CHAPTER 9 : NO LONGER CHILDISH PRANKS
The organisers of the Accelerated Course were satisfied with the progress made by their four chosen students. Certainly their choice of students seemed correct as they were well matched and progressing as an adhesive group. All submitted reports from tutors were positive and by the end of Hilary, if the committee felt the same way, they hoped to increase the number of students which they might accept into the following year's freshman AC. After a heated discussion it was decided that this year's group would progress as sophomores at a maximum of four students. It was an experimental course and allowing other students to join in subsequent years would skew the results. Dr. Ellis was very protective of her group and was pleased that the committee on the whole agreed.
One dissident voice, remarked that skimming the cream of the crop meant that other students might not challenge themselves to achieve knowing that the AC's were the golden boys.
"…and women!" came a female voice from the rear.
"As it stands," the chairman Dr. melrose said, "I don't believe that the majority of the freshmen are conscious that there is this programme. It was never publicly advertised, as you know, we approached only students whom we felt had the required ability. We will next meet in the second to last week of Trinity."
The meeting was adjoined and various members congratulated Dr. Ellis that her fledgling project had so far proved successful.
-0-0-
However, out of their small group, it wasn't Merlin who ran into trouble but Beth.
One evening well after midnight, Merlin was awakened by someone knocking quietly yet persistently at his door. He got up and mindful of what Arthur had said, asked, "Who is it?"
A worried voice said, "Merlin, it's Tina, please let us in." Merlin opened the door and Tina with a weeping Beth beside her walked into his room saying, "I didn't know what to do or where to go."
Merlin settled the girls on the sofa, Beth was shivering so he put his duvet over her shoulders, pulled a chair up and asked what had happened. He figured that there was a bat or a mouse in one of their rooms but it turned out to be something much more unpleasant.
Tina explained that the two of them were studying in her room and by eleven they decided to turn in so Beth had left to go back to her room. Tina finished her work and got ready for bed, the next thing she heard was someone fumbling with her door handle. She knew that the door was locked but she was frightened nonetheless.
"I waited hoping that it would stop and then felt sure that I heard crying. I spoke through the door and the only word I heard was 'Tina' I recognised Beth's voice and I opened the door and she literally fell in.
"All she has done is sob." She turned and looked at Merlin and said, "What do I do? I can't get her to stop and if I ask her something, she tries to talk and then subsides into tears."
Merlin hadn't any idea why girls would continually sob but he decided it must have been something important. He looked at her and noticed two red marks on her wrists and bruises around her neck.
Suddenly, Beth sobbed with tears streaming down her face, "I don't want to be here anymore…I want to go home…I want my mother."
Tina looked at Merlin and it was as if a light had gone on between them. He walked across the hallway and woke up Toby, "There's been trouble could you please stay with Tina and Beth while I phone the Porters' Lodge. I have an awful feeling that Beth has been attacked."
Toby pulled on some sweat pants and a pyjama top and went next door, leaving Merlin in his room. Merlin phoned downstairs, luckily it was Drake and he told him that something had happened to one of the girl students, Miss Weber, and that she and Miss Chong were now in his room with Mr. Quilley.
He added, "Drake, I think it might have been an assault, what do I do?"
Drake said, "Stay with her, don't let her go wandering off. I'll have someone up there as fast as possible. Can she walk?"
"Yes, but she might need a shoulder to lean on. She's very upset."
"Just stay in your room and keep the ladies with you. Leave the door unlocked, someone will come soon."
Merlin went into the room and Beth was no longer sobbing, she sat upright staring vacantly into space. He nodded at Toby and for something to do, put on the kettle. Running through his mind were the words, 'Arthur would know what to do'. He heard footsteps in the hallway and the door opened admitting Drake and what seemed to be a policewoman. Another uniformed man stood at the door.
Drake asked Merlin and Toby to go into Toby's room telling them, someone would speak to them later, he then went back downstairs. There was another uniformed security guard halfway down the corridor. As he closed the door, Toby looked at Merlin, "She's been attacked hasn't she?"
