The Case of the Wayward Professor (9 page)

Walking back to the girl's dorm, Holly formulated a plan. She needed to make a phone call on a clean line and remembered Petal boasting that her mobile phone wasn't monitored because her mother didn't want anyone listening to their conversations.

She put her trumpet back in her room and headed for the common room, where she found Petal regaling a cluster of older girls with the story of when her mother had come home drunk with a Hollywood A-list star. Holly had heard the story a number of times but she listened patiently until the end, laughing along with the others, before saying, ‘Petal, can I talk to you?'

Petal's smile fell away. ‘What do you want now?'

‘I wanted to say sorry,' said Holly. ‘It's just that I think I am a bit jealous like your therapist, Hermann, said. And I really like your mum's new album and I think your book is brilliant. Can we be friends?'

Petal eyed her suspiciously for a moment then her smile returned and she opened her arms. Holly leaned in and they hugged. Petal whispered in her ear, ‘I forgive you.'

‘Thanks, Petal. It means the world to me,' said Holly. With convincing tears in her eyes she excused herself from the room.

As she walked away she could hear Petal saying, ‘That's a turn-up for the books but I knew no one could really dislike me. I knew she was jealous.'

Outside the room, Holly smiled and pulled Petal's mobile phone out of her pocket.

She dialled a number she had memorised and listened to it ring, anxiously watching the door. Petal wouldn't take long to realise that her precious mobile phone was missing. The call went through to an answering machine and Holly left a message, finishing just as the common room door burst open and Petal appeared.

‘You stole my phone, you cow!' she yelled.

‘Here you go,' said Holly, handing it back to her.

Petal spent the rest of the evening threatening to report Holly as a thief, so when an announcement came over the loud speaker the next day, asking her to come to the principal's office, Holly assumed that she must have done so.

The principal's secretary looked bored, as she carefully painted her nails black and white to match the chequered dress she was wearing.

She held up a black-nailed finger, indicating that Holly should wait, and pressed a white-nailed finger on the intercom button. ‘Holly Bigsby is here, principal,' she said in her usual flat tone.

Holly heard the principal's voice mid-laugh, say, ‘Send her in, Angie.'

‘He's in a good mood, stock must be up,' said the secretary, unsmiling.

Holly entered the office to find the principal sitting behind his desk wearing a smart pinstriped suit, and a matching shirt and tie, in mid-conversation with a man, sitting opposite him.

‘Diversify or die, as they say,' said the man, laughing. Holly could only see the back of his head. ‘The school is your flagship project, but the William Scrivener brand is there to be exploited.'

‘Well, we brand stationery and calendars, you know,
sweatshirts, ties. Things like that.'

‘Larry, Larry, Larry. What century are we in? Think outside the box.'

‘Filofaxes?' ventured the principal.

‘Think mobile-phone covers, polyphonic rings, baseball caps, skinny-fit T-shirts,' cried the man, turning round and smiling at Holly.

‘Ladbroke,' said Holly.

It was Ladbroke Blake, the private detective that Holly had befriended after her dad's big-haired wife had hired him to follow her.

She had only left the message on his answering machine yesterday. She hadn't expected him to come so quickly. She didn't know what his plan was, but he was obviously using a false name because the principal looked quizzically at her and said, ‘Ladbroke? Surely you recognise your godfather, Holly, Mr Somerset Oglander.'

‘Excuse us,' Ladbroke grinned. ‘It's an old family joke.' He held his arms out and said, ‘Holly, how are you?'

Holly hugged him.

‘I see,' said the principal. ‘Well, I must say, Holly, your godfather has a lot of interesting ideas on the subject of schooling.'

‘My ideas are nothing next to your achievements,' said Ladbroke.

‘Oh, well,' said the principal, unable to hide his glee. ‘I can't take all of the credit. The school has a long and noble tradition of educating the nation's finest and wealthiest children.'

‘Modesty. I'll have none of it,' said Ladbroke. ‘I recently returned from a tour of the top-ranking private schools in the USA and I have to say yours stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of them.'

‘America,' said Principal Palmer, eyes wide. ‘You're too kind.'

‘But I have not come all this way simply to admire your wonderful school.'

‘Yes, of course,' said the principal, fixing Holly with a serious look in his eyes. ‘Now, Holly, please listen to your godfather.'

‘Yes, Holly, I am afraid I have been sent here by your father, who is terribly busy campaigning in the election. I understand that you have been having some difficulty settling down.'

Holly looked down at her feet.

‘Are you unhappy here?'

‘No, sir,' she said quietly.

‘You realise most children would give their right
kidney to come to this school?'

‘Yes,' said Holly.

‘I want you to promise me that you will stop all this misbehaving and try to settle in. Your father can't afford any scandal at this stage in his career.'

Ladbroke was holding her hands, and, as he said this, he gave them a gentle squeeze, which Holly took as a sign to demonstrate her acting skills, so she covered her eyes and began to sob.

‘There, there,' said Ladbroke. ‘Do you promise to be a good girl?'

‘Yes, sir,' she replied.

‘Your father is very proud of you,' said Ladbroke. To the principal he said, ‘And I'll tell Malcolm what good hands she is in. Your security is second to none. Explain to me how these remarkable wristbands work again.'

‘They're made of a plasticised metal which was developed by NASA for use in space,' said Principal Palmer. ‘Nothing can cut through them. They allow the students to come and go as they please within designated hours and they are all fitted with short-range locating devices, preventing any repeat of last year's unfortunate incident.'

‘The kidnapping.' Ladbroke nodded. ‘Did they ever find out who was behind it?'

‘No. Probably some local nut who realised he was in too deep, so released the boy.'

