“I’m sorry,” he went on, “but I’m sure you understand that we’re in a hurry to find out who killed Luke, and if you know anything that might help us…”
Rose leaned forward, her eyes wide. “Why? Do you think he’s going to kill someone else? Do you think it’s a serial killer?”
“We’ve no reason to think anything of the sort.”
“Then relax, why don’t you?”
Banks felt his back teeth grinding as he tried to smile.
“Anyway,” Rose went on, “I was going to tell you. Have you talked to Miss Anderson yet?”
“Lauren Anderson? Yes.”
A mischievous glint lit Rose’s eyes. “And did she tell you about her and Luke?”
“She told us she gave him extra instruction in English because he was ahead of the rest of the class.”
Rose laughed. “Extra instruction. That’s a good one. And did she tell you where she gave this instruction?”
“At her house.”
Rose leaned back and folded her arms. “Exactly.”
“So?”
“Oh, come on. Surely you can’t be that naive? Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” said Banks, who was perfectly sure but wanted her to get there by herself.
“They were having it off, weren’t they?”
“You know that for a fact?”
“Stands to reason.”
“Why?”
“She’s nothing but a slut, that Miss Anderson, and a cradle-snatcher.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, she didn’t give anybody else private instruction in her home, did she?”
“I don’t know,” said Banks.
“Well, she didn’t.”
“Tell me, Rose,” Banks said, wishing he could have a cigarette, “what did you think of Luke? You knew him, didn’t you?”
“We were in the same class, yes.”
“Did you like him?”
Rose twirled some strands of hair. “He was all right, I suppose.”
“Pretty cool, huh?”
“Cool! More like sad, if you ask me.”
“Why?”
“He never talked to anybody – except high and mighty Miss Anderson, of course. It’s like he was better than the rest of us.”
“Maybe he was shy.”
“Just because he had a famous father. Well, I think his father’s music sucks, and he can’t have been much of a father if he went and killed himself, could he? He was nothing but a drug addict.”
Nice line in compassion, Rose, Banks thought, but he didn’t bother voicing his opinion. “So you didn’t like Luke?”
“I told you. He was all right. Just a bit weird.”
“But he was pretty good-looking, wasn’t he?”
Rose made a face. “Ugh! I wouldn’t have gone out with him if he was the last boy on earth.”
“I don’t think you’re telling me the truth, Rose, are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know very well what I mean. You and Luke. Earlier this year.”
“Who told you that?”
“Never you mind. How far did it go?”
“Go? That’s a laugh. It didn’t go anywhere.”
“But you wanted it to, didn’t you?”
Rose twisted in her chair. “He thought he was better than the rest of us.”
“So why did you spend time talking to him?”
“I don’t know. Just… I mean, he was different. The other boys, they only want one thing.”
“And Luke didn’t?”
“I never got to find out, did I? We just talked.”
“What about?”
“Music and stuff.”
“You never actually went out together?”
“No. I mean, we went to McDonald’s a couple of times after school, but that’s all.”
“Rose, do you have any evidence at all to support your accusation that Luke and Lauren Anderson were having an affair?”
“If you mean was I watching at her window, then no. But it’s obvious, isn’t it? Why else would she spend her spare time with someone like him?”
“But you spent time with him.”
“Yeah. Well… that was different.”
“Didn’t you try to be nice to him, to befriend him, when you talked to him in the hallways and the playground, and when you went to McDonald’s with him?”
Rose looked away and continued twirling her hair around her fingers. “Of course I did.”
“And what happened?”
“Nothing. He just sort of… like he got bored with me or something. Like I didn’t read all those stupid books he was always carrying around, and I didn’t listen to the same lousy music. I wasn’t good enough for him. He was a snob. Above the rest of us.”
“And because of this you assumed he was having sexual relations with a teacher. That’s a bit of a far stretch, isn’t it?”
“You didn’t see them together.”
“Did you see them kissing, touching, holding hands?”
“Of course not. They were too careful to do anything like that in public, weren’t they?”
“What then?”
“The way they looked at each other. The way she always left him alone in class. The way they talked. The way he made her laugh.”
“You were just jealous, weren’t you, Rose? That’s why you’re saying all this. Because you couldn’t get along with Luke, but Miss Anderson could.”
“I was not jealous! Certainly not of that ugly old bitch.”
For a moment, Banks wondered if there was anything in what Rose Barlow was telling him other than sour grapes. It may have been innocent, a true teacher-pupil relationship, but Banks had enough experience to know that anything involving two people of the opposite sex – or the same sex, for that matter – in close proximity could turn into something sexual, no matter what the difference in their ages. He had also read about such things in the newspapers. He would keep an open mind and have another talk with Lauren Anderson when he got back from Peterborough, push her a little harder and see if any cracks showed.
“What do you think of Miss Anderson?” he asked Rose.
“She’s all right, I suppose.”
“You just called her an ugly old bitch.”
“Well… I didn’t mean… I was angry… I mean, she’s okay as a teacher. All right?”
“Do you get on well with her in class?”
“Okay.”
“So if I ask any of the other pupils in the class, they’d tell me that you and Miss Anderson get along just fine?”
Rose reddened. “She picks on me sometimes. She put me in detention once.”
“What for?”
“Not reading some stupid Shakespeare play. So I was reading a magazine under the desk. So what? I can’t be bothered with all that boring English stuff.”
“So you had a few run-ins with her?”
“Yes. But that’s not why I’m here. That’s not why I’m telling you what I know.”
“I’m sure it’s not, Rose, but you have to admit it does give you a bit of a motive to cause trouble for Miss Anderson, especially if you also tried to get Luke to be your boyfriend.”
Rose jumped to her feet. “Why are you being so horrible to me? I come here to help you and give you important information and you treat me like a criminal. I’m going to tell my father about you.”