No. Until I have concrete evidence that something’s going on, I can’t do anything about it, she insisted. I could be completely wrong, and it could be that the dynamic between these five kids is completely normal for a children’s home situation. They’ve all been through some difficult times in their lives, and they all bear the emotional scars.

The question we need to ask is, where could Leon be? I said. If you think he could be manipulating the other students, is it connected to Steve’s murder? Or is this situation with Steve posing as Joe something completely different?

I don’t know what’s connected any more, she replied. It’s possible Leon was up to something unpleasant, but that doesn’t detract from what Steve did. But could the kids be hiding something that would help us find Leon?

I thought about that for a while, and my mind kept coming back to the times I’d seen the kids discussing Joe. I was still sure there was more they hadn’t told the police, but how could we get them to talk? We walked back towards the house, where Max was waiting for us, and I wondered if Sasha was right about this. In which case, if one of the residential kids had some information about where Leon was and hadn’t shared it with the police, was it because they were looking for a way to use it to their own advantage?

Chapter 26

When Anna and I had cancelled our trip, I arranged a spontaneous night out with my best friend, Gem. I’d invited Anna out with us, but she said she felt like a gate-crasher. While she was living with me, she said she was going to make an effort to see her own friends, and didn’t want to feel like she was muscling in on mine. She would have been welcome, all of my friends knew Anna pretty well, but she declined the invitation anyway. On another night I would have tried harder to persuade her, but I liked the idea of spending a night without anyone who knew anything about the case. I knew if anything could take my mind off the last week it was a few cocktails and some dancing. We were meeting in a bar on Oswald Road and I took my time getting my outfit and make-up just right. Ever since I’d met Max I’d started to take a bit more pleasure in getting dressed up again, even when I wasn’t seeing him. He’d certainly helped me get some of my old confidence back, telling me how thinking about me always made him smile.

When I arrived, Gem was already there, and there was a pornstar martini on the table waiting for me. I preferred a bellini, but I wasn’t about to say no when someone else had already got the round in.