Page 29 of A Simple Mistake
Baxter watched the video twice, then shut it down and handed the tablet back.“Where did you find that one?”
“Nico took it at school.”
“What?”With a speed that belied his tired expression, Baxter extracted pen and notebook again.“Details,” he requested.
Jack shook his head.“We can’t use the video.Nico snuck into the sports hall and hid his phone.He and Daniel told us about this guy—name’s Barrington Manville—and wanted to make sure we believed them.I was wondering if he’s already on your horizon somewhere.”
“Well, he is now.Who is he?”
“Dance coach, hired by the local schools to give formal dance lessons.I doubt Barrington Manville is his real name, but it’s what he goes by on all his social media and his website.”
“Is the school booting him out?”
“Unlikely.I’m told that, last year, a girl tried to complain about him.He bullied her into keeping silent.This year, he excluded Nico and Daniel from class after he groped Daniel and Nico intervened.Gareth talked to the Head and got the two readmitted, but Fenton won’t take any other action.Considers the exclusion an overreaction on all sides.”
“I’m surprised you let that go.”
“I don’t.But I’m not shouting about it, either, even though I probably should.”
“I’m sure the school wouldn’t appreciate being sued.”
“Not my problem.I don’t want Manville getting shredded by a posse of furious mums and claim he’s the victim.I want to know how far beyond groping he takes this shit and who else is involved.”
“Let me poke around at my end and see what I can find.You want to make this an official complaint?”
“If you need me to.I’d rather keep it quiet for the moment if you can do that.I don’t want him to go to ground, and he strikes me as the kind of guy who would.”
“Interesting.That video suggests he’s more of a bully.”
“He’s oily,” Jack said, remembering the false friendliness.“But then, I’m biased.I met him after Nico and Daniel complained.Not sure what I’d have said if I’d met him before.”
“Exactly the same thing, I imagine.”Clive’s grin lacked any cheer.“You have radar for perverts, and it would have been screaming.I should put you on a leash and take you around with me like a highly trained sniffer dog.Would save us so much work.”
“Right.I think it’s past your bedtime.”
“Probably.”They drained their coffee cups and made their way out of the cafe.
“Sorry for keeping you up,” Jack said as they stood on the pavement with traffic washing around them.“We need to catch up one of these days.Properly, I mean.”
“I know what you meant.I’ll give you a shout when I stop working for three minutes in a row.”
“You do that.And if you need a hand.”
“Thanks, Jack.”Baxter clapped him on the shoulder.
A moment later, Jack watched him walk down the street with only a hint of exhaustion in his stride.His first meeting with the detective—over Jericho’s battered corpse—could have gone a dozen different ways.A professional relationship that kept him out of trouble while they both worked to sweep the streets hadn’t even made it onto his mental list.Being in the place he was now, with a different life and a family to protect, he was grateful they’d given each other a chance.
Passing the Baton
CanyougowithGareth?You’re so much better at this.Nico’s words looped through Daniel’s mind, repeating like a broken record.He’d never claimed specialist knowledge about clothes and colours, but he could tell when Nico was upset and not in the mood for people.Forcing him into a busy shopping centre on a muggy Saturday afternoon when he was in that frame of mind would be cruel.And not fair to Gareth.
Fortunately, Gareth hadn’t asked after Nico when Daniel had come down alone.They’d planned dinners for the coming week and made a grocery list on the drive into Kingston, which was such a familiar activity that Daniel had finally relaxed and enjoyed the shopping that followed.
“Let’s have a break before we tackle the clothes,” Gareth said after loading the groceries.“You can tell me what you’d like to wear.”
They headed for the cafe and Daniel settled himself at a small table, his back to the wall.
“I can’t wait to be done with the dance lessons,” he blurted, when Gareth set down an iced frappuccino for Daniel and a pot of tea for himself and took the remaining chair.“That’s really sad, if you think about it.Shouldn’t dance be fun?Instead, we’re all dreading Friday afternoons, and nobody is looking forward to the ball.Not the way they should be.”
