Chalk Dust & Broomsticks, Chapter 43

Something is puzzling Gerald, Shirley is interviewed and Ranjit offers tea & sympathy.

Gerald and the Swapped Keys

Gerald and Jane were sitting in their living room, watching television, but Gerald's mind was consumed by his predicament. During a commercial break, he went to the hallway and stopped at the key rack. Something made him pick up his large bunch of work keys. Looking at them carefully, he was surprised to notice a subtle difference.

“These aren’t my keys,” he thought. “I wonder how that happened.”

There was only one other similar set of keys and they belonged to the Headteacher, Althea Gardner. Althea must have taken his keys for some reason, replacing them with her own set. A small thing like that could have much larger implications. Perhaps he should mention it to Inspector Stanhope.

"Gerald, what are you doing out there? Put the kettle on, will you, there's a love," Jane's voice called.

Gerald went to the kitchen. As the old electric kettle spluttered to life, he found himself overwhelmed by a sudden, intense emotion, realizing he’d taken his quiet life for granted until this terrible disruption. He compared his current situation to the act of brewing his strong tea: his life-blood was slowly diluting after one rash act of dismemberment. As a former butcher, he was competent at cutting meat, but he swore he was no murderer. He carried two steaming mugs of tea back to the living room.

"They're not my keys," Gerald said, holding up the bunch.

"What do you mean?" Jane asked.

"They're different. These must be Althea's keys."

Jane’s memory was sharper. "Yes, well, you lost your keys, didn't you? Last Christmas holidays, the keys were missing. You didn't go into the boiler house for two days, did you; not until you remembered that Althea had another set."

"That's right," Gerald recalled.

"And when you did..." prompted Jane.

"Well, that's when I found, you know..." He shuddered.

Jane's thoughts raced. “Why would she take your keys anyway, if she had her own? Maybe she wanted to make sure your fingerprints were on them instead of her own? Maybe she took your keys when she dragged the body into the boiler house.”

"Her keyring didn’t have a key to the boiler house! We don't know that Althea murdered her friend," Gerald pointed out, still struggling with the motive.

"Course she did. No-one else had a motive," Jane insisted. "I've seen Althea get angry. She lost it good and proper. It's obvious to me!"

Gerald, hurt by the memory of his recent troubles, stated firmly: “I’ll tell the inspector about the keys. I have to go back tomorrow. I’ll tell him.”

Gerald followed Jane up the stairs to bed, his heart heavy, weighed down by the shocking events that had turned his life upside down.

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Shirley's Interview
Shirley ushered Inspector Stanhope and P.C. Knight into a small office.

"Let's get down to it then, shall we?" Stanhope began.

Shirley confirmed she had worked at Primrose for thirteen years but had only known the new Headteacher, Althea, since the previous summer. She paused before answering the Inspector's question about working together, a silence that conveyed much. "She's very forthright. She put a few backs up when she first got here!"

Shirley admitted Althea had increased her workload dramatically, forcing her to constantly get up to open the new 'no entry' front door and taking on the General Assistant's duties after that position was eliminated.

She confirmed she dealt with Gerald, the caretaker, daily and knew he found Althea difficult because the Headteacher kept "promising him more hours and then going back on her word."

The Ghostly Face
The Inspector shifted focus. "Your office is very near to the boiler house. Were you aware of any strange goings-on there before or after the Christmas holidays?"

Shirley told the truth, knowing full well the Inspector would doubt her entire story, hoping that he would not dismiss it completely.

"I thought I saw a face one afternoon, back in the Spring. It was a ghostly face in the window of the boiler house."

Stanhope noted the extreme height of the boiler house window. "Wouldn't one need a ladder to look out of it if one was on the inside?"

"Yes, it’s really high up. I’m only telling you what I saw. It was a woman’s face. It looked sort of pleading. There were hands holding their cheeks, very spooky."

Stanhope made a note to check for ladders but was about to dismiss the possibility until he remembered his own recent supernatural experiences during this intriguing case.

