house?’ It would be spirit writing next.
She looked puzzled, then she cottoned on. ‘No, no, Mr Maxwell. My wall. My cyber-wall.’
‘Ah.’ Maxwell didn’t know a lot about these computer communities, but he did know you had to join and get a password and everything. ‘Butyou must know who is doing that, surely. An email says who it is from, and I suppose the others are the same.’
‘No, Mr Maxwell.’ She spoke slowly, as though to a small child. ‘An email says who the sender says it is from.’ She looked into his eyes to see if it had sunk in. Nothing. ‘When you set up the account, you say who you are. You could set it up to say you were, oh, I don’t know, the Duke of Wellington, say.’
He brightened up. ‘I could?’
‘Well, you could if you, like, wanted to hide who you are. It’s easy.’
‘Where did you find all this?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, did you find it out online, in a … chat room?’ The words were ones he used, but not usually linked together. He felt the real world recede and he didn’t like it.
‘No. It really is so basic, Mr Maxwell.’ Leah was relaxing now and the words flowed better. ‘I don’t know how I got to know about it. I just, like,
do
.’
He clambered slowly to his feet, knees cracking like pistols. ‘I think you need to talk to someone other than me, Leah. I understand people. I don’t understand the technical stuff.’
She jumped up as well and fetched him a smart one under the chin with her bag as he attempted to straighten up to his full height. ‘Sorry,’ shemuttered and ran from the room, bowling over Sylvia Matthews as she went. Maxwell rushed to haul her to her feet and they staggered into his office and collapsed on chairs. Sylvia looked closely at him.
‘Max, you appear to have “Hello Kitty” printed on your chin.’
He felt it, gingerly. ‘Is that what it is? I just prefer to think of it as a painful bruise,’ he said huffily.
Sylvia took a deep breath. ‘Max, I have to ask this, and obviously, you can stop me if you want but—’
He sighed. ‘Nothing, Sylv. She was upset about something and I didn’t give her the answer she wanted.’
‘No one ever gives them the answer they want at that age, Max. Surely you know that by now.’
‘Sylv. Can you keep a secret?’
‘I’m horrified you need to ask.’
He reached over and patted her arm. ‘Soz,’ he said. ‘I know you would never share a confidence, but I think you might be a bit conflicted with this.’
She drew back, making the sign of the cross with the forefingers of both hands. It warded off vampires, by all accounts, but would it work this time?
‘What is it?’ Maxwell asked, rather taken aback.
‘You just used psychobabble,’ she said. ‘From that I can only deduce, Sherlock, that you are not yourself, but some kind of clone.’
He looked at her with his head on one side. ‘There’s a lot of that about,’ he said. ‘I wear my armour of righteousness whenever I go near Bernard Ryan, but obviously something creeps through sometimes. I will rephrase.’
She patted her chest and fanned her face with relief. Nobody ever went near the Deputy Head without
some
form of protection.
‘I think you might find yourself, Sylv, between a rock and a very hard place.’
‘That’s better. But what are they, the rock and the hard place?’
‘Leah and, I happen to know, Julie and at least three other girls in this school are receiving unpleasant texts and, I have just discovered, emails and other cyber stuff which I don’t really understand, to be truthful. Leah and Julie have only told Jacquie and me about it. The other three have either told their parents, or their parents found out somehow and they are known to the police.’
‘So,’ Sylvia wanted to get it right, ‘Jacquie officially knows about all of them. You know about Julie and Leah.’
‘Yes. But Julie told Jacquie about Leah and Jacquie told me, though Julie asked her not to tell me. But
She looked puzzled, then she cottoned on. ‘No, no, Mr Maxwell. My wall. My cyber-wall.’
‘Ah.’ Maxwell didn’t know a lot about these computer communities, but he did know you had to join and get a password and everything. ‘Butyou must know who is doing that, surely. An email says who it is from, and I suppose the others are the same.’
‘No, Mr Maxwell.’ She spoke slowly, as though to a small child. ‘An email says who the sender says it is from.’ She looked into his eyes to see if it had sunk in. Nothing. ‘When you set up the account, you say who you are. You could set it up to say you were, oh, I don’t know, the Duke of Wellington, say.’
He brightened up. ‘I could?’
‘Well, you could if you, like, wanted to hide who you are. It’s easy.’
‘Where did you find all this?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, did you find it out online, in a … chat room?’ The words were ones he used, but not usually linked together. He felt the real world recede and he didn’t like it.
‘No. It really is so basic, Mr Maxwell.’ Leah was relaxing now and the words flowed better. ‘I don’t know how I got to know about it. I just, like,
do
.’
He clambered slowly to his feet, knees cracking like pistols. ‘I think you need to talk to someone other than me, Leah. I understand people. I don’t understand the technical stuff.’
She jumped up as well and fetched him a smart one under the chin with her bag as he attempted to straighten up to his full height. ‘Sorry,’ shemuttered and ran from the room, bowling over Sylvia Matthews as she went. Maxwell rushed to haul her to her feet and they staggered into his office and collapsed on chairs. Sylvia looked closely at him.
‘Max, you appear to have “Hello Kitty” printed on your chin.’
He felt it, gingerly. ‘Is that what it is? I just prefer to think of it as a painful bruise,’ he said huffily.
Sylvia took a deep breath. ‘Max, I have to ask this, and obviously, you can stop me if you want but—’
He sighed. ‘Nothing, Sylv. She was upset about something and I didn’t give her the answer she wanted.’
‘No one ever gives them the answer they want at that age, Max. Surely you know that by now.’
‘Sylv. Can you keep a secret?’
‘I’m horrified you need to ask.’
He reached over and patted her arm. ‘Soz,’ he said. ‘I know you would never share a confidence, but I think you might be a bit conflicted with this.’
She drew back, making the sign of the cross with the forefingers of both hands. It warded off vampires, by all accounts, but would it work this time?
‘What is it?’ Maxwell asked, rather taken aback.
‘You just used psychobabble,’ she said. ‘From that I can only deduce, Sherlock, that you are not yourself, but some kind of clone.’
He looked at her with his head on one side. ‘There’s a lot of that about,’ he said. ‘I wear my armour of righteousness whenever I go near Bernard Ryan, but obviously something creeps through sometimes. I will rephrase.’
She patted her chest and fanned her face with relief. Nobody ever went near the Deputy Head without
some
form of protection.
‘I think you might find yourself, Sylv, between a rock and a very hard place.’
‘That’s better. But what are they, the rock and the hard place?’
‘Leah and, I happen to know, Julie and at least three other girls in this school are receiving unpleasant texts and, I have just discovered, emails and other cyber stuff which I don’t really understand, to be truthful. Leah and Julie have only told Jacquie and me about it. The other three have either told their parents, or their parents found out somehow and they are known to the police.’
‘So,’ Sylvia wanted to get it right, ‘Jacquie officially knows about all of them. You know about Julie and Leah.’
‘Yes. But Julie told Jacquie about Leah and Jacquie told me, though Julie asked her not to tell me. But
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