Free Dead Unlucky by Andrew Derham Page B

all the staff only this morning that the subject of her death was closed. I suspected you would have asked me anyway if I hadn’t brought the matter up.’ Mrs Morris searched her memories and raised her eyebrows as she gave a wan smile. Her expression asked how such a dreadful thing could have happened. ‘There was certainly nothing shallow or banal about that girl. A top notch student in every way. I have taught my subject for over thirty years, and Nicola Brown was one of the finest mathematicians I have ever encountered. Sharp isn’t the word for it. Like a razor blade through water. She had applied for admission to Cambridge to study medicine next year. And she would have got in, too. Walked in with ease, and the university would have been fortunate to have had somebody of her calibre go up there.’
    ‘And her death, Mrs Morris?’
    ‘Yes, I’m sorry, you asked me about her death, didn’t you.’ The frown of sorrow appearing again on the teacher’s face had climbed up from her heart. ‘She was found hanging in her room. Her roommate walked in, and there she was. It was suicide, of course, but nobody can really explain why she did it. I suppose that when people are very bright, exceptionally clever like Nicola, then you can never be certain that you truly understand them. They seem to possess their own mental places where only they can go.’
    ‘What was Nicola like? And, please, do be as forthright as you were about Sebastian.’
    ‘She could be a little distant because she was so single-minded. It was medicine at Cambridge with Nicola; that was her calling and her driving ambition. But she really was a treasure, an absolute poppet. I knew her well because she was in my form, you see. She did more charity work than she strictly needed to do to qualify for her leaving certificate, but the elderly folk loved her and she was so good with them. She had that capacity to truly give of herself; when she performed a kindness it never came across as a duty but as a simple, natural act. She didn’t have that many friends, but she was very close to those she did have. To be honest, she wasn’t really of the right social background for many of the people here and they consequently resented her academic success. She couldn’t gain points from them either for being exceptionally pretty or good at sport, the sorts of things that always guarantee popularity for youngsters. Nicola was less athletic than even an old thing like me, and very slight of build. Also a trifle plain, to tell the truth. Beauty was not one of her greatest gifts, although she certainly wasn’t what an unkind person would call ugly.’
    ‘Did Nicola resent her lack of popularity?’
    ‘Didn’t give a hoot. She knew why she was studying at Highdean, and she didn’t allow the lesser beings to get under her skin and distract her from her goal, although she would never have put it like that herself, she didn’t possess such conceit.’
    ‘Did she have any special friends?’
    ‘Hiba Massaoud. She was her roommate and the person whose company she really enjoyed. They were the greatest of friends, and such a lovely pair of girls. It was Hiba who found Nicola that morning.’ The maths teacher gazed down at her lap for a moment and when her eyes returned to Hart’s he could see they were brimming over with anguish. ‘Can you imagine being seventeen years old, walking into the bathroom, and seeing your best friend hanging like that? Hiba is still so enormously upset.’
    Hart nodded his understanding. ‘And how did other people react to Nicola’s death?’
    ‘As you may imagine, many were terribly distressed, as I certainly was myself.’ Mrs Morris paused to collect her thoughts before continuing. ‘But it’s strange, and somewhat shameful I believe, that the school as an institution just carried on as normal. There was no memorial service for Nicola, not even an assembly like the one we had this morning. It just wasn’t the done thing to