Nodding, Merlin said, "I think so…"
"It's not right…I thought that we were really going to be safe here."
"We are…this just one of those awful things which happen." He sat on the chair and rubbed his hands up and down his face and finally straight up and through his hair, leaving it standing on end. "I don't understand it. How could someone hurt her like that?"
They sat in silence and then Toby said quietly, "But why Beth, she has no enemies and wouldn't hurt a fly." He paused before adding quietly, "Do you think she was raped?"
Merlin shrugged, "I don't know but she was certainly manhandled by the look of her arms and her neck.
"What happens next?"
"Well, I think maybe the police will be involved and they will have to catch whoever did it…someone must have let them into the building," he thought before adding, "maybe after hours by the night gate."
Toby was silent and then said, "Then they will have the security tapes and the person will be caught." Silence reigned and finally he added, "But…"
Merlin waited for him to continue and finally said, "Toby, for heaven's sake, what?"
"What if it wasn't an intruder…maybe it was another resident."
Merlin went to disagree and then went quiet as he thought, 'Baxter hadn't been an intruder.'
His mind was working overtime and he was miles away as there was a tap on the door and he literally jumped out of his skin. He felt disoriented and then was in the present and slowly nodded as Toby went to open the door.
A security guard stood outside, "Mr. Drake asked me to tell you," he said glancing at Merlin, "that your room is now empty and you may go back. The Misses Chong and Weber have gone to the hospital. The police will want to talk to you tomorrow." He then added, "Good Night!" and left.
Merlin stood up and left but not before saying, "Toby, remember to lock your door."
Toby said, "I'll watch until you get in your room and then we can lock them together."
Merlin lay on his bed, he was upset and if he told the truth a little bit frightened. He couldn't relax let alone sleep. He kept seeing Tina's shocked face as she led her sobbing friend into his room; Beth cuddled into herself on his sofa with tears streaming down her face; then the silent Beth in a world of her own staring into space.
He thought, 'Why had she been hurt? She was a lovely person and he had never heard her say a bad word about anyone. She didn't go out of her way to be difficult, just happy to be with the group whether they were at tutorials, studying in the library or wandering around town.'
He noticed that his duvet was missing.
-0-0-
Dawn came and Merlin felt that he had been awake all night. He knew he must have dozed but his mind was on alert the whole time.
He checked the time, it was six-thirty. He wondered if Beth had slept or even if she was back in the building. He got up and wandered into the bathroom, he looked as awful as he felt. He didn't want to go anywhere. Breakfast was until nine-thirty so he climbed back into bed intending just to close his eyes to rest them.
He awoke to someone knocking on his door, he glanced at his phone. He'd missed breakfast and had twenty minutes to make his first tutorial.
Toby called out, "Merlin, you need to rise and shine!"
Opening the door, he smiled as Toby in his dressing gown had obviously also missed breakfast. Merlin grinned saying, "I have two cereal bars and some tea, sorry no milk."
Toby stepped into the room, his eyes drifting to the sofa, the last place he'd seen Beth before the two of them had been told to leave. "Have you heard anything?"
Merlin shook his head. "Tina might have some news when we meet up with Robert." He handed him the cereal bar and told him to get dressed as they had to leave in ten minutes. They walked down together, Merlin wondering if Drake would be on duty later in the day.
Robert greeted them explaining that it would only be the three of them as he had been notified that Tina and Beth would not be joining them. "You can give them a heads-up on what we covered," he said.
For the time they were there, their minds were occupied and it wasn't until they were making there way to the Dining Hall that Toby said, "What do you think happened?"
Merlin shook his head, "She was roughed up but hopefully nothing else...but I have an awful feeling…" he didn't want to continue. Beth was a friend and the four of them had become quite close.
The two of them were really hungry and managed to have a good lunch. They were surprised when Tina slid onto the seat next to Toby. She looked exhausted and shook her head, "I haven't seen her since they took her into A&E. She had a policewoman, a Constable Haggarty with her. I was driven back here by College Security early this morning and I was told to take the morning off. She can't still be in hospital but she isn't in her room. I'm scared because whoever did it, is in the Halls."
