Sofia scanned the room, perhaps trying to figure out how provocative what she was about to say would be, and if it wasn’t too late to snag a seat on the second bus. She sighed, knowing she couldn’t lie. It wasn’t fair that she’d been tasked with explaining these horrors, that she wasn’t allowed to collapse like the rest of us, but she drew a deep breath and channelled as much bedside manner as she could. Any doctor will tell you their special talent is delivering bad news. ‘Yes, Erin. I think Michael was killed the same way as the man this morning.’

‘We can’t be sure of that,’ Lucy was quick to object. I was reminded that she hadn’t seen Green Boots’ body at all, so had no reason to doubt the official story. ‘This is ridiculous! You’re just scaring people. That first guy probably died from exposure.’

‘You need to be realistic, Lucy. He was murdered too.’ Sofia challenged the room to object. I could see Lucy was itching to contribute again, but was still figuring out what to say. ‘Someone tied a bag around Green Boots’ head and filled it with ash. He would have died with or without the showmanship, being gagged in plastic and all, but it’s sort of the killer’s calling card. They did the same thing to Michael, although this time the ash was the fatal ingredient. We found’—she gestured to Crawford as if asking him to validate her finding; he just nodded—‘sticky residue of tape over the broken window. The snow behind it has a narrow tunnel in it. Remember, the Drying Room is pretty airtight and the door is rubber sealed, which would have helped with sound as well. Not to mention we were all down at the lake anyway. If the killer pushed their circulation system through the snow tunnel and then sealed it into the window with plastic and tape, maybe some packed snow, the room is still airtight. The ash would have been easy to mix up into the air.’

Katherine tried to ask a question, but choked on tears. She wiped her eyes with her wrists and kept on pacing.

‘I’m sorry.’ Andy put his hand up. He was the least upset but the most concerned; his eyes kept flicking to the window, to the queues filing into the buses. Even if it was only in the interest of self-preservation, I was glad someone was asking questions, because I was in no state to. ‘Circulation system?’

‘To use ash in this way, you have to move the air around. The snow is gouged into a cylinder, so I’d say someone stuck a leaf-blower through the snow.’