The First Domino Pt. 02

"Charged," I sat up slowly, "fuck me, computer fraud?"

"Yeah, it's not looking good for him. I'm keeping Cassie home today because she sprained her ankle playing netball last night. Can you let the school know?"

"Of course," I stared at the window, "God, I can't believe he was charged," I looked down at the bed, "will they want to talk to me?"

"It's possible you might have to give a statement about how you found the evidence but it was passed onto me so I'm not sure how they'll play it. They do have to lay out the background for the DPP but if you've got any doubts you can always ask for immunity."

"Should I? Is there any danger?"

"It's computer fraud, these types aren't the ones to worry about. They'll rob a little old lady of her savings but they won't kill her."

***

Even so it was still a tense atmosphere that morning during the staff briefing. All Helena said was that Richard was being detained as part of an ongoing police investigation and would not be back at the school for the foreseeable future. His classes were doled out to several other teachers, I was one of them and then the meeting ended. However as I was heading out the door, Helena followed me into the corridor.

"Can I have a word in private?"

In her office the calm demeanour evaporated suddenly.

"That fucking cunt. I can't believe he was mixed up in all this and I've only been given the summary by the police this morning but it's looking more and more likely that he'll be facing a committal hearing before too long. They've seized his computers and they'll be poking around our computers, including mine," she gazed at it.

I said nothing in reply but hearing Helena say 'cunt' was a first, she hates that word. She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"We need to keep moving forward, not a word about this to the students. I've told them they can check the computers in the lab and staff computers after school. I'll have to be here for about an hour or so but then I've got to duck out to pick up the kids, could you?"

"Mind the store? Sure, no problems."

"Thanks," she managed a tight smile, "I'll be back to lock up and set the alarm," she paused, "and seeing as you're staying back tonight I can give you the day off and get a substitute teacher in to take your classes."

"I should be fine."

"Are you always like this?" Helena propped on her palm, "fine?"

I opened my mouth to reply but I knew what she was implying. It's what we women do so well, we cope with extra work and stress, and whilst we might be floundering we still say I'm fine I can do this. Helena looked past me for a moment.

"The way I see it is you've gone out of your way to help the police, at the risk of being seen as a dobber. I won't say anything to the staff but as it stands you need a day off to process, I'm the boss and if you insist on coming to work I won't stand in your way."

"Okay," I exhaled, "I'll take the day off."

The rest of day was odd. I felt as if everyone was looking at the person who'd dobbed on Richard but as far as I could work out none of my colleagues were any the wiser and the only student who knew the truth was Cassie, and I knew I could trust her.

Come the final bell I told Cassie that I had to stay back for work and exiled myself to the staffroom to await the police and their technicians. I was so ensconced in my kindle that I didn't see Harriet entering the room until she put her briefcase on a table. She was wearing a fairly formal, blue and white pinstriped blouse with contrasting white collar and cuffs, tucked into a pair of charcoal grey trousers. Because the weather was warmer she'd dispensed with the jacket but it was hanging over her handbag.

"What are you doing here?" I rose slowly.

"Checking computers," she glanced over her shoulders, "the police asked me to come in and have a look around, they're in the headmistress's office."

"Helena."

"Is she the?" Harriet raised an eyebrow.

"The one questioning her sexuality, um, yeah but I wouldn't hold that against her."

"Of course," she stared at the bench and a hot water heater, "what's the coffee like?"

"It's average, but at least we don't have to pay for it."

"Fancy a cuppa?"

"I'll make it," I moved towards the sink and she followed me.

I was halfway through making the coffees when three men and a woman came in, Harriet nodded at them as one of the men gestured to her.

"Excuse me," she moved away from me.

I heard snatches of the conversation but pretended I hadn't heard a thing as I finished making the coffees. Harriet brought the man she'd been talking to and introduced us.

"This is Fiona, the teacher who'll stay behind and this is Detective Sergeant Tom Aitkin he's in charge of the investigation."

"A pleasure," he extended his hand and we shook hands, "we'd like to start in the computer lab and while Harriet is going through the computers we'll hook up the computers in this spare room if you'd be so kind as to show us?"