Toby took her hand, "Try to stay positive. She probably doesn't have her phone with her or we'd have heard something. She'll be back soon I'm sure of it. Did you get a name to contact?"
"No, we got out of the ambulance and they took her off to A&E and asked me to go to the waiting room. Then later someone came and got all my information. I arrived here and Conroy who was on duty with Dunn, saw me to my room.
"It was almost as if it was a closed shop, they were pleasant but gave me no information and when I asked before I left the hospital they said that the college would be notified. When they took her away, she was still wrapped in your duvet."
"I'm sure I'll get it back sometime or another," Merlin said trying to keep the his mind focused on what had happened and not on some police show or another where bedding had been removed for forensic testing. He couldn't remember if that was only for criminal cases where death was involved.
He came back to Tina saying, "I'm sure, they'll be getting in touch with both of you. I heard your names being mentioned." Her eyes became tear filled as she said, "Not knowing, is the worse part, I hope she's OK. I'd just like to know where she is?"
"Does her family live in the UK or are they still in Berlin?" Toby asked.
"I think they have a place in London, maybe a flat or something." As she finished speaking a woman walked over introduced herself and asked Tina to follow her. She did without asking any questions.
Merlin knew that even without the uniform, the woman was a member of the police force. He felt bad seeing Tina walk off on her own as if it had been him, he would have wanted Toby to go with him.
As usual, he refrained from glancing towards Baxter's table but had he, he would have noticed a couple of empty chairs at the table where Baxter usually held court.
Neither Tina nor Beth appeared for any afternoon tutorials or their usual study period in the library. It seemed strange to just be the two of them.
-0-0-
There was a buzz in the halls when they returned prior to supper and a group were standing in the hallway. Merlin heard someone ask, "If we were supposed to be in our rooms by midnight last night, why was there so much coming and going closer to one? Did anyone else hear it?"
Several other residents nodded their heads and one person said, "Not only coming and going, there was obviously an emergency as I peeked out my door and saw uniforms."
"Well, I'm on the top floor and someone thundered past my room and a door slammed and all was quiet."
"Drake probably chasing someone who was out after hours!" Another chap said and they all laughed.
Someone else whom Merlin recognised as a senior said, "If it is anything involving our safety, they will let us know. Maybe someone was taken ill and needed a doctor." He turned to one of this classmates, "Remember one year, when things were going missing from rooms, they let us know and told us to be careful and keep our doors locked."
Merlin and Toby said nothing and as the group of upperclassmen moved on the two of them went to Merlin's room. Merlin tried the handle and it was locked, he opened the door with his key and turned seeing Toby watching him. "I learned that…in a police show, you shouldn't go into your house if the door which you locked is unlocked."
Toby glanced around Merlin's room and said, "Some house!"
Merlin's phone pinged, there was a text from Arthur saying that he would phone later that evening. No sooner had he read that, than there was a call telling him that the police would like to see him around seven o'clock that evening in one of the visiting rooms on the ground floor. He held the phone so Toby could hear.
Toby's phone then rang and they wanted to see him at seven-fifteen. He looked at Merlin and said, "Seven-fifteen and yours is at seven. Guess they won't have time to use any heavy-handed techniques in fifteen minutes."
Merlin smiled, "They probably just want to know the times the girls came and things like that." He wanted whomever had hurt Beth to get caught but he'd never had to make a police statement before and he felt a little out of his depth. Hopefully, they didn't suspect Toby or him of the crime.
-0-0-
Supper was finished and considering that it was a week until term break, everyone seemed subdued. There was a lot of muttering but obviously no one knew of their involvement as no one approached them.
Toby and he made their way downstairs together. One of the Students Representative was there a Senior who also resided in their hall. He asked them to sit down and wait as the inspector would see them shorty.
When Merlin finally went into the room, a man stood up and shook his hand, introducing himself as Inspector Manley. The other man at the table nodded and Merlin realised that it was Claudio the graduate student who was on the Discipline Committee, with whom he had spoken during Michaelmas term regarding Baxter. It helped to see a friendly face.