‘Well, they are remarkable devices. Holly, let me see yours.' She noticed him slip his hand into his jacket pocket before taking her wrist. ‘NASA, you say?' he said, inspecting the band.

‘Oh yes, it is an advantage of having such generous sponsors of the school that we can always afford the best.'

‘Hold on, what's this?' said Ladbroke, suddenly sounding alarmed.

Holly looked at her wrist and saw that, around the band, her skin looked red and sore. It didn't hurt, but it looked like it did. Ever so subtly, Ladbroke winked at her and she withdrew her arm.

‘It's nothing,' she said, playing along.

‘Let me see,' he demanded.

Holly reluctantly offered up her arm again.

‘What is it?' said Principal Palmer.

‘How long have you had this rash?' asked Ladbroke.

‘Only since I've been wearing the wristband,' she replied. ‘It's nothing.'

The principal walked round the desk and inspected the newly appeared rash. ‘Holly, you should have said something.'

‘What do you think is causing it?' said Ladbroke.

‘Well, they did say that in some rare cases the wristbands might cause an allergic reaction.'

‘Really? How fascinating.'

‘Why didn't you tell me about this?' Palmer asked Holly, clearly embarrassed.

‘I didn't want to make a fuss,' answered Holly.

‘Didn't want to make a fuss? Don't be so silly,' said the principal. ‘Don't worry. I'll call security immediately and have it removed. You don't mind carrying it with you instead, do you?' he asked.

Holly looked down at her pretend rash, and allowed herself a very small smile. ‘No,' she said. ‘I don't mind carrying it with me instead.'

After a security guard had been called and the wristband removed, Principal Palmer allowed Holly to accompany her godfather to his car, before returning to her lessons. Ladbroke put on his coat and wide-brimmed hat and followed Holly down the corridor

‘What's your plan when you get out?' he asked quietly.

‘Dirk's in the forest,' said Holly.

‘The dragon?'

Although Ladbroke had never formally met Dirk he had had the pleasure of being knocked out by him. ‘I've
got to get back to London. Are you sure you'll be OK?' he asked.

‘I know where Dirk is hiding so I should be able to find him.'

‘OK, try to be safe.'

Ladbroke threw his hat into the back seat of his car, a grey Mercedes with a white stripe across the side, and drove away.

Holly spent the rest of the afternoon plotting her escape. She was told off three times for not listening and was almost caught out when, during art, Mr Learmonth caught her drawing a plan of the school grounds instead of the bowl of fruit in front of her. Luckily, Holly's drawing wasn't all that good and he seemed satisfied with her explanation that it was an artistic impression of the fruit.

By the end of the school day the plan was ready, but she needed help.

In the common room she found Moji sitting with some other prefects, flicking through glossy magazines, laughing at the problem pages.

‘Hi,' said Holly, standing in front of her.

‘Hey, it's Steve McQueen,' said Moji, making her friends laugh. ‘How's it going, Steve?'

‘Can I talk to you in private?' asked Holly.

‘Sounds serious,' said Moji smiling, but she put down her magazine and followed Holly out of the common room. Holly led her out of the main door, to avoid being overheard.

‘I need your help,' she said. ‘I need to get out. I can't tell you why, but I've got a plan. This isn't a stupid running-away-from-school thing. It's important. I'll only be gone a few days.'

Moji looked at her. She could tell she was serious. ‘Are you in trouble?' she asked.

‘No, but someone is, and I need to get out to help him. You have to trust me.'

‘Sorry, Holly. I already told you, my escaping days are behind me. I can't help you.'

‘Yes, you can,' pleaded Holly. ‘You're the only one who can. You're the best, Moji. You know this place better than anyone. I can't do it without you.'

‘But even if you got past the fence, they'll find you because of the non-removable …'

‘Wristband?' Holly interrupted, pulling it out of a pocket.

Moji sighed. She looked at Holly, so stubborn and strong-willed. It was crazy to help her escape but, looking into the girl's determined brown eyes, she was reminded of herself at that age.

‘OK, Hol,' she said eventually, ‘but I must need my head seeing to. What's the plan?'

Later that night, with Petal murmuring something about Versace in her sleep, Holly crept out of the room, dressed all in black. She slipped across the corridor to the cupboard, pulled a balaclava over her head and put on her trainers, then snuck to the main door, clinging to the shadows, where Moji was waiting for her, also dressed in black.

Without a word, Moji held her wristband up to the door and pushed it open. Holly darted through, swiftly followed by Moji. Outside, they took cover behind the two large pot plants. They stayed hidden for two minutes exactly, without speaking, then Moji nodded at Holly. Holly raised her thumb and Moji ran across the concourse in the direction of the football pitch.

Holly waited another minute before running to the tall conifer tree. She climbed up the tree, then across to the next, heading, tree to tree, along the path towards the main gate.

Reaching the final tree she climbed down to a lower branch so that she could see the security cabin. The light was on. At this time of night there would be two guards in the cabin, the patrolling guard having just got back from his round. The cold penetrated Holly's clothes. She shivered and blew into her hands to keep warm. She checked her watch. If Moji was on schedule, the alarm light would be flashing inside the cabin right about now.

Sure enough, the door opened and a guard hurried out. Holly stayed still, focused on the task. Another few minutes passed then a second guard left the cabin.

Holly waited for another minute, giving Moji enough time to make another hole in the fence, flushing out any extra guards on duty tonight. No one else appeared, so she jumped down from the tree and approached the cabin cautiously, but before she could get too close, she heard a dog barking and a voice say, ‘What is it, Bruno, boy? Is there someone out there?'