Faraday 02 Network Virus by Michael Hillier

information.”
    “ I checked last night,” said another girl, “and there was nothing on my phone.”
    “ Very well. Now - which of you consider you are close friends of Tracey’s?”
    Four girls put up their hands. One boy started to do the same but hastily took it down again amid a chorus of giggles.
    “ Are you her boyfriend?” asked Charlotte.
    He went pink. “Er, well - sort of. I took her out the other week.”
    “ What’s your name?”
    “ Oliver.”
    “ Where did you take her, Oliver?”
    “ Only for a walk. We went along the prom and then took the coast path to Paignton. There was a fair in Paignton the week before last.”
    “ Was this in the evening?”
    “ Yes, miss. But her mum knew about it. And we got back before dark.” He looked a shade uncomfortable. “Before it got properly dark.”
    There was a chorus of jeers and other comments and he went even pinker.
    “ Was that the only time you took her out?”
    “ Yes, but we said we’d do it again, perhaps at the weekend.”
    “ Did you kiss her?” asked a voice.
    “ Mind your own business.”
    Charlotte raised a hand. “Let’s concentrate on where they went. Is that path into Paignton a popular walk?”
    “ Yeah. Hundreds do it.”
    “ What - in the evenings?”
    “ Summer evenings and weekends.”
    “ Are there any other similar walks - walks that Tracey would know?”
    A list was given and noted down by Bobbie Howell. They provided information on a variety of places where people could perhaps fall and hurt themselves and a few areas where a youngster might get lost. But the general consensus of opinion was that Tracey was pretty sensible and not very adventurous.
    “ The next thing I want to ask you,” said Charlotte, “is whether any of you had noticed anything different about Tracey recently. Did she seem worried about anything or excited about something which might be going to happen?”
    “ She was worried about the exams,” said one girl. “We were all worried about them.”
    “ But they were over two or three weeks ago,” said another.
    Nina looked up. “She did seem a bit funny about something that happened on Tuesday. I asked her about it, but she said it was nothing.”
    “ You call it ‘funny’. How exactly was it funny?”
    “ Well, it was lunch-time. We’re not allowed in the classrooms during the lunch break unless it’s bad weather. Three or four of us were sitting on a seat near the tennis courts and Karen Tilt - a girl from the fourth form - came over and asked her to go somewhere with her. Karen said it was nothing to worry about. So Tracey got up and went with her. She was gone about ten minutes. When she came back I asked what Karen had wanted with her and she just said ‘it was nothing’.”
    “ Is that what you thought was funny?”
    “ That’s right.” Nina shook her head. “Usually she would tell us about everything that happened like that. But this time she just refused to talk about it. I asked if Karen had been nasty in some way but she just said ‘No’.”
    “ Who is this Karen?”
    “ Karen Tilt.”
    “ Caw,” said one of the boys. “She’s a bit of all right, is Karen Tilt.”
    “ Do you like her?”
    “ She’s very sexy.” He made a gesture with his hands that suggested she had a curvaceous figure. “She’s got big boobs.”
    “ Shut up, Barry,” said one of the girls. “Charlotte doesn’t want to know that.”
    “ This Karen Tilt,” asked Charlotte. “Is she a friend of Tracey’s?”
    “ Oh no,” everybody agreed.
    “ Does she often come and talk to you?”
    “ Not likely,” said Barry. “She only talks to the older boys.”
    “ Don’t be daft, Barry.”
    “ So it was unusual when Karen came over and talked to Tracey?” asked Charlotte.
    Nina nodded. “I suppose it was.”
    “ How did Tracey react?”
    “ When Karen first came over I think she was a bit - I don’t know - a bit worried. I think I would have been.”
    “ But Karen put her at her