‘We should check the pavilion,’ he said. ‘It would be an ideal place to shelter.’

I signed our conversation for Sasha, and she nodded.

That’s a good idea. If he’s still in the park it’d be a good place to hide. Nobody is going to be playing on this pitch for a little while.

The three of us crossed the pitch and approached the small building.

‘Look,’ I said, pointing to where a pane of glass had been broken.

PC Ryan put out an arm. ‘Don’t come any closer,’ he said. ‘There might be evidence and we don’t want to compromise it.’

‘There’s less snow around the door, as if it was pushed open from the inside,’ I pointed out, and Ryan nodded, already on his radio. He explained where we were and what we’d found, so we then had to wait for the detectives to come and find us. Sasha kept shifting from foot to foot and trying to peer through the window, anxious to see if Leon was inside.

After a few minutes had passed, I felt something soft brush my cheek and looked up.

‘It’s snowing again,’ I said, as more fat flakes drifted down.

‘Just what we need,’ Ryan muttered.

Come on, let’s check round the back, I signed to Sasha, who had been pacing restlessly. She nodded her agreement and followed me. Leaving Ryan waiting for Forest, we stomped through the snow and looped round behind the pavilion.

I feel responsible, she told me. I should have realised something was wrong.

Don’t say that, I replied, trying to reassure her. Nobody knows what happened, yet.

I know, but … She stopped and paused. What’s that?

What?

That, over there?

I followed where she was pointing and squinted into the trees. As I moved closer I spotted what looked like a pile of material at the base of one of the trees, half covered in snow.

I don’t know. Stay here, I’ll have a look, I said, pushing my way through the frozen undergrowth. Sasha shook her head and followed me, and we approached together. As we got closer, we saw it wasn’t a pile of material, but a person.

Oh God, is he okay? I asked as we got closer to the man on the ground. He was lying on one side with his back to us. I could see a head of well-styled grey hair, some high-quality outdoors clothing and an expensive pair of walking shoes, one of which had come off and was lying about a metre away. A thin layer of snow covered him, setting off alarm bells in my head.