Blood of the Innocents by Chris Collett Read Free Book Online Page B

top ten in the national league tables and this year we’re on stream to do even better.’ The numbers, largely meaningless to Mariner, fairly tripped off her tongue.
    ‘And is Yasmin keeping up?’
    ‘Her GCSE grades were excellent: six A stars, three As, one B.’ She frowned. ‘Although as with most of the girls, she’s finding sixth form a little more of a challenge.’
    ‘Why’s that?’ asked Mariner.
    ‘The work is harder,’ she said simply. ‘Added to which these are adolescent girls, Inspector, at the mercy of their hormones. They get distracted. It’s not an uncommon thing to happen. They’re under an enormous amount of pressure, to be clever, pretty and popular. Some girls cope better than others. For Yasmin there’s the additional conflict that what her parents want for her isn’t necessarily what she wants.’
    ‘And what does she want?’
    ‘At present, just to keep her options open.’
    ‘And her parents don’t?’
    ‘Like many of our parents, Mr and Mrs Akram have fairly fixed ideas about what constitutes a worthwhile career. Often those views can be quite traditional.’
    ‘Medicine or law,’ Millie chipped in.
    Mrs Darrow smiled. ‘Exactly.’
    ‘What would be her teachers’ response to a drop in standard? ’
    ‘We’d encourage her to put in that little bit more effort.’
    ‘Would that worry Yasmin?’
    ‘It’s hard to tell, but I’d guess that it might unsettle her a bit. Yasmin’s a bright girl, and I know her parents have high hopes for her.’
    ‘Are they adding to the pressure?’
    ‘No more than any other parents who want their child to do well,’ Mrs Darrow responded quickly.
    ‘What’s your relationship with Yasmin’s parents like?’
    ‘They’re very supportive. Many of the resources we acquire these days are accessed through specific government initiatives, often through matched funding.’ Seeing the blank expressions she continued. ‘We put up half and the DfES matches it.’
    ‘Ah.’
    ‘Yasmin’s father has been very generous in our endeavour to acquire language college status.’
    ‘What about friends? You said Yasmin is popular.’
    ‘She’s part of an established group.’
    ‘And Suzanne Perry, the friend her mother thought she was staying with?’
    ‘I was quite surprised about that, I must say. Their friendship has always been rather an unlikely alliance.’
    ‘Why do you say that?’
    ‘I’ll let you find out for yourselves. Here we are.’
    They had reached their destination and Mrs Darrow pushed open the door of what seemed to be some kind of recreational room. Low, comfortable chairs were grouped around a couple of square wood-effect utilitarian coffee tables. At least she’d taken on board Mariner’s request to keep this informal. There were five girls present. They had been talking, but quietened politely when Mrs Darrow appeared. They weren’t cocky and street-wise like the girls Mariner was used to dealing with. Even at this age, they seemed cool and sophisticated and more than a little intimidating as they appraised their visitors and Mariner wished he’d checked his flies before coming in. Each girl had put her individual stamp on the school uniform, but one in particular stood out. She looked older than the others, not just because of her spiky red hair or the heavy black eyeliner that circled her eyes. There was something about her demeanour. She was the only girl in the room to return Mariner’s gaze, and some.
    There were three vacant seats. Mrs Darrow offered one each to Mariner and Millie, before making introductions and taking the other herself.
    As Mariner had agreed with her beforehand, Millie took the lead in the hope that the girls might be more relaxed with a woman nearer their age and therefore more inclined to open up. Mariner was impressed with the way she handled it, too: just the right proportion of friendly to professional.
    ‘Hi. We’re really glad that you agreed to meet with us today. If any of you