‘It’s all very sketchy at the moment, sir.’

Grace choked on his words. ‘How – how – how is he?’

‘He was unconscious, sir, and has been taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital.’

‘How the hell did he get out of school?’

‘I’m sorry – we don’t know. Inspector Biggs has been trying to contact you urgently. We’ve been trying to find you and your staff said you were at a meeting here.’

‘Bruno? You’re sure it’s him?’ Grace said, his voice barely a whisper, knowing the futility of that question.

‘Yes, I’m afraid he’s not good, sir, it looks very serious,’ Trundle said gently.

‘You said he was unconscious?’

Trundle and Edwards nodded. ‘That’s right,’ Trundle said. ‘The Air Ambulance attended and flew him to the hospital – that would have been just under an hour ago. We don’t know the extent of injuries, but we have been told it’s a life-threatening situation and we should take you to him urgently.’

Roy Grace felt like a drain plug had been pulled inside him. ‘What – what happened?’

‘All we know is that the driver was breathalysed and was negative. He is currently being interviewed by the RPU. Inspector Biggs has authorized us to blue-light you to the hospital. And your wife, if she is able to come, too?’

All his usual composure gone, Grace was shaking. He nodded. ‘Thank you,’ he said weakly.

‘We have a car outside.’

He followed them numbly along the corridor and out into the light drizzle. Edwards opened the rear door of the car and Grace climbed in. The officer helped him with his belt, then they drove down the ramp to the barrier. As it lifted, with Trundle driving, Edwards switched on the blue lights and siren.

‘Do you have any more info on what happened, guys?’ Grace asked.

Pip Edwards turned to face him. A highly intelligent officer who had been an engineer before joining the police, he said, ‘It’s too early, sir. Apparently, one witness said he’d seen him looking at his mobile phone and stepping into the road. But eye-witness reports at RTCs are often unreliable, as I’m sure you know.’

Grace nodded, feeling his eyes welling up. He called Cleo, hoping to hell it wouldn’t go to voicemail as it normally did when she was busy. But, to his relief, she answered on the second ring.

As he ended the call, he asked Trundle to swing by the mortuary to collect her.

40

Tuesday 3 September

‘You’re not serious?’ Larry Olson asked, standing shocked and bewildered among the mass of emergency service vehicles. His customer, having thrown up on the road, was now sitting in the back of a police car. Nearby, a shocked-looking woman was talking to an officer with a body-worn camera. She looked like she was giving an account of some kind.

It was a single vehicle accident with one pedestrian casualty. The Forensic Collision Unit Team were busy measuring and taking photographs to secure evidence, including a drone to obtain a perspective of the scene. The prime objective was to collect the evidence quickly and efficiently because, with the location being right outside the school, they wanted to clear the area before parents and children started to gather, mid-afternoon.