Only Joseph by Sophie Hannah

Author:Sophie Hannah [Sophie Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2018-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

Three days later, I’m back in Nina Adebayo’s office. ‘I think I might know who killed Lucy Ross,’ I tell her.

She smiles sadly. ‘I knew it. I knew Nelly had got to you.’

‘Florence Liddon told me nothing,’ I lie. I don’t want to get her expelled. ‘But I’ve done some independent research and—’

‘Nelly’s worried I’ll punish her, but she needn’t be,’ Dr Adebayo talks over me. ‘I won’t. I never would. I only said that for her sake, hoping it would shake her out of her obsession. I should have known it wouldn’t work. The thing is, Mrs Woolford, if there’s no proof then there’s only slander. Do you see what I’m saying?’

‘You know, don’t you?’ I say coldly. ‘You’ve done the same legwork I’ve done, and you know the truth as well as I do. As well as Florence does.’

‘I happen to believe there’s no such thing as knowledge without proof.’

‘You could think up any number of reasons to fire Jenny Pethers,’ I tell her. ‘Instead, you allow a murderer to continue to work at your school. Why?’

‘Mrs Woolford, I’m not going to engage in slanderous speculation with you. I will only say that unless and until someone has been found guilty of a crime, it’s quite wrong to penalise them as if they had committed said crime. If I were to terminate Jenny Pethers’ employment here, do you really think word wouldn’t spread about my secret and officially unjustifiable reason for doing so? Jenny’s an excellent administrator. I can’t fault her professional behaviour.’

‘Lucy Ross’s family should know the truth. Lucy deserves justice.’

Dr Adebayo’s patient smile remains in place. ‘Mrs Woolford, as a scientist, you must know as well as I do that you can arrange an assortment of random facts in a particular order and create a false pattern – something that looks as if it must be the truth, but that nevertheless is not. If you think about what you believe you now know – really think about it, I mean – you’ll realise that in spite of the pattern you think you’ve recognised, it’s equally likely that, for example, Garry Phelps pushed Lucy Ross to her death.’

‘Who’s Garry Phelps?’

‘A perfectly delightful physics teacher here. Think of everything you’ve found out, and tell me which item on your list makes it impossible for Lucy Ross’s killer to be Garry Phelps.’

‘Did he have a reason to want Lucy dead?’

‘Not as far as I know, but he might have. How should I know? And the trouble is that when one accuses a person of murder with zero evidence, that person often says, “No, it wasn’t me. I’m innocent.” Then, perhaps, the parents of the murder victim pursue some sort of vigilante justice outcome … and we have more violence. More tragedy.’

I shake my head in disbelief.

‘What would you do in my position?’ Dr Adebayo asks. ‘Do you think Lucy Ross’s mother would feel better or worse if she found out what you and Florence Liddon believe was the catalyst

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