"Of course," I handed Harriet her coffee, "and if you need to make coffee everything is there, just help yourselves."

"Thank you," he nodded at his companions.

We left the room shortly afterwards and I showed Harriet where the computer lab was and then carried on through to the store room.

"It's a bit of a mess I'm afraid, Richard spent more time here than anyone else."

"How did you get on with Richard?"

"Ha, that's like asking how you get on with a boil on your arse, it's only when you sit down that you notice it."

"Point taken," he looked around the room, "all right, guys let's get to work. Can we set up some of the computers in other classrooms?"

"Sure, take your pick, we've got plenty of power points in the science lab next door."

I went to see Helena after that to get the list of computers and rooms they'd be checking and it was quite an extensive list but she assured me that they wouldn't be checking all the computers in the lab because they were essentially dumb terminals linked to a central server.

"The staff computers will all be checked though, so it could be a long night but I've been told they will be out of here by eleven at the latest because of a shift change. If there are any other computers to check they're going to have to come back tomorrow night," she leaned back in her seat.

"God, I'm so sick of this shit. I had a gut feeling about Richard from the moment I set eyes on him but I couldn't pin it down to anything other than his paternalism and that's par for the course around here."

"Do you really think he's guilty?"

"Well if he's not then they're going to an awful lot of trouble for nothing," she rocked back in her seat, "I should be back around half past nine or thereabouts. I have to feed the kids because I can't rely on Tom to feed them, he'd give them takeaways and disappear to his study."

"The man cave."

"Something like that," she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, "whatever happened to that guy you were engaged to?"

"Ah, that's another sorry story, probably on the scale of Richard's shenanigans."

She raised an eyebrow and I launched into a brief summary of the case against him and when I was finished she exhaled.

"What happened to all the honest men? At this rate I'll be batting for the other side, at least I can tell when a woman is lying."

"It's something I've been considering, just not sure how to go about it?"

"Who is she or is it just a vague fantasy?"

"Harriet," I glanced over my shoulder, "she's in the lab right now."

"Is she the woman with the pinstriped blouse?"

"Yeah, that's Harriet, she's from Belfast."

"Juicy," she restrained a smile, "oh, God, what am I saying?" Helena rose and stretched.

"I have to be out of here, I'll bring you back some leftovers if you like?"

"Sure, thanks."

She nodded at a bunch of keys on the table.

"Take the keys and if you're not sure about something just call me, if I don't answer send a text."

With that she was gone and I stayed in her office for a few minutes before retracing my steps back to the staffroom to retrieve my lukewarm coffee.

Harriet stepped into the staffroom nearly an hour later and because it was warm I'd drifted off into a light sleep but woke with a start when she said my name.

"Huh? What's up?"

"Just checking to see if you were asleep," she dug her hands into her pockets.

"Do you want to see what it is I do?"

"Is that legal?"

"It sure is, providing you don't tell anyone," she inclined her head, "come on, we'll get another coffee and head back."

Her invitation notwithstanding, I still felt like an outsider in the lab and I teach there quite a bit. She had set herself up at the server, which is located in the office attached to the classroom. A laptop was plugged into the rear of the server and I tried to concentrate as she explained the technicalities of hacking a server. If I recall rightly, it involves loading a program onto the server that trawls the hard drive searching for certain terms. She was searching for any evidence that Richard had used a school computer for anything untoward but what she found was ambiguous.

"He's got a log file that is erased every twenty eight days and backed up to a flash drive," she told Aitkin.

"What's he logging?"

"His browsing history," she clicked on the link, "it takes you to the bank website and the last cookie was left four days ago."

"So, why is he checking his bank from here?" I leaned against the wall, "I've got an app for that."

Aitkin glanced over his shoulder as if to say something but Harriet spoke up.

"Did you find any evidence of bank transfers on his phone?"

"Just the usual, what we'd expect but if he's gone old school then he could be using this computer to check on another account."

"Well it's bitcoin," she replied, "I'd say that's where the compensation money has gone, or his share at least."

