Page 17 of Revenge

“He loves going down on them.”

I twisted in my seat and gaped at Alice, who gave me a knowing smirk. “With that big, bristly mustache? No!”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

My eyes bulged. “You did?”

“Just once. It was after the girls gave me the cold shoulder.”

“What did you want?”

She shrugged. “Company, I suppose.”

I sucked in a breath. “You need to report him for taking advantage of school girls.”

Alice’s face hardened, and she reached into the open drinks cabinet for a miniature bottle of vodka and poured its contents into her coke. “He never goes further than fingers and oral, and he doesn’t approach us. We approach him.”

I clenched my teeth. Even if the girls did instigate these encounters, Mr. Carbuncle was the adult and should have turned them away. “How long has he been offering this… service?”

Alice shrugged. “I’m not sure. All the girls know about him. It’s an open secret.” She grabbed my arm. “You look angry. Don’t get him into trouble. He’s a decent sort.”

I made a long, theatrical sigh. Alice was still useful for gathering information. There was no point in antagonizing her by letting her know I wanted her precious Mr. Carbuncle fired.

No, I wouldn’t report Mr. Carbuncle yet. He had access to all the buildings in the academy and would be well-positioned to put up the cameras with the right motivation. I’d ask Jackie to use the knowledge of his extra-curricular activities to blackmail him into putting up those cameras. Alice’s recording and the video of him letting Charlotte into my room would be enough evidence to convince him to work for the paper.

“Wasn’t it an ordeal?” I made my voice as perky as I could. “That mustache has to be scratchy.”

Alice’s eyes sparkled. “Charlotte doesn’t think so, and neither do some of the others.”

“But it looks like a broom!”

Alice recited a list of girls who had offered themselves to Mr. Carbuncle. A few had just done it for the experience and others had requested favors, such as access to someone else’s room. Each name and funny anecdote Alice told me became a nail in the janitor’s coffin. He would be a useful person to blame in case anyone suspected me of spying or of passing information onto the Correspondent. Not only would he install those cameras, but I would ask Jackie to transfer small payments to his bank account and send thank you letters every time she published an article related to the academy… Just in case I needed someone to frame if everything went wrong.

I sat back and listened to Alice ramble about the janitor’s sexual escapades with a whole host of girls. This was perfect. Not only had I found someone to complete the task of putting up the cameras, but I’d also found a fall guy who deserved to be framed.

Alice fell asleep in the back of the car, and I emailed the recordings to Jackie on my burner phone with my request. She replied immediately, congratulating me on a brilliant idea and saying she’d get someone down to visit Mr. Carbuncle in Mercia county as soon as possible.

When the car pulled into the driveway outside Elder House, I shook Alice awake.

Her eyes fluttered open. “Thanks for a fun evening.”

I smiled down at her. “Glad you had a great time. We should do it again.”

She opened the door and staggered out of the car. I let out a long, satisfied yawn. That had been a very satisfying evening. I followed her up the stairs and into the building. The reception hall was dark, only lit by the roaring and crackling fire. I stood in front of the mesmerizing sight when a hand grabbed my wrist.

“When will you let Bachmann know?” said Henry.

I pulled out of his grip and folded my arms across my chest. “Have you been waiting here all night for me, just to ask about Sergei?”

He loomed over me, his green eyes unusually stormy. The light of the fire made the ends of his hair glow like sunshine. “You said—”

“You can’t expect me to throw away a good man for a foot massage with a happy ending,” I hissed.

His face fell. “What about our agreement?”

“I said, I’d consider forgiving you.” I prodded Henry in his hard pectoral muscle. “It’s going to take a very long time to trust you after what you did.”

He bowed his head. “If my father ever discovered I’d swindled the family out of a ransom, I’d be disinherited.”