Chalk Dust & Broomsticks, Chapter 28

Jane follows up on her suspicions and Shirley enjoys a romantic dinner with Ranjit.

Chapter 28

Gerald returned to the kitchen, where Jane was scraping the charred onions off the frying pan. He walked up behind her and put his arms around his wife. Putting on his best explanatory voice, he said “There was this body, see. It was in the boiler house. It was during the Christmas holidays and I was looking for me key. I couldn’t get in without it so I climbed up to look through the high window and could just make out the shape of a body, lying on its side. It was too dark to see much else. Someone must have put it there.”

Jane spun round, “Are you seriously expecting me to believe you knew nothing about this person?” You’ve kept all this secret for six months! And where was your key? It’s always on your keyring. If it wasn’t there, then someone else must have taken it off? And that someone must have used it to get into the boiler house. It must have been someone who knew where the key was and there aren’t many people who knew that information, are there. I also found something in the boiler room. It was a mobile phone. It must have belonged to that person. Why the hell didn’t you report what you found to the police, Gerald?”

“Because they would have accused me of, of … I used the key from Althea’s master set of keys, but I had to go and get it out of her office. I thought I was the only one with a key to the boiler room, but I went searching, just in case and there it was.”

“Who was the er er body, do you know?” Jane shivered.

“I dunno. I didn’t know her. It was a woman, that’s all, but her face was a mess. She was unrecognisable. She did have nice hair though.”

“But Gerald, it could have been Alex, Althea’s friend, the one who is missing. Where is the body, where is it now?”

Gerald looked down at his feet. “It’s gone,” he answered. “I removed it.”

Jane turned white.

Gerald quickly asked, “where is the phone now?”

“I have it in a safe place.” Jane didn’t want to tell Gerald where the phone was because she still had suspicions about Gerald taking someone else into the boiler house where she had found the necklace.

“If the police find out you’ve got that, you’ll be charged with withholding evidence.” Gerald shouted.

“She was murdered though, wasn’t she?” questioned Jane.

“Oh, yes, she was murdered all right. Her head …!”

“Ok, spare me the gory details, please. I’m cooking your dinner.”

“What is it?”

“Liver and onions, said Jane, opening the refrigerator to remove the liver, nestling in a bowl of congealing blood.

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The deep, ancient quiet of Woodend settled over Shirley like a warm blanket. The chaos and the lingering notes of the busy day just spent replayed in her memory. Shirley had invited her friend, Ranjit Singh to share a meal with her in her delightful cottage at Woodend. As they sat at the long, elm kitchen table. The midnight blue Aga was giving off a comforting, dry heat, and a simple but richly spiced vegetarian curry simmered gently on the hob. A patchouli candle was burning on the mantleshelf, giving off a wonderfully exotic aroma.

Ranjit, a man whose quiet wisdom and grounded common sense served as a perfect anchor for Shirley’s flights of magical rebellion, carefully scooped rice onto his plate.

“How are things going in your part of the school, now that Althea’s still in the hospital?” asked Ranjit.

“Let’s just say that I prefer working with Mrs. Phillips. She’s really kind and so different to Althea. She takes an interest in the children and their needs. She even suggested the other day that we arrange a zoo trip for the younger ones, all six classes of them. Some of them have never been to the zoo before. It would be such fun – there’s a lot of them.

Ranjit’s eyebrows lifted with surprise. “That’s a big undertaking and very ambitious. You’d need a few coaches for that, wouldn’t you?

“Oh yes, maybe up to six. It would be a trip to remember though, I’m sure and the children would love it.” Althea wouldn’t have suggested such a trip. It would have been too much bother for her and too messy, taking 300 children to a wildlife park with lots of mud and dangerous animals!

Did I tell you that last summer, just as she had been appointed, Althea summoned me in, during my holiday, to demand the accounts. No drink, no welcome, just a rude interrogation in a dusty corridor. She doesn’t understand the human infrastructure, only bricks and mortar. Now I’m expected to take redundancy because she reckons she doesn’t need a part-time secretary, but my Union Rep. is dealing with that. In the meantime, I’m expected to have counselling, but I don’t really want that. It would be a waste of time.”

Ranjit smiled, “I would take the counselling, if it’s offered, Shirley. It’s for your own good and if the appeal goes to court, it would be in your favour if you can tell them you’ve had the counselling.”

“Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, I think you’re right. It would help, wouldn’t it. Maybe I will do it then. I doubt though if it will ever get to court because of the racial issue. Althea’s bound to win the case even if she’s in the wrong because of that.”

Ranjit leaned forward, his voice dropping to a serious tone that cut through the comforting kitchen warmth. “Well, I know for a fact that that is not true! That’s what’s making it so much worse for the staff. The pressure is pretty unbearable. First the attack on Althea, throwing suspicion on different people and now they think they’ve discovered something else in the boiler room. I saw the police looking in there the other day. It’s all looking very suspicious isn’t it.”

“Gerald’s paranoia is infectious,” Shirley murmured, running her thumb along the rim of her porcelain teacup. “He walks the grounds like a ghost, constantly checking that boiler house door.

Shirley looked out the window, where the first stars were appearing above the ancient wood. “I saw Gerald today. His finger was jumping, twitching uncontrollably. He looked terrified. The school is infected with fear.

Ranjit reached across the table and touched her hand briefly, grounding her. He looked at her with his smouldering dark eyes, full of love. Shirley looked at the long, red candle in the centre of the dining table. It would burn down slowly as they ate their meal, filling the room with an engaging aroma.

Ranjit was very fond of Shirley and was hoping that their friendship would continue to flourish, but he could tell that now was not quite the right moment to express his feelings for her. She was absorbed in something disturbing and for now he must be patient. Maybe soon a new opportunity will present itself. He fingered the little box in his jacket pocket and sighed as his fingers touched the velvet.

Shirley nodded, gazing into the distance. The real work, the deep, dangerous work of cleansing the school's shadow, was only just beginning, and it felt far more difficult than any spell she had ever cast. Meanwhile, the Ka of Alex Simmons was sleeping in the boiler room.

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