I shrugged. I understand why you thought I was behaving oddly. I knew there was something strange about the phones, though. Hopefully this will help the police to get to the bottom of everything.

She nodded, and we walked on for a moment, deep in our own thoughts.

You know, I need a new interpreter, she told me. I was glad she’d changed the subject; I couldn’t bear to keep thinking about all of the students being targeted.

What for? I asked.

I work here one day a week, but I’m a regular social worker and I have hearing clients, as well as plenty of meetings to attend. At the moment our office uses a revolving bank of interpreters, but I’ve convinced them to employ one for three days a week. I can use the other day for visits to deaf clients or paperwork, then.

When will it be advertised? I asked. The idea of a contract and a regular income was incredibly tempting, and working with someone like Sasha was bound to keep me on my toes.

If you give me your number, I’ll let you know.

I gave her one of my cards, feeling like I had somehow proved myself to Sasha by pushing to find out what was going on with the students, and we parted. Before I got to my car, however, I was distracted by something on the ground outside the students’ residence. Walking towards it, I felt my stomach churning as I realised what I was seeing, and I had to grab on to the wall to stop myself falling. Someone lay sprawled on the ground, lifeless eyes staring up at the leaden sky, blood staining the snow around his head.

It was Saul Achembe, and he was dead.

Chapter 32

Within half an hour, the building seemed to be full of police officers. DI Forest had turned up surprisingly quickly considering she’d travelled from Scunthorpe to Lincoln in heavy snow, and she was liaising with the detectives from Lincolnshire police who had also arrived on the scene.

I’d given my statement, then had been ushered back inside and wrapped in a blanket until I stopped shaking. Try as I might, I couldn’t get the image of Saul’s blood on the snow out of my head. Singh led me to the main hall, where all the staff and students were gathering.

There were a few uniformed officers dotted around the hall to make sure nobody left unless they were going to the toilet, and even then they had to be escorted by a police officer. Mike was prowling restlessly at the back of the room, occasionally stopping to talk to Sasha and throwing glances my way when he thought I wasn’t looking.

‘What do you think happened?’ I whispered to Singh once all the staff and students were accounted for.