‘Ah,’ said Weston. ‘You know about my bit of trouble. But it’s not as if it will be in the police records, is it? My name was cleared completely. Still, some people find it difficult to forget.’

‘Tell me what happened.’

Mr Weston shrugged apologetically. ‘There was an accident, that’s all. A boy was badly injured.’

‘This was on a field trip?’

‘Yes. We had taken a party to Losehill Hall. You know the National Park study centre near Castleton?’

Fry didn’t know it, but she nodded, unwilling to admit the gaps in her local knowledge.

‘There was a bit of a fuss about it at the time. Some hysterical reactions. There was a full enquiry by the education department. The police were involved for a while, but of course there were never any charges.’

‘I see. You were in charge of the party?’

‘Yes, indeed. But there was found to be no negligence on my part. It was an accident, pure and simple. Nobody could have predicted it. The boy slipped away from the party. I had warned them all personally about the danger, and we had the right number of adults supervising the group. All the children had been told to stay on the path. But some of them don’t listen to what you tell them. Some of them have never been taught proper discipline.’

‘That’s down to the parents, I suppose.’

Weston smiled faintly. ‘Try telling that to Gavin Ferrigan’s family. They were most abusive. Aggressive even. We had some very unpleasant scenes, I can tell you. I was forced to take legal advice to protect my position. I couldn’t have my integrity being called into doubt in that way; it was undermining my authority as deputy head.’

‘You say the boy was badly hurt?’

‘He suffered serious head injuries. I did my best. I pulled him out of the water, tried to keep him warm until the air ambulance arrived. But he’d hit his head on some rocks in the stream. Five days later, they decided to turn off his life-support machine.’

‘But it blew over in the end, as far as you were concerned?’

‘Eventually. There was a lot of talk – ridiculous, unfounded allegations. It was very embarrassing for a while. It made me feel ashamed, although I knew I had done nothing wrong. Everyone made me feel it was my fault. Everyone.’

‘And Gavin Ferrigan’s mother is Wayne Sugden’s sister.’

‘Apparently. The father, Ferrigan, was already in prison then for drug dealing. But the rest of the family turned up in force for the inquest. It was most unpleasant.’ Weston shuddered at the memory. ‘I kept being forced to justify myself. But I had nothing to apologize for, did I? I did everything right. I did my best for him.’