On impulse, I gave him another hug before I walked to the door. I stepped outside and gasped at how bad the weather had become. The snow was over my ankles, and any tracks that had been made by parents’ cars had already been buried. A figure came towards me and I backed away until I recognised Liz Marcek, bundled up in a huge coat.

It’s no good, she told me. The road is completely blocked.

Looking past her I could see the tracks she’d made as she’d walked back to the school from the main gates. She must have been out to check if it was passable.

What are we going to do? I asked.

There’s nothing we can do, she replied. We’ll have to wait here until it stops.

I looked out at the snow and thought about Leon. I hoped he had shelter, wherever he was. He could be all alone, scared and hiding in the snow, and now whoever it was had killed Saul, Leon would surely be next on their list. I hoped the snow would stop soon, because I was convinced Leon was in grave danger.

Chapter 33

I didn’t notice when the sun went down, because it was already so dark outside with the snow obscuring everything. A few of the staff had managed to get out before the roads became blocked, but many were stuck in the school. Forest, Singh and I were still there, along with a couple of Lincolnshire PCs. Forest had spent some time on the phone to the local council, insisting the route out of there was ploughed immediately, but it wasn’t as simple as that. They had to prioritise hospitals first, then major routes; a handful of people stuck in a warm building with plenty of food in the kitchen certainly weren’t near the top of their list.

We huddled in the staffroom, waiting for someone to tell us what to do. Liz Marcek looked like she wanted to take charge, but she reluctantly deferred to Forest.

There are some spare staff bedrooms in the residence, Liz said. But not enough for all of us. Sasha is already using one, then there are three more spare rooms. And there’s Mike’s room, he has his own of course.

I looked around the room and counted the number of staff left: seven, not including Mike, who was over in the residence with the students.

‘And there are just the four students left?’ Forest checked.

Yes, some of the weekly residential students didn’t arrive this morning due to the snow, and the ones that did made it home.

Forest nodded. ‘Okay. Given the circumstances I want at least two police officers in the residence at all times.’ She looked at Singh. ‘Rav, can you go over with one of the PCs, please. Make sure the students are reassured.’