Operation Snowflake: A Tombs Novella by Robert Scott-Norton

Author:Robert Scott-Norton [Scott-Norton, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
Publisher: Robert Scott-Norton
Published: 2017-09-03T04:00:00+00:00

12

22nd October 1983

“Who do you work for again?”

“I’m from social services,” Linwood repeated, wishing that the older woman would finally stop wiping down the blackboard and give her her full attention.

“This is about Laura, isn’t it? It’s terrible she’s been put through this. Is she OK?” Mrs Lambert put down the blackboard eraser and turned to give Linwood her attention.

Getting into the school had been straightforward. Linwood had observed that although smaller communities could be tight-knit, they were often welcoming and wanted to demonstrate their hospitality. The headmistress had beamed about how proud she was of their school and how well they’d done with the little they had.

And now that Linwood was sitting in Laura’s classroom, talking to Laura’s teacher, Mrs Lambert, she got a sense of their pride. The room was adorned with paper cut flowers and drawings of Romans and castles. Trays of toys and equipment had been neatly placed in storage racks around the room. A handful of cut flowers had been arranged in a delicate vase on the teacher’s desk.

Mrs Lambert had offered Linwood a chair, but they were tiny and instead she perched on one of the tables, much to Mrs Lambert’s irritation.

“So, you’ve heard about the incident this morning?” Linwood asked.

“Well yes, I think most people on the island will have heard it by now. How is she?” Mrs Lambert fiddled with the pen on the chain around her neck. “I heard Mrs Brodie was in a bad way.”

Linwood nodded. “It’s serious. We’re concerned she might not make it. Her injuries were severe, and it took a while to get her to the hospital.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Are they any closer to finding the man that did it?”

“No,” she replied. “No closer.”

“Do they think the attacker is still on the island?”

“I really don’t know. You’re asking the wrong person.”

“How’s Sergeant Callister holding up?”

“Excuse me but why are you asking me?”

She looked caught in gossip, her eyes darted to the window and back down at her desk. “I’m sorry. I thought you were with him today.”

Talk certainly did travel fast. She guessed that Dave and Barbara at The Old Lion knew most of the village pretty well. “Laura’s friend, Natasha, is in this class isn’t she?”

“Yes,” Mrs Lambert said.

“I was wondering whether I’d be able to talk to her.”

Alarm flashed on the teacher’s face. “I don’t know if I could allow that. I’d have to speak to the headmistress and I should speak to Natasha’s parents. Why do you want to speak to her?”

Linwood pulled at the sleeve of her jacket. A thread was hanging down and irritating her. “Laura’s missing. I wanted some ideas of where we should be looking.”

“My goodness. Missing? What are the police doing about it?”

“They’re doing all they can.”

“What does that mean? It doesn’t sound very promising.” Her eyes narrowed.

“It means they’re doing all they can. They’re confident she hasn’t gone far.”

Mrs Lambert glanced out of the window. “It’s two degrees below out there.”

“That’s why we think she hasn’t gone far.

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