Borstal Slags by Graham Tom

Author:Graham, Tom [Graham, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

‘There are tiny marks beneath certain letters,’ Sam said.

‘Pinpricks.’ Annie grinned. ‘We’d have seen ’em straightaway if we’d thought to hold the letter up to the light! The pinpricks mark out a series of individual letters. Put them letters in order and you get this!’

She thrust a sheet of foolscap at him. On it, in her neat, schoolgirlish handwriting, it said, ‘OLDFRIDGEGERTRUDEFRIDAY’.

And then, beneath it, ‘OLD – FRIDGE – GERTRUDE – FRIDAY’.

‘So this is how Andy Coren arranged his escape plans with his brother on the outside!’ Sam said. ‘They used a code. And you cracked it! Annie, you’re a genius!’

‘A genius? Me? Oh, no, no, no,’ Annie simpered. ‘Well – maybe just a bit.’

‘You’re a bloody marvel!’

He threw his arms around her, but she ducked away from him before he could land a kiss.

‘I don’t want your germs!’

‘Oh. Yes. Of course. My germs.’ Confounded, Sam turned his attention back to the letter. ‘Andy Coren was a regular Houdini, escaping from one borstal after another. And this explains it. He must have had this code worked out with his brother all along. Derek could be there on the outside, helping him escape. They could communicate freely, right under the noses of the screws.’

‘Yes, but something went wrong this time,’ said Annie. ‘The message says he’ll be in a fridge on the back of Gertrude. But he wasn’t. He was in an old oven that got brought in by the other lorry.’

‘Matilda.’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Which means,’ said Sam, ‘that either Andy Coren buggered things up and got in the wrong lorry, or—’

‘Or somebody knew about his escape plan and buggered it up for him. Who might do that to him, Sam?’

‘Well, what about House Master McClintock? He personally vets all the outgoing letters at Friar’s Brook. He would have seen this letter before it was sent. He rubber-stamped it for approval and let it go out. But what if he spotted the code? Or was tipped off about it? Either way, let’s suppose he deciphered the hidden message. He would have known what Andy Coren was planning.’

Annie nodded, then frowned. ‘Yeah, but – if this House Master knew that Coren was planning to escape, why didn’t he just scupper his plan right away?’

‘Because that’s not how McClintock operates,’ said Sam. ‘I met him today. He’s a bastard, Annie. A real bastard. He runs that borstal like it’s a concentration camp. You wouldn’t believe the things that go on there, Annie.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Okay. Let’s suppose that Andy Coren was a troublemaker. Let’s suppose there was bad blood between him and McClintock.’

‘Okay. Let’s suppose that. What of it?’

‘McClintock doesn’t pull his punches when it comes to discipline. And he can’t stand to have his precious System challenged. What if he somehow deciphered the message in that letter, but let it be posted anyway?’

‘Why would he do that, Sam? It makes no sense.’

‘But it does make sense. Because, once he’s let that letter be posted, he changes the work detail! On

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