She recalled the visits to school, her attempts to broker some sort of peace between Luke and his teachers, Luke and the attendance officer. She had done her level best to listen, to try and find out how she could help him, why he was so unhappy and restless.
The possibility that she had fallen short, that there were mistakes, inadequacies in what she had done, made her sick with guilt. Shame clawed through her.
But when she returned to the papers and read them anew, the anger returned. This was not Luke, this was not fair.
Shivering with rage, she rang DC Illingworth, never mind how early it was. ‘Have you seen the papers?’ she demanded, a tremor in her voice.
‘No,’ the woman replied. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s bloody character assassination,’ she said, close to tears, ‘that’s what it is. My boy’s a victim here and they’re making him out to be a right villain.’
‘Louise-’
‘Please,’ she blurted out, ‘read them!’ She ended the call.
‘Mum?’ Ruby was there in her school uniform. ‘What’s going on?’
Louise only hesitated for a moment – there was no way she could keep it from Ruby; she was bound to hear about it. ‘The papers, they’re saying things about Luke, things that aren’t true.’
‘What sort of things?’
‘That he was a criminal, that he was terrorizing the place.’
‘Oh, Mum.’ Ruby’s eyes filled.
‘I know it’s not true and you know it’s not true, but it’s there in black and white and some people will take it as gospel.’
‘Can’t we sue them, then?’
Oh, Ruby. ‘I doubt it.’ She tried to focus, to concentrate on what was important. ‘Listen, you might get some bother at school. Do you want me to talk to Miss Morley?’
‘No, it’ll be all right.’
‘But you would let me know if…’ A spike of panic in her guts; was she neglecting Ruby too? Should she keep her off, cocoon her here?
‘Course.’ Ruby poured cereal, drained the last of the milk, pulled one of the papers closer.
‘How do they know all this?’ Louise wondered aloud. ‘The stuff with the police, the cautions, that’s not public knowledge. He was only fifteen, it’s meant to be confidential. So either the police have leaked stuff, or someone who knows Luke told them. But why? Why would anyone do that?’
‘It makes him sound horrible,’ Ruby exclaimed. ‘There’s our house.’ She pointed at an inside page. The picture made the place look smaller, meaner than it really was. Barren. Taken so that the great tree, with Luke’s lights in, was not in view.
The only reference to Luke’s attackers was right at the end of the piece, which repeated that the police had issued e-fit pictures of two men and a young woman wanted for questioning in the assault that led to the death of Good Samaritan Jason Barnes.
‘Why would they write all this?’ asked Ruby.
‘Because it sells papers. They can stir it up, get people talking. You know what spin is; this is spin. Your great-grandad called them the gutter press, this lot. Best used for wiping yer arse on.’
‘Mum!’
‘His words, not mine.’ She drew a breath; her chest ached. ‘Just remember, if anyone says anything at school, you know Luke, and what sort of person he is. And this isn’t him.’
* * *
DC Illingworth rang back before they left. ‘I’m so sorry, Louise.’
‘Can’t you do anything? Make them take it back? What if it affects how people see things when we get to court? Isn’t that illegal if there might be a trial?’
‘They’ve been very careful; there are no details about the incident itself in what they’ve written.’
‘Aren’t your press office meant to stop them printing stuff like this?’
‘We do our best, but we have a free press. Publishing material like this doesn’t help anybody, but as I say, there’s nothing there that might materially affect our ability to press charges or mount a prosecution. You could try for a right of reply or an apology, but we really wouldn’t advise it. It could make things even worse.’
Louise felt boxed in, nowhere to turn. ‘How did they find all this out, the stuff about the cautions? I was told at the time that none of it would be disclosed.’
‘That’s right, it’s common practice with young offenders.’
