Sasha hadn’t come back from the toilet, so I ignored Anna’s question and made an excuse, going back down the corridor. I managed to catch the social worker coming out of the ladies’.

Hi, Sasha, I waved to get her attention.

Hi Paige, are you okay? She stopped for a moment, so I seized the opportunity.

Why do the kids have two phones?

She frowned. Two phones? What are you talking about?

I saw Courtney with two mobile phones earlier, I told her, and now I’ve just seen Kian has two as well.

Why would they have two phones? she asked, looking puzzled.

That’s what I’m asking you. I stared at her for a moment, but either she was a good actress or she didn’t know what I was talking about.

Maybe that’s not what you saw, she replied. These kids are always messing about with each other’s phones. Maybe Kian was using Bradley’s, then you saw him take his own out?

No, he put them both back in his pocket. I knew what I’d seen. And there weren’t any other students around when I saw Courtney.

Why are you watching the kids, Paige? she asked with a concerned frown. Have the police asked you to do this?

I was taken aback. No, it’s just coincidence that we’re here at the same time as you.

She nodded. Okay. But this is feeling a bit weird now. Maybe you should go home.

I took a step back. Fine. I just thought it was odd, that’s all.

I watched as Sasha walked past me and back to the group, then waited until they’d left the lobby before joining Anna again.

I explained the full story when we were on the way back to the car.

That does sound suspicious, Anna signed. But what do you think it means?

I don’t know, I replied. And why was Sasha so quick to defend them? Was it just because she thought I was talking rubbish, or was it because she was trying to put me off?

I was wrapped up in my own thoughts on the drive home. Did all of the kids have second phones? That would explain what Cassie had been trying to get Bradley to understand the other night, that the phone she was looking for was a secret. I had been sure the kids were hiding something, and maybe the phones were connected.

Sasha’s attitude confused me. She was the one who knew the kids best, and she’d told me she was worried about something going on with them, yet she’d brushed off my concerns when I asked about the phones. Did she know more than she was telling me?

Five hours before the murder