The inspector just wanted to check on the time line. He also asked if Merlin had noticed any older students watching the girls. He then asked Merlin to describe Miss Weber's behaviour when she came into his room with…he glanced at his notes before continuing, …a Miss Tina Chong.
Merlin told them what had happened in the sequence it had taken place. He mentioned that Miss Weber had bruising on her arms and redness around her throat. He had put his duvet over her shoulders as she was shivering.
"Did she say anything?" Inspector Manley asked.
"She just sobbed to begin with and then later said, 'I want to go home and something about wanting her mother.' She was a bit difficult to understand as she was sobbing and sniffing. Then she sat up straight and stared into the distance. I decided to get my friend across the hall, Toby Quilley to sit with them and I phoned the Porters' Lodge to speak with whomever was on duty and it was Drake."
The inspector jotting down things as Merlin answered his questions. Claudio also seemed to be taking notes. Manley then snapped his notebook closed and stood saying, "If we need to find you again, Mr. Emrys, we know where you are. Please do not broadcast any of this around the college. Send Mr. Quilley in, please, I have finished with you, you may go now?"
Merlin said, "Thank you, Inspector!" He nodded at Claudio and left the room. He stepped outside and told Toby he'd wait for him.
Toby's interview was very brief as he had only seen Beth staring straight ahead. He soon joined Merlin in the hallway and they made their way upstairs. Neither of them felt like talking, as each one was wrapped in his own thoughts.
Before they entered their rooms, Toby said, "Well, that's what it feels like to be interviewed by the police! Not something I'd want to do again soon. Gosh, it must be awful if you are actually guilty of something and are trying to think fast to cover your tracks."
Merlin nodded saying, "I would think that it gets easier the more often you do it…however remember, 'The Mounties always get their man'!"For a second, Merlin felt uncomfortable saying that because of Luca's death and he wondered if the shooter had ever been arrested.
Toby didn't seem perturbed and nodded, "Let's hope that it's the same in Oxford. Merlin, can we try to make it in time for breakfast tomorrow morning, I was famished by lunch today."
"I'll be up bright and early, showered, dressed and ready to walk out of my room by eight o'clock. I'll phone you as I get out of bed. All right?"
"Good idea, I hope I sleep better tonight. 'Night!" he said as he went into his room.
"Remember to lock your door!" Merlin called after him and Toby nodded.
Merlin went into his room and turned on the bedside lamp, he had finished his essay for tomorrow's tutorial with Malcolm and he just felt for no better word, down in the dumps.
He got undressed and pulled on pyjama pants and a t-shirt. He was glad that Claudio had not mentioned Baxter although he was sure that the Inspector knew of their run in. He wondered what it would be like to be a policemen, not an easy life he was sure. He hoped that they would get the situation settled and everyone could get back to normal. Then he thought of Beth and if what he suspected had happened, he knew it would never be normal for her.
He was trying to understand what type of person would force himself on someone else. Had they not learnt how to respect people as they grew up? He remembered being told in school that he had to stand up for himself particularly in debating. Allowing your opponent to verbally beat you into the ground and then stand there and not make any rebuttal had a couple of times cost him the match. However, the more confident he became, the more he realised his ability to talk circles around most of the other competitors. The key was in being prepared and sure of your facts.
Somewhere at home, there was the cup he had won in a City Wide Debate. Gawaine had been unimpressed as he said, "Maybe, it's because you never let anyone get a word in edgewise!" He'd laughed adding, "Obviously, you are a singleton without brothers because often I am shouted down by mine."
Merlin had said mockingly, "Diddums!"
At which point Gawaine had sent him flying into the flower bed and Mrs Knells had said, "Boys, the flowers have done you no harm, leave them alone!"
He suddenly realised that he missed Gawaine.
Gawaine the one with the really great solutions to all problems, who would have listened and then set on a course of action which often misfired but at the time it would have seemed possible and at least, they would have been doing something…
