‘And while you’re at it, please warn your mother that I’m taking my wife to Moretti’s for dinner on Saturday evening to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so I hope it’s not her night off.’
Sasha smiled, rose from his chair and said, ‘I’ll let her know, sir.’
He decided to take a walk around the school grounds before heading home to tell his mother why the headmaster had wanted to see him. He strolled out onto the close to see that a cricket match was taking place on the square. The school were 146 for 3. Despite his fascination with figures, Sasha hadn’t mastered the subtle nuances of the game. Only the English could invent a game where logic couldn’t determine which side was winning.
He continued walking around the boundary, occasionally glancing up when he heard the smack of leather on willow. When he reached the other side of the ground, he decided to go behind the pavilion so he wouldn’t distract the players. He’d only gone a few yards when his reverie was interrupted by the sound of a girl’s voice coming from the nearby copse. He stopped to listen more carefully. The next voice he heard was one he recognized immediately.
‘You know you want it, so why pretend?’
‘I never wanted to go this far,’ protested the girl, who was clearly crying.
‘It’s a bit late to tell me that.’
‘Get off me, or I’ll scream.’
‘Be my guest. Nobody will hear you.’
The next thing Sasha heard was a loud cry that sent the starlings perched on top of the pavilion scattering high into the air. He ran into the copse to see Tremlett lying on top of a struggling girl whose skirt was pushed up around her waist, her blouse and knickers on the ground by her side.
‘Mind your own business, Russki,’ said Tremlett, looking up. ‘She’s only a local tart, so get lost.’
Sasha grabbed Tremlett by the shoulders and dragged him off the girl, who let out an even louder scream. Tremlett cursed Sasha, as he picked up his shoes and, remembering the broken nose, sauntered off through the copse.
Sasha was kneeling by the girl’s side, handing her her blouse, when the cricket master and three boys came running out of the back of the pavilion.
‘It wasn’t me,’ protested Sasha. But when he turned round, expecting the girl to confirm his story, she was already running barefoot across the grass, and never looked back.
‘It wasn’t me,’ repeated Sasha after the cricket master had marched him straight to the headmaster’s study and reported what he had witnessed.
‘Then who else could it have been?’ demanded the headmaster. ‘Mr Leigh found you alone with the girl, who was screaming before she ran away. Nobody else was there.’
‘There was someone else,’ said Sasha, ‘but I didn’t recognize him.’
‘Karpenko, you don’t seem to realize how serious this matter is. As things stand, I have no choice but to suspend you, and place the matter in the hands of the police.’
Sasha stared defiantly at the headmaster and repeated, ‘He ran away.’
‘Who did?’
‘I didn’t recognize him.’
‘Then you must return home immediately. I strongly advise you to tell your mother exactly what happened, and let’s hope she can bring you to your senses.’
Sasha left the headmaster’s study and made his way slowly home, any thoughts of Trinity or the LSE now far from his mind.
‘You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,’ said his mother when he walked into the kitchen.
He sat down at the table, head in hands, and began to tell her why he’d come home early that afternoon. He’d reached, ‘I was kneeling by her side...’ when there was a loud banging on the front door.
Elena opened it to find two uniformed policemen towering over her. ‘Are you Mrs Karpenko?’ the first officer asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Is your son Sasha with you?’
‘Yes, he is.’
‘I need him to accompany me to the station, madam.’
‘Why?’ demanded Elena, blocking the doorway. ‘He hasn’t done anything wrong.’
‘If that’s the case, madam, he has nothing to fear,’ said the second officer. ‘And of course you are welcome to come with us.’
Elena and Sasha sat silently in the back of the squad car as they were driven to the local police station. Once Sasha had been signed in by the duty sergeant, they were escorted to a small interview room in the basement and asked to wait.
‘Don’t say a word,’ said Elena, once the door had closed. ‘Being suspended from school is one thing, being sent back to the Soviet Union is quite another.’
‘But this isn’t the Soviet Union, Mother. In England you’re innocent until proven guilty.’
The door swung open and a middle-aged man in a dark grey suit walked into the room and sat down opposite them.
‘Good evening, Mrs Karpenko, I’m Detective Inspector Maddox. I’m the officer in charge of this case.’
‘My son is innocent, and—’
‘And we’re about to give him a chance to prove it,’ said Maddox. ‘We would like your son to take part in an identity parade, but as he’s a minor, we can’t do so without your written permission.’
‘And if I refuse?’
‘Then he will be arrested, and will remain in custody overnight while we continue our inquiries. But if you’re convinced he has nothing to hide...’
‘I have nothing to hide,’ said Sasha, ‘so please sign the document, Mama.’
The inspector placed a two-page form on the table in front of Elena, and handed her a biro. She took her time reading every word before finally adding her signature.
‘Please come with me, young man,’ said the inspector. He rose from his place and accompanied Sasha out of the room and down the corridor. The detective then stood aside to allow Sasha to enter a long narrow room with a raised platform on one side. Standing on the platform were eight young men, roughly the same age as Sasha, who had clearly been waiting for him.
‘You can choose where you would prefer to stand,’ said the inspector.
Sasha stepped onto the platform and took his place between two lads he’d never seen before, second on the left.
‘Will all of you now please turn and face the mirror in front of you.’
The inspector left the room and went next door, where a frightened young girl, her mother and a female police officer were waiting for him.
‘Now, Miss Allen,’ said Detective Inspector Maddox as he drew back the curtain along one wall of the room, ‘remember that although you can see them, they cannot see you.’ The girl didn’t look convinced, but when her mother nodded, she stared intently at the nine young men. She only needed a few seconds before she pointed to the one who was standing second from the right.
‘Can you confirm that is the young man who attacked you, Miss Allen?’ asked Maddox.
‘No,’ said the girl, barely above a whisper. ‘That’s the boy who came to my rescue.’
She rang the doorbell twice. She knew he was at home, because she’d sat in her car for the past two hours waiting for him to return. When he answered the door he looked down at her and said, ‘What do you want?’
‘I’ve come to see you about your son.’
‘What about my son?’ he said, not budging an inch.
‘Perhaps it might be wiser if we were to discuss this inside, councillor,’ she said, glancing across at an elderly lady who was peeping through the lace curtain next door.
‘All right,’ he said reluctantly, and led her through to his study.
‘So what’s this all about?’ he demanded once he’d closed the door.
‘Your son tried to rape my daughter,’ she said.
‘I know all about this,’ said the man, ‘and you’ve got the wrong lad. I think you’ll find that the police have already arrested the culprit.’