann,’ Stewart said, turning his nose up. The office was old and he could imagine the ghosts of RAF officers past. The only nod to anything post-1970 was the computers on the desks.

Harry, Dunbar and Evans were behind him, followed by a couple of uniforms.

Mike Morton and his wife, Agnes, were sitting at separate desks.

‘What about him?’ Morton said, immediately on the defensive.

‘Where is he?’ Harry asked, looking around.

‘He’s not due in yet. He’s doing a midday shift.’

‘Easier to pick up wee lassies that way, I suppose,’ Dunbar said. ‘I mean, he likes to bring wee lassies back here on his bus when he’s finished his shift, doesn’t he?’

‘What are you talking about?’ Morton twisted his face into a look of disgust.

‘Have you come here just to hassle us?’ Agnes said. ‘We can be on the phone with our lawyer in a matter of minutes.’

‘You know what we’re talking about,’ Stewart said to Morton, ignoring Agnes. ‘He’s your brother-in-law. It makes it easier for you to cover up. Look the other way. Is he married?’

‘Marshall? No. He was, but his wife was killed in a car crash a few years back.’

‘Now he’s after wee lassies because his wife is deid? You might think we’re a bunch of brain-deid arseholes from the west, Morton, but I can assure you we’re anything but.’

‘I’m not suggesting anything like that, but I haven’t seen Marshall with any wee lassies, as you put it.’

‘What time are you here till?’

‘The office is usually closed by six thirty, seven. The drivers know what to do when they come in. They don’t need us here.’

‘Did you know that Mann has been suspended from teaching?’ Dunbar asked.

‘Aye,’ said Morton. ‘Just because he talks to his pupils like they’re human beings, he gets accused of wanting to fucking wench them. God forbid he should treat them like adults.’

‘That’s because they’re kids,’ Harry said, suddenly imagining his yet-unborn child in a school uniform being leered at by a teacher.

Agnes chipped in, ‘Our bus drivers are friendly to everyone. We get compliments all the time. There’s no harm in being nice to the kids.’

‘Come on, they’re seventeen, some of them. They’re switched on nowadays. They’re the product of the social media age,’ Morton said.

‘Simone Santana is fifteen. She’s still a minor,’ Stewart said. ‘Tell us where Marshall Mann lives We want to go and talk with