The Selection List

Emma went back to the library to find the article to which the correction referred. The librarian located a bound volume of the local paper, and Emma worked through September 2011 until she found a report headed “Eight Students Chosen for Travel Support.”

The original article, dated 16 September, described a scheme run by the Glenarraidh Education Trust. Malcolm Vale had praised it as an opportunity for young people to attend courses beyond the village. Eight students were said to have been selected. Their names were not printed, and the report offered no explanation of the selection process.

The correction Emma had found the previous day appeared after Claire's disappearance. It acknowledged that the figure in the earlier article was incorrect, but offered neither a replacement number nor a reason for the mistake. Emma had initially hoped that comparing the two reports would settle the question. Instead, it told her precisely what the newspapers could not establish.

She photographed both complete pages, making sure the dates and headings were visible. A corrected newspaper report was useful evidence of what the public had been told; it was not a register of grants awarded or payments made.

“Eight was wrong,” Sarah said when Emma called. “Doesn't that suggest the trust exaggerated its work?”

“Possibly. But it could also mean someone at the newspaper misunderstood a figure. We need to know which number the trust supplied, if any, and how selection worked.”

The librarian suggested looking for readers' letters. A few pages later, Emma found one printed under the heading “Questions About Student Grants.” Its author, described only as a local parent, said families had not been given clear information about the criteria used to select students.

Emma read the letter twice. It was a contemporary complaint, not proof of wrongdoing. The newspaper had withheld the parent's identity, and Emma could not know whether the writer had applied for a grant or had first-hand knowledge of the process. Still, the complaint showed that questions about fairness had been raised at the time, not invented fifteen years later.

Back at her table, Emma divided her notes into three columns: announcement, correction, and complaint. Each source had a different purpose and different limitations. None identified a recipient or an approving officer.

She then reopened her notes from her 18 September interview with Claire. Claire had questioned whether the foundation delivered what it promised. The old remark now suggested a line of enquiry rather than an answer.

Emma drafted a follow-up question for Fiona: could the trust locate its 2011 selection criteria and any record of decisions made under them? She kept the request separate from the anonymous caller's accusation about payments.

It was tempting to jump from a disputed number to a missing payment. Emma closed the notebook before the temptation became a headline.