Sasha reached out to shake him, and the man’s head lolled in a sickening way. As his head tipped to the side I saw a huge gash on the side of his neck, and a vibrant splash of red on the snow to the side of him, spilling out from the wound. It was clear he was dead.

I retched and took a step back. My head was spinning.

Who is it? I asked, though I was sure I already knew the answer.

Steve Wilkinson, Sasha replied, her face pale. The head teacher.

Chapter 3

It took nearly an hour for the forensics team to arrive from Scunthorpe, with the snow coming down thick and fast by the time they arrived. Sasha and I were back in the cabin with the rest of the school group when Singh came in looking like he’d just returned from an expedition to the North Pole. Forest had informed Mike and Liz that Steve was dead and it didn’t look like an accident, but they hadn’t told the students yet. They knew something was wrong and kept asking questions, so the tension in the atmosphere was almost unbearable.

Singh beckoned to the staff and we all gathered in the kitchen once again.

‘There’s no sign of Leon, but it looks like someone has been in the pavilion today. The forensics officers are collecting evidence at the moment.’

What happened to Steve? Liz asked. I can’t believe this is happening.

‘I can’t answer that question right now,’ Singh replied. ‘We’ll need to wait for a post-mortem.’

Do you think Leon is dead as well? Did someone attack them both?

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, shaking his head gently. ‘I really don’t know, but you need to trust us to do our jobs. I promise you we’ll do our best to find out what happened.’

He looked back into the room where the four students were huddled together on a sofa, signing to each other.

‘I see no point in you and the students staying here now,’ he told Liz. ‘The roads have been gritted, and were cleared this morning, but I don’t want you to be here any longer than necessary and risk getting stuck. We’ll need to speak to each of the students tomorrow to see if they have any idea what might have happened, and when they last saw Leon and Steve. I think it’s best if we come to you at the school rather than asking you to bring them to a police station.’

Liz Marcek nodded. I think that’s a good idea. I can sit in on the interviews as an appropriate adult.

Sasha frowned and turned to her. As the children’s social worker, I think it would be more suitable for me to be with them.

For a moment I thought the deputy head was going to argue, but she inclined her head.