‘And what did he say?’

‘Well, he was thankful that I was giving his daughter a second chance she possibly didn’t deserve. And he promised he would sort it out and talk to her. I’m guessing now that when Mr Bell did speak to Andie he mentioned that I was the source of the information. So, if I was the target of some choice words from Andie that week, I’m not entirely surprised, I must say. Disappointed is all.’

Pip took a deep breath, one glazed with undisguised relief.

‘What’s that for?’

‘I’m just glad you weren’t lying for a worse reason.’

‘Think you’ve read too many mystery novels, Pip. Why not some historical biographies instead?’ He smiled gently.

‘They can be just as disturbing as fiction.’ She paused. ‘You’d never told anyone before, had you . . . about Andie’s bullying?’

‘Of course not. It seemed pointless after everything that happened. Insensitive too.’ He scratched his chin. ‘I try not to think about it because I get lost in butterfly-effect theories. What if I had just told the school and Andie was expelled that week? Would it have changed the outcome? Would the conditions that led to Sal killing her not have been in place? Would those two still be alive?’

‘That’s a rabbit hole you shouldn’t go down,’ Pip said. ‘And you definitely don’t remember the girl that who bullied?’

‘No, sorry,’ he said. ‘Naomi would remember; you could ask her about it. Not sure what this has to do with use of media in criminal investigations, though.’ He looked at her with a slightly scolding look.

‘Well, I’m yet to decide on my final title,’ she smiled.

‘OK, well, don’t go falling down your own rabbit hole.’ He wagged his finger. ‘And now I’m running away from you because I’m desperate for a tuna melt.’ He smiled and dashed out into the corridor.

Pip felt lighter, the bulk of doubt disappearing, just as Elliot now had through the door. And instead of misplaced speculation leading her astray, she now had another real lead to follow. And one less name on her list. It was a good trade to make.

But the lead was taking her back to Naomi again. And Pip would have to look her in the eyes like she didn’t think there was something dark hiding behind them.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi

EPQ 13/09/2017

Production Log – Entry 15

Transcript of second interview with Naomi Ward

Pip:

OK, recording. So, your dad told me that he found out Andie was bullying another girl in your year. Cyber-bulling. He thought there was some online video involved. Do you know anything about this?

Naomi:

Yeah, like I said, I thought Andie was trouble.

Pip:

Can you tell me more about it?

Naomi:

There was a girl in our year, called Natalie da Silva, and she was pretty and blonde too. They looked quite similar actually. And I guess Andie felt threatened by her because ever since the start of our final year Andie started spreading rumours about her and finding ways to humiliate her.

Pip:

If Sal and Andie didn’t start seeing each other until that December, how did you know all this?

Naomi:

I was friends with Nat. We had biology together.

Pip:

Oh. And what kind of rumours was Andie starting?

Naomi:

The kind of disgusting things only a teenage girl could think up. Things like her family was incestuous, that Nat watched people undress in the changing rooms and touched herself. Those kinds of things.

Pip:

And you think Andie did this because Nat was pretty and she felt threatened by that?

Naomi:

I actually think that was the extent of her thought process. Andie wanted to be the girl in the year that all the boys wanted. Nat was competition so Andie had to take her down.

Pip:

So did you know about this video at the time?

Naomi:

Yeah, it got shared all over social media. I think it wasn’t taken down until a few days later when someone reported it as inappropriate content.

Pip:

When was this?

Naomi:

It was during the Easter holidays. Thank god it wasn’t during the school term; that would have been even worse for Nat.

Pip:

OK, so what was it?

Naomi:

So, as far as I know, Andie had been hanging out with some friends from school, including her two minions.

Pip:

Chloe Burch and Emma Hutton?

Naomi:

Yeah and some other kids. Not Sal or any of us. And there was this guy, Chris Parks, who everyone knew Nat fancied. I don’t know all the details, but Andie either used his phone or told him what to do, and they were sending flirty texts to Nat. And she was responding ’cause she liked Chris and thought it was him. And then Andie slash Chris asked Nat to send a video of her topless, with her face in it so he’d know it was really her.

Pip:

And Nat did it?

Naomi:

Yeah. A little naive, but she thought she was talking to just Chris. The next we all know, the clip is online and Andie and loads of other people are sharing it on their profiles. The comments were so horrible. And practically everyone in the year saw it before it got taken down. Nat was inconsolable. She even skipped the first two days back at school after Easter because she was so humiliated.