‘I saw them on their way out. They were the last to leave. Everyone else was long gone, so I chivvied them a bit, encouraged them on their way, you know? I was waiting to lock the front doors so I could go up to the second floor and check on the cleaners.’

Naylor doesn’t look up from the notes she’s writing.

‘They were lucky you knew they were still in the building. If everyone else was long gone.’

Now she glances up, and sees Prentice shift in his chair.

‘When I say everyone, I mean the other rugby lads,’ he says. ‘There were a couple of members of staff still to leave. Mr Mullis always stays late, but I knew Bob Griffiths would be going soon. I was waiting for him when I heard the boys coming down the hall. Youngsters never talk quietly, do they? Anyway, if they had been locked in, it would only have cost them a few minutes. There’s a button to push which activates my beeper. They’d have had to wait for me coming back downstairs, that’s all.’

Naylor nods her understanding.

‘Can you recall seeing anything unusual? People hanging around who shouldn’t have been here?’

Prentice shakes his head.

‘I’m sorry, no. I’m not much use to you, am I?’

‘If you think of anything, you will let me know?’ says Naylor.

‘Of course I will,’ says Prentice. ‘Anything at all I can do to help.’

At 3.50 p.m., Hagen takes a call from a detective constable. He listens to what’s being said, then goes to find Dallabrida, who’s watching yesterday’s CCTV footage from cameras in the Belmont Road area.

‘Any joy?’ asks Hagen, and Dallabrida shakes his head.

‘Nothing so far,’ he says. ‘There’s nothing on the bus stop itself. I’m looking for anything of interest but it’s hard to know exactly what that would be.’

‘Will you do me a favour?’ asks Hagen. ‘Will you go and tell Robert Griffiths he’s free to go?’

‘Has his story checked out?’

‘Seems so. They tracked down David Sellers working in an optician’s on the high street, and he was happy enough to confirm his accusation of assault was malicious.’

‘You can ruin a man’s career doing things like that,’ says Dallabrida.

‘Now we’ve done him no favours, keeping him here all afternoon,’ says Hagen. ‘So the sooner he’s off the premises, the better.’

‘What about the CCTV?’

‘Come back to that when you’re done with Griffiths. I’ll give you a hand with it when I get back.’

‘I’m on my way,’ says Dallabrida.

‘Is there somewhere private we can go, Mr Jadoon?’ asks Hagen.