"Can you clone this drive?"

"Already cloned," she eased back from the computer, "it's on that drive there," she nodded at a slim USB drive sitting on the desk.

"It's certainly grounds for a search of his home," Aitkin replied as she stood up.

While Aitkin scrolled through the browsing history I followed Harriet outside where she promptly lit up a cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked," I waved the smoke away.

"Sorry, bad habit. I'm one of those disgusting social smokers, I have one or two a month and usually when I'm hard at work, it helps me come down to earth."

"Huh, I just have a glass of wine."

"Ooh, wine does the trick for me as well," she took another toke, "wine and a cigarette but I've been thinking of lashing out on one of those inhalers."

"My ex had one of those, he used to go through a ton of liquid."

"Mine was the same," she chuckled, "that's another thing we have in common."

"So, what happens now?"

"Oh now they'll take that drive and copy it to their system and return it to me after it's been wiped. I do a lot of this kind of stuff for the police but usually I'm sitting at home staring at a screen trying to find stuff, or I'm on the phone talking someone else through a procedure."

"How did you, how did you become so, how do I put it?"

"Without being politically incorrect?" Harriet took another puff, "just come out and say it, how did I become so fucking smart with computers?"

"Okay, how did you?"

"It was a logical choice," she stared at the houses across the street, "my love life is a chequered mess of almost comical proportions. When I came out I thought that I could now finally move on and find eternal love or something that would at least last until I'm dead but I keep running into women who either just want to try it on for size or want to get something out of me. I spend my days trying to second guess someone and make all kinds of excuses," she took another drag from the cigarette.

"Computers on the other hand are predictable to a fault, I can tell them to do whatever I want and even when they go pear shaped I can correct them and restore them, for the most part. Ironically enough, that particular aspect of me has attracted a few women who saw me as being able to fix all their computer problems for the price of a bit of slap and tickle."

I swallowed and stared straight ahead as I tried to think of a reply that wouldn't sound as if I was just like one of those women.

"Maybe you should quit trying to find the perfect woman, she's as elusive as the perfect man. I thought I'd found the perfect man until I discovered he was involved in a car rebirthing scheme, maybe I should just live for the moment. Find someone I click with and take it one day at a time, I don't want to make promises in the dark," I pushed away from the wall.

"It's about adapting to the other person with all their little quirks, I'm unpredictable. I clean when I'm unsettled, I binge watch Netflix and Prime, and I can't read less than one book at a time, which means I'm constantly having to reread the last chapter to remember where I was," I turned to look at her as I continued.

"I don't even know if I could kiss another woman without recoiling but that doesn't stop me from wanting to try it on for size. I might even be like those women you've known in the past but here I am, warts and all trying to tell you I like what you do and I don't care if you don't respond."

I trailed away and looked at the houses again and when I turned back she was butting the cigarette out against the wall with a crooked grin on her face.

"And here was me thinking you were going to rehash that line from Notting Hill."

"I didn't think of that one."

"It's better than William Thackery's speech, I always found that kind of wet English character a bit stereotypical although it was a comedy."

She reached out and flicked at my hair, I felt a slight weakness in my belly that was at odds with my desire to pull back. She let her hand rest against my cheek and then dropped it as she looked past me.

"I think we have company."

I turned to find Helena walking towards me carrying a plastic bag and her handbag, she must have parked further down from the school instead of the school carpark. I restrained a smile as she drew nearer and when she reached us I introduced them almost too casually.

"So, you're the geek," Helena ran an eye over her, "do you do homies?"

"For sure," she replied smilingly, "why, have you got a naughty computer?"

"I do," she nodded, "actually it's one my husband gave me, it's been nothing but problems from day one, which is probably why he gave it to me and got himself a shiny new Macbook."

"Oh I hate him already," she chuckled, "Macbooks are the bane of my life, I always charge double or triple to fix them. I figure if you're rich enough to buy one you're rich enough to pay extra to fix it when it goes haywire."

"Well this isn't an Apple anything," she replied, "just your basic Windows computer, even my kids turned up their nose at it," she glanced at me.

