The sound of Renshaw’s phone pinging made them all jump. The officer frowned as she read the text she’d been sent, then looked across at Poppy.

‘Did Benji seem scared at all to you?’ she asked.

‘No.’

There was another ping. Renshaw studied her phone again.

‘Was it definitely his idea to climb the wall?’

‘Yes, it was. I didn’t want to do it.’

Julia glanced up at the camera in the corner of the room. She hadn’t given any thought to it while sitting there, but the timing of the texts and Renshaw’s subsequent questions made her suddenly suspect others were watching them. The thought chilled her blood.

‘The thing is, Poppy, Benji’s mum’s told us that he wasn’t very adventurous and that he would’ve been far too scared to break into the building site, let alone climb the wall,’ said Renshaw. ‘Which makes me wonder if all this was your idea and not his.’

The mention of Imogen, even abstractly, made Julia tense.

‘No, it wasn’t me!’ Poppy cried. ‘I didn’t even know about the fence way in until he told me. He said he found the gap when he was out playing. That’s how he knew how to get into school when no one else was there.’

‘Right, can we put a stop to this nonsense now?’ Ewan butted in before Burton could pose his next question. ‘My daughter’s told you everything.’

‘Not quite,’ said Renshaw coolly. ‘She still hasn’t talked us through the moments before Benji fell.’

‘I did, I told you he slipped.’

‘I’d like more detail, Poppy. Like, how long were you on the wall?’

‘I’m not sure. I don’t think it was long.’

‘Ten minutes?’

‘Less than that.’

‘Five?’

‘I suppose.’

‘Do you remember the caretaker trying to get you to come down?’

‘It’s what I said before – I remember someone shouting but I didn’t know it was Mr Alan until after, when Benji was –’ Poppy swallowed hard – ‘on the ground.’

‘Mr Alan? You mean Mr Donnelly?’

Poppy shrugged. ‘The teachers call him that but we all call him Mr Alan.’

‘What was the last thing Benji said to you?’

She thought for a moment. ‘Um, I think he said we were so high up he felt like Superman. Or maybe it was Spider-Man.’

‘Did that make you laugh?’

Poppy eyed Renshaw warily. ‘I guess.’

‘So you were definitely laughing before he fell to his death, not arguing?’

Poppy burst into tears. Ewan pulled her into a hug before Julia could.

‘I don’t like your tone, officer,’ he snapped.

‘And I don’t like dealing with liars, Mr Hepworth. I don’t think your daughter is telling us the truth.’

‘I am, I am!’ Poppy wailed.

Julia couldn’t help herself and began to tear up too. ‘Please stop,’ she cried to Renshaw and Burton. ‘She’s just a child.’