Page 266 of Depraved Boys

A boy from the football team shot out of his seat. “What the fuck is this? His twin and best friend just got killed!”

Sebastian wrapped an arm around my middle and guided me to my seat. “Ashley must have given her statement about the pigging.”

Leopold placed a comforting arm on my shoulder. “With any luck, there’s a group of officers doing the same at Byrd and Byrd.”

Nodding, I stared down at my plate of half-eaten eggs Benedict. Congealed yolk spread over the white porcelain, putting me off from continuing my breakfast.

I didn’t dare raise my head to see Barrett’s expression. If Ashley had reported them when she’d had the chance, she would have gotten justice. Now, the courts would treat her worse than they would treat Barrett.

“She’s a lying bitch,” he yelled. “I didn’t touch anyone!”

Barrett’s shouts of protest as they slapped handcuffs around his wrists and walked him out of the dining room turned into screams that made my blood curdle.

Leopold’s hand slid down my arm. He leaned close and murmured, “If you’re feeling bad for him, don’t. I saw what they did to Ashley. It was foul. Grotesque. I would have torn out their livers if that happened to me.”

My throat closed up, and I chewed my lip. Dealing with the police could be frustrating, heart-breaking, and tiresome, but murdering people wasn’t the answer.

On the last Friday morning of the term, Mr. Blunt interrupted our English class to tell us that we had a visitor. Pursing her lips with annoyance, Miss Claymore let us go, and we followed the caretaker to the meeting room.

When we opened the door, we found Mr. Pinkerton sitting in his usual seat, wearing the usual black suit. A male assistant sat on his right behind a stack of files. Leopold wrapped his hand around mine as we entered.

“Any news?” asked Sebastian.

“The Crown Prosecution Service has set Prakash’s court date for Friday.” He turned to his assistant. “I brought Rupert along because he’s been checking the translations on the diary you handed in.”

I swallowed hard. “It proves that she killed herself. The last entry is all about how she was a burden to her brother and wanted to die.”

Mr. Pinkerton grimaced. “If it had been written in plain English and Corrine had referred to people by name instead of cryptic codes, it might have been admissible.”

Rupert, the assistant added, “I focussed on the last few entries and used your system to turn the numbers into letters, but it was near impossible to make sense of anything.”

“But we translated it!” My heart pounded in my chest. “Corrine was a genius. We cracked her code. Isn’t that enough?”

Mr. Pinkerton shook his head. “I’m not saying it won’t be helpful in a court of law—”

“This case can’t go to trial,” said Sebastian. “Kash didn’t kill Corrine.”

Mr. Pinkerton leaned back in his seat. “The CPS has no faith in Mr. Kashaayah’s alibi for the day she died.”

“We were in the hideout,” Leopold said.

“That’s the point,” said the lawyer. “A treehouse hidden to the world. There is no CCTV anywhere on that stretch of road to corroborate your whereabouts, no mobile phone records to prove your location, and no witnesses other than Mr. Kashaayah’s closest friends.”

I shook my head. The Crown Prosecution Service was bullshit. Using that logic, a husband sleeping with his wife at night didn’t count as an alibi because she was his closest companion, and there wasn’t an impartial enough third party standing over the bed to confirm his location.

“And there’s another thing,” added Mr. Pinkerton.

I held my breath and clenched my teeth. Leopold’s hand squeezed mine, and Sebastian looked like he was going to be sick.

“The day after Miss Evergreen was abducted and dumped in the cave, the police made a more thorough search of the surroundings. They found items that belonged to Mr. Kashaayah.”

“Like what?” Sebastian groaned.

“A mobile phone, Kashaayah-branded teabags, and pens with his fingerprints.”

“How do they know it didn’t fall out of my pocket?” I blurted.

Mr. Pinkerton fixed me with an incredulous look. “Did Mr. Kashaayah lend you these items?”