"Did that surprise you or freak you out, Shirley?"

"Oh no, Inspector," Shirley replied with a disconcerting calm. "I am often aware of the goings-on, on the other side of the veil."
She confirmed she had not seen the face since, but smiled inwardly, relieved she didn't have to tell the Inspector about the times she made journeys on her broomstick. He had only asked about experiences "at the school."

"You do know, don't you Shirley, that we are investigating the possibility that someone may have lost their life on these premises... and if you know anything, you must speak up?"

"Yes, Inspector, but I can't tell you anymore."

With that, Shirley saw the Inspector out, leaving him with an unsettling mixture of hard evidence (Althea's manipulation of Gerald) and fantastical information (a ghostly, pleading face and her own supernatural awareness) to process.

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Ranjit came over to see Shirley later that evening, knowing she had been interviewed and anxious to give support and find out what questions she had been asked etc.

“How was it, then?” he asked, plumping up one of the cushions in his chair.

"Oh, ok, not too bad, really, thanks. The Inspector has a terrible cold. I felt really sorry for him. I’m sure he’d rather be in his bed than in the school asking questions and going round in circles.”

“Where has the investigation got to? Did the caretaker do it? Murder Alex, I mean?”

“No, he had no motive. He did desecrate the body though. He’ll have to pay for that in some way, but it wasn’t him. I’m sure of that. It must have been Althea – a crime of passion perhaps – a moment’s loss of temper. She’s a big, strong woman. She could easily have done it.”

“Yes, a crime of passion makes sense. Perhaps they had a big row and things got out of hand.”

Shirley smiled…”It must have been a shock to her that the Ofsted Inspection result was so favourable. Of course, she couldn’t take any credit for that because it referred to the school as it was before she arrived, but her intervention and her attempts to discredit the school didn’t pay off and now she’s really in the mire, isn’t she?”

“Who do you think attacked her?” Ranjit asked.

“No idea! She has plenty of enemies. It could have been anyone or it could have been supernatural.”

“Supernatural?”

“Yes, remember I thought I saw a face in the boiler house window? If I did see something, then maybe that is the key to the mystery, but we can’t prove it. However, when you have eliminated all, which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’*

Ranjit laughed. “By the way, I hate to bring it up, but is there any news on your job front? You haven’t mentioned it lately, but I would like to know?”

“Yes, I’ve been offered a ‘get out of jail card.’ In other words, if I sign a non-disclosure agreement document, I get a payout. I could leave at Christmas.”

Ranjit looked shocked – “But you’ve always said you abhor those things. Are you really going to consider that option? You’d have to promise never to talk about what happened in the school and you’d have to find another job!”

“That’s right, but what real choice do I have? I can’t take Althea to court because of the race issue, so I’m not going to win that one and I can’t stay on if Althea remains in post. Life would be intolerable. In any case she wants me gone, but why should I go if I haven’t done anything wrong and I don’t want to go?”

Ranjit leaned forward in his chair and touched Shirley’s hand, tenderly…”Your counsellor thought it would be less stressful all round if you left and looked for another job, didn’t he?”

“Yes, I don’t want the stress, but supposing I can’t find one? I’m a bit typecast after all these years.” Shirley frowned.

“I don’t doubt you will find another job and I’ll support you as much as I can.”

“Thank you Ranjit, but I don’t want to burden you. It’s all come up at the wrong time, hasn’t it – just when our future looked so bright! And there’s another thing too… if I get a pay out, where would that money be coming from? That is money that should be going to the children for their education. I would forever feel guilty, taking it, when my going is all so unnecessary and just a show of power by Althea.”

Ranjit could sense tears coming so he offered to make them another drink and suggested tea – always a pick-me-up in times of stress.

Once the teacups rattled in their saucers, things started to look up and the couple snuggled up together in the two seater settee and tried to forget the worries.

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*(1859 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).
Ofsted: Office for standards in education