When She Was Bad(84)

‘Would you say that on the whole Laurie knows the difference between right and wrong?’

Dan’s first question of the process caught all of us by surprise.

The Head of the preschool, a small blonde woman in a knee-length dress with a bow at the collar and flat white shoes with just the tiniest splatter of red paint on the sole to give away her vocation, bit down on her bottom lip in concentration before replying.

‘Obviously she’s very young still and there’s a debate about how much of a moral framework any child of four really has, but on the whole I would say she has a fairly good idea of what behaviour is and isn’t acceptable. I believe someone must have taught her the basics of right and wrong, although coming from that home it’s impossible to imagine they knew the difference.’

If she was hoping to invite some broader confidences relating to Laurie’s past life, she was to be disappointed.

‘And there haven’t been any incidents to give you cause for concern?’ asked Ed, smartly closing the door on conjecture and bringing the conversation back to the here and the now.

The Head frowned.

‘There have been minor issues, just as you’d expect with any child of that age. She reacts badly to being told off – sometimes running away to hide, other times getting angry or upset.’

‘And if other children are being told off?’ I asked her.

The Head swung round to face me with a look of surprise, as if she’d only now noticed I was there.

‘She doesn’t always respond well in those situations either,’ she said at last. ‘We have had occasions where we have had to gently remind her that we are in charge and the disciplining of other students isn’t her responsibility.’

‘Tell them about the Wendy house,’ said a young woman with long brown braids, who’d been standing by the doorway clearly waiting for a chance to get involved.

‘I’m not sure it’s what you’re looking for,’ said the Head after another pause. ‘But the other day – when we had that sudden scorcher, do you remember – anyway, the kids were all outside in the playground and, well, there’s been some trouble between two of the little girls. You know how small children can be,’ she said directly to me, before continuing.

‘I’m afraid one of the two has been bullying the other a bit. We’ve been trying to deal with it, but such behaviour isn’t uncommon. Laurie hasn’t initiated any of the trouble but she’s clearly been agitated by it, sometimes reporting back to us about what’s been going on, other times joining in with some not-very-pleasant behaviour, like refusing to let the girl play a game the rest of them are playing or repeating some of the meaner things being said. All perfectly normal.

‘On this particular occasion all the children were playing outside as I said. We were having a little staff conference over here on the porch about the afternoon’s activities. We had a good view of the playground and we gradually realized there was something going on down at the far end, near the Wendy house – a disturbance. I went over there as quickly as I could and all the children were standing around outside. Some of them were laughing in a kind of nervous way but a couple of the girls were crying. The girl who’d been doing the bullying was outside the door, and as soon as she saw me she said, “It wasn’t me.” Just like that. So I knew something had happened.

‘When I got closer, there was just Laurie in the Wendy house and the other little girl, Sandy, who she’d tied up with a skipping rope.’

‘Well, that doesn’t sound too bad,’ said Ed. ‘I mean, not ideal certainly but not entirely aberrant either.’

‘Sandy was naked,’ said the braided young woman in the doorway, seizing her opportunity to take centre stage. ‘Well, near enough. Laurie had taken off her clothes before she tied her up.’

‘Not all her clothes,’ said the Head reprovingly. ‘But yes, it was . . . unfortunate. The child told her parents and we had to call all the girls and parents together for a meeting.’

‘When was this?’ I asked, wondering why Jana hadn’t mentioned anything the last time we’d met.

‘Just a couple of days ago,’ said the Head. ‘To be honest, it probably sounds more serious than it actually was. Aside from the skipping rope and the clothes, Laurie hadn’t done anything to hurt her. And as I said, she wasn’t the instigator of the bullying campaign. In fact, the little girl’s parents were far more concerned about the girl who’d started the whole thing.’

‘Did you notice anything about Laurie’s state of mind when you found her in the Wendy house?’ I asked. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ed Kowalsky stiffen and straighten, as if he’d thought the questioning was over.