Accounts were embellished with each new telling and, quite deliberately, McKenna played his own part in intensifying the drama. Standing on the refectory dais to address the whole school, he reminded them that one of their number was already dead, before saying, ‘For the past three days, Torrance Fuseli has been exercising Sukie Melville’s horse. Now she has had a terrible fall. If she lives — if — she could well be brain-damaged and crippled.’ He paused, his gaze raking over the sea of faces below. Many of the younger girls were already weeping. ‘Torrance’s fall was no accident. Someone wilfully sabotaged the saddle, intending this to happen. That person,’ he added, his words slow and measured, ‘intended to kill her.’ Beside him on the dais Jack, still with a blinding headache, thought that McKenna was making scant impression in several quarters. Freya had been relegated to the floor of the refectory and the staff, obviously more intrigued by her sudden demotion, watched her constantly while whispering to each other.
