[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.‘Occupational hazard,’ he explained.‘I understand that you fought Yasmin’s corner for her when her parents were reluctant to let her stay for the club.’‘It would have been a criminal waste if she hadn’t been given the opportunity to develop her talents.As it is, she’s been persuaded to give up art in favour of more academic subjects at A level.Graffiti club means that she can pursue both.’‘Would she make a living at it?’ Mariner asked, wondering if this was the conflict of interests with what her parents had in mind for her.Flattening his hair again, Goodway let out a sigh.‘As a freelance artist? Not necessarily.Art is a competitive world.’ He gestured towards a photograph of three teenage children, two boys and a girl, that was pinned to the wall above the corner desk.‘That’s my daughter Chloe,’ he said.‘She’s in her twenties now and was gifted enough to get a place at the Slade Art College in London, but she still struggles to make a living as an artist.I try to ensure that the girls here have a realistic view of what they can achieve.Encourage them to get their academic qualifications too, looking at a more structured career within the art world, perhaps within graphic design or illustration.’‘How did Yasmin seem at your class yesterday afternoon? ’‘Fine.The girls seem to like the club.It’s a chance to relax and shake off the shackles of prescribed coursework.’ A twinkle gleamed in his eye.Despite appearances, maybe there was a rebellious streak in there after all.‘She hadn’t fallen out with anyone?’Goodway shook his head.‘You know what youngsters are like.Even if she had I doubt that I would know.It may be a more relaxed class, but I don’t fool myself that any of the girls would share much with an old fogey like me.’Mariner wasn’t so sure.‘Why do you think Yasmin’s parents weren’t keen on her staying for the graffiti club?’‘They’re naturally protective of her.The club runs throughout the year and in the winter months it can mean the girls getting home well after dark.Yasmin had a longer journey than most.’‘What changed their minds?’Goodway shrugged as if it was no big deal.‘I had a chat with them and they’re reasonable people.’Not what Suzanne seemed to be saying, but then the adult perspective would be a different one.‘Thanks, Mr Goodway.’They were nearly out of the door when Goodway called after them, uncertainly.‘Yasmin’s a good kid.I hope she turns up soon.’Mariner turned back.‘So do we, Mr Goodway.So do we.’‘He seems like a very committed teacher,’ Mariner remarked, as Mrs Darrow walked them back through the school.‘He’s inspirational, a real Mr Chips.We don’t get many of those any more.I think having had his own teenage children helps him to stay in tune with the girls.’ She was full of admiration.‘We’ll be sorry when he goes.’‘Goes? He seems a little young for retirement.’‘Mr Goodway wants to spend more time with his family,’ was all Mrs Darrow would say.From the art department Mrs Darrow took them to Yasmin’s locker, opening it with a master key.It revealed little.The inside of the door was lined with the ubiquitous teen posters of pop stars and TV presenters, none of whom Mariner recognised.A wad of drawings or a sketchpad fell out and scattered on the floor.The drawings were good.Some of the same ‘body art’ that they had seen in the classroom.On the face of it they’d learned little to progress their search, except perhaps to learn that Mr and Mrs Akram hadn’t been entirely candid with them.They were standing directly underneath the bell when it rang deafeningly, signalling the end of the day.Through the open door of the classroom opposite, they watched girls filing out, dipping into a bright red plastic crate on the way.‘Retrieving their mobile phones,’ Mrs Darrow explained.‘The things are a nightmare.We tried banning them completely at first, but it was hopeless as practically all the girls have them.Parents complained too that they needed to know that their daughters were safe.Ironic, given this current situation.So, instead, most teachers collect them in at the beginning of each lesson, to remove any temptation to use them.’‘Couldn’t the girls just switch them off?’‘Not with text messaging.The girls can be holding lengthy conversations without staff even knowing.It’s a distraction we can do without.’‘Do any ever get left behind?’Mrs Darrow knew what he was getting at.She shook her head.‘Very rarely.It’s amazing.These girls might lose everything else: clothing, books, jewellery, you name it, but their phones seem to be surgically attached.The few that are get put in lost property.You’re welcome to have a look.’ They did, but of the couple of outdated units that were there, neither could be identified as Yasmin’s.‘Well, thank you for your time.’‘Not at all, Inspector.Whatever we can do to help.’‘I don’t get it,’ said Millie as they drove from the school.‘How can someone just disappear?’‘If she wants to, it’s easy.’ Millie had guessed right.Mariner spoke from personal experience.He’d done it himself when he couldn’t face another night of coming home to the Spanish Inquisition.His mother had taken his popularity with girls particularly hard.Although he had vague memories of the occasional short-term ‘uncle’ early on, latterly it had just been the two of them and, as Mariner grew, the dynamics of dependency had shifted as his mother had discarded the other facets of her life to concentrate on him.Her whole life became dedicated to her only child and, at the time when other parents were letting go, Mariner’s mother clutched on with increasing desperation, until finally he had to take the initiative and break away completely.So instead of getting the bus to school one day, on an impulse he’d caught the train to Birmingham and gone to look for a job.Except for brief visits he’d never gone back.‘If what Suzanne told us is right though, it sounds as if everything wasn’t as rosy in the Akram household as we were led to believe,’ he said now.‘You think she was telling us the truth?’‘It would account for the tension between Mr and Mrs Akram, wouldn’t it? I thought he was just annoyed that his wife had contacted us before telling him.And having left her in charge it may be natural to hold her responsible.But if she’d gone against his wishes as well.Let’s go and see what we can pick up at home.’The two uniformed officers who were to help with the preliminary search met them at the Akrams’ house, which turned out to be a detached red-brick, large and imposing, built at around the turn of the last century.It was the home of successful people.With the shrinking of the nuclear family, these houses were normally too big to fulfil a useful purpose as a family home and several of the properties on this street displayed boards to indicate their conversion to business hotels and retirement residences
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]