"How's it going in there?"

"They're in the computer lab staff office," I glanced over my shoulder, "they might have found a clue or two."

"All right then," Helena held up the plastic bag, "I brought you some leftovers, I'll um, lock up but you're okay to hang around if you want."

"I might reheat this," I glanced down at the bag, "it smells like Thai."

"I quite like ties myself," Helena smiled crookedly, "I'll see you in there or not," she nodded at us and then headed for the front door.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked Harriet a few moments later.

"You said she's questioning her sexuality?"

"I do recall saying that recently."

"I'd say she's always been that way inclined, she has that look about her."

"How can you tell that after just a few minutes."

"It's my gaydar," she shrugged, "it's not always accurate but now and then it hits home."

"I might grab my things and head home," I tightened my grip on the bag.

"Or we could catch up later," she moved closer to me.

"Well, in the spirit of what you so eloquently expressed, I'll see you later, or not," she brushed her lips across my cheek and then turning on her heel, walked back inside leaving me standing with a bag of Thai food and my heart in my mouth. It felt a little strange to have gone for so many months without going out on a date and now I was hours away from a roll in the hay but could I actually go to bed with a woman or would I back off at the last moment? I felt a little disconnected as I went back inside and collected my things. Harriet wasn't in the lab when I stepped into the classroom but one of the detectives told me she was in the storeroom.

"I can go get her if you want."

"It's all right, I work here, I'll find her."

Harriet was standing in front of a computer, they must have left a few in the storeroom, I counted at least four with a few in bits. She glanced over her shoulder and offered me a smile as she tapped the keyboard.

"I'm on my way back home, will I see you there or?" I left the rest unsaid.

"I'll text you once I'm ready to leave," she replied, "if you text me back I'll drop in, otherwise I'll have to make other arrangements."

"I understand, completely."

"Good, I'm glad," she stepped back and turned around slowly, "this may or may not take long, one of the other techies found something on a computer that was here and I'm checking other machines here just to make sure."

"Oh, okay," I nodded, "well, hopefully I'll see you later," I was going to take a step forward but she beat me to it and brushed her lips across my cheek.

"You'll never wash that spot again," she stepped back.

That kiss stayed with me all the way home and even after I'd reheated the meal I could still recall the aroma of her perfume. Gail called in whilst I was eating dinner and I told her as much as I knew, which wasn't much at all.

"You said they found something else?"

"Yeah, I thought it was all linked to the computer in the lab but who knows?"

"It might very well be something else entirely."

"Okay," she leaned back in her seat.

"Can I ask you something?" I glanced at her.

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

"How is or how was it with you when you slept with Sarah?"

"Oh, it was um, unexpectedly good. I knew we were going to fuck but I had no idea how I'd react when it got down to it and I suppose that's what made it more, um sensual and exciting. Why?"

"Because I've invited Harriet back here if she gets away from the school before I turn into a pumpkin."

"Just like that?"

"Kind of, the weird thing is I've been coming onto her and she's been the one back pedalling, probably trying to get away from the crazy single woman."

"Don't say that about yourself," she chided me, "you must be one of the nicest women I know but you're very good at cutting yourself down to size and they're not my words. Sarah said it first when I asked her what she thought about you, it's like you cut yourself down to size before someone else does it for you."

"That's my mother's doing," I winced, "she's always been one for keeping up appearances and god help us if we didn't follow through."

I stared at the curtains.

"A simple thing like curtains could turn into a minor drama, she'd fuss over new curtains like it was a life or death thing. I bought mine at Target and she couldn't believe I'd breached the dam, she said it would start with curtains and before I knew it I'd have six children nipping at my heels."

"Well you won't be able to make one baby with Harriet," she chuckled, "look, it's not your mother you're trying to satisfy. I know I gave up on trying to please mum years ago but she's not the kind who tries to hold onto you, so why are you putting burdens on yourself?"

Why indeed? It was a question I was still trying to answer when Harriet sent me a text asking if I was still awake and it took me a minute to answer.