I’d never seen Singh this angry before, and I was taken aback, feeling the weight of his disapproval as I interpreted it for Liz. She sat, motionless, for several seconds after he’d finished, before her hands began to twitch slightly. I could tell she wanted to snap back at Singh for having the temerity to tell her off as if she were a child, but I thought she also knew that she deserved every word of it.

‘Is there anything else you haven’t told us, Miss Marcek?’ Singh asked, his expression stern.

The deputy head took a deep breath, then shook her head.

‘Were you aware that Steve Wilkinson had a reputation for bullying staff in his past school?’ Singh snapped.

A strange expression flitted across her face, but was gone before I could identify it.

No, she replied, sitting forward in her chair and looking at Singh across her desk. I wasn’t involved in the hiring process when Steve was appointed. I didn’t know anything about him until he arrived in September.

I found this hard to believe, given that Liz was the most senior member of staff at the school after Jane left. But why would she lie about it? There was a pause as Singh and Liz eyeballed each other across the expanse of her desk, before Singh nodded and stood to leave. I followed him out without looking at Liz, glad to be away from the atmosphere in that room. Singh made an exasperated noise.

‘I’m sick of people thinking they know my job better than I do,’ he growled. ‘There’s a kid out there who might have been kidnapped by a paedophile, or who might have frozen to death in the middle of a field, and she’s more concerned with what people think about the school!’

I put a hand on his arm to try and calm him, then slid it around to his back. Gradually, the tension in his shoulders reduced.

‘I need to call Forest and see if there’s anything else she wants me to do while I’m here.’

He started to walk away, but I called after him. ‘I think you’re doing a good job.’

He gave me a small smile before putting his phone to his ear, and I sat down in the entrance hall to wait. Before I got a chance to settle myself on the bench seat under the window, I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see who it was. Jess Farriday had a frown on her face, and it was directed at me. I smiled at her in an attempt to defuse whatever was coming, but it was unsuccessful.

You need to stop playing games, she snapped at me.

I was taken aback, genuinely confused. What are you talking about?