The next three hours were taken up with speaking to staff and the pupils who had stayed behind to talk to them until parents had arrived, collating any of the house-to-house information for further action and responding to the general public as speculation about Lauren Ansell grew. Grace was hoping it would be possible that the formal identification would take place that evening, although that would very much depend on forensics.
Finally, after a press release had gone out, they were ready to go back to the station around five p.m. There was nothing more that could be done at the school that day and it was only fair to let the teaching staff go home. They needed rest. They would be devastated and it would be a long day for them tomorrow. All media attention would be on them and their school. Grace hoped there were no hidden secrets that were going to crop up and take them away from the real investigation. The public were always quick to assume the worst, and all kinds of dirty laundry might be aired, however irrelevant.
As she left the school grounds with Perry, Grace could see her partner, Simon, hovering around by the gate.
Even though their relationship was new, they seemed to have a non-spoken agreement to be mutually respectful of each other’s roles. They talked about ongoing cases, but there was nothing to push either of them to answer questions that they didn’t want to. Each had a job to do, maintaining a professional standard as well as keeping their relationship healthy. Grace hoped it continued, as she thought a lot of Simon.
From the look of him, he was finding this distressing, too. His shirt had sweat patches under the arms despite the cool day, his tie was askew and his choppy blond hair even messier than usual.
‘Thanks for the tip-off this morning,’ he said, taking her arm as they moved away from the crowds. ‘I couldn’t believe it. Even more harrowing when I knew the victim.’
She gave a faint smile. ‘How’s Teagan?’
Grace had only managed to have a very quick chat with his daughter when his ex-wife had turned up to collect her.
‘Still devastated, but at least she’s at home now.’
Since she and Simon had become an item, Grace hadn’t gelled with his daughter at all. Each time they met was a little harder than she’d anticipated, despite her best efforts. Teagan seemed to blame Grace for her parents splitting up, but Simon and his wife had been separated long before she’d met him. Even so, Grace was the first woman he’d formed a relationship with and that made her, in his daughter’s eyes, the spawn of the devil.
Simon ran a hand over his chin, stubble already forming since his morning’s shave. ‘I can’t believe Lauren’s dead, Grace. I’ve known her since she was five years old. She and Teagan met at nursery school.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ she appeased. ‘It’s going to affect a lot of people, even if they didn’t know her. No one wants to send their child to school and not have them return.’
‘Worse, I can’t stop thinking that it might have been Teagan. She was in one of the other groups of girls to come down the lane.’
‘Hey now,’ Grace soothed, giving his hand a quick squeeze. She wanted desperately to kiss him and allay his fears, but she couldn’t do either here.
‘They’re having a meet-up in the youth club this evening,’ Simon said. ‘Teagan asked if it was okay to go along. When I said I’d prefer her to be at home with her mum, she accused me of putting my job first.’ He gave a half-smile. ‘I’ll be on call for a while now this has happened. It can’t be helped.’
‘You have to make people aware. Whereas we need to catch whoever did this so they don’t do it again.’
In the background, Grace could see Perry waving for her attention.
‘Time for me to skedaddle,’ she added. ‘We’re going back to the station for team briefing. Do you need a lift?’
‘No, I’m in my car. But I’ll stick around here for a while longer. See you this evening, at your place?’
‘Let yourself in if you get there first.’ She nodded. ‘It’s going to be a late one.’
Teagan Cole was in the kitchen having a standoff with her mum, Natalie.
‘But everyone will be there except me,’ she whined, pulling a face.
‘I don’t care about that. I just want you home with me tonight.’
Natalie walked across to her daughter and held out her arms, but Teagan rebuffed her, wriggling from her mother’s embrace.
‘I want to hang out with my friends. I’ll be fine inside the youth club. Cait and Court’s mum will collect and drop me off. I won’t be alone any time and I—’
‘No means no, Teagan, and that’s my final word.’ Natalie shook her head. ‘It’s not much to ask that you stay where I know you’re safe.’
‘You’d humiliate me by not letting me go?’
‘Oh, don’t be so dramatic.’
‘Pot. Kettle!’
Natalie threw her a warning look.
‘The twins need me,’ she tried once more.
‘I need you here.’
Teagan stormed out of the kitchen. Upstairs in her room, she flung herself lengthways onto her bed and located her iPad. Earlier, she’d sent a text message to Caitlin. Though she wasn’t allowed out, she had to speak to the twins. Caitlin had replied to say she’d call her in a few minutes.
Teagan was upset that she couldn’t go to the youth club with them. Everyone who mattered would be there and she’d really been looking forward to seeing Lewis because she wanted a hug from him. And it was the first major thing to happen like this in her life, so she wanted to be with her friends again, talk about what had happened.
Lauren had died and on top of that she’d had to be civil to Grace. As a person she was fine, but as someone who her dad was going out with, Teagan didn’t like that at all. Maybe if she hadn’t come sniffing around him, her parents might have got together again.
She rolled over onto her back and sighed. She was wise enough to know that her parents hadn’t been happy for a while, even staying together for her sake until she was older. She knew they were destined to stay apart and she didn’t blame Grace for it really. But it was hard to switch allegiances and she didn’t want to upset her mum, despite her seeing Adrian now.
She quite liked Adrian, although she would never admit it. Still, she’d be annoyed if he wanted to move in with them, and she suspected that would be the next move. She was only the daughter, after all. She had no say in who lived where, and it was only fair her mum and dad were happy, too. But she liked making their lives hell by comparing one against the other.
All of a sudden, guilt crept in and her eyes filled with tears. How could she be thinking of herself after what had happened to Lauren? Her friend was dead – murdered. What a selfish brat she must seem.
Her iPad alerted her to a FaceTime connection. She tapped the button to connect.
‘Hey,’ a Piggott twin said. ‘Courtney’s in the shower. She won’t be a minute. Your eyes look red. How are you, babes?’
‘I’m okay,’ Teagan acknowledged. ‘I can’t believe she’s dead. Earlier