‘But you think someone is going to try to hurt us as well? Is someone going to try to kill us?’ Courtney’s voice rose as she became hysterical, then burst into tears. Bradley looked torn between keeping Kian calm and comforting his girlfriend, so Sasha stepped in and put an arm around Courtney.

That’s not what they’re saying, the social worker signed, holding Courtney’s gaze to try and keep her calm. They want you to know that you don’t need to worry, because the police are here to protect you.

But why do we need protecting? Kian asked.

I could see from Singh’s face that this wasn’t how he had envisioned this going. Mike had a smirk on his face that made me want to kick him, but I did my best to ignore him.

‘Because you’re children, and you shouldn’t be involved in this sort of situation. If we could find somewhere else to send you, so you were far away from what’s happening here, we would. For now, I’m going to stay here with you, as well as PC Brown,’ he said, indicating the uniformed officer who was loitering by the door. ‘If you’re scared, please talk to us. And if you think you saw anything today, tell me. If there are any more secrets that any of you are keeping, it’s very important that you share them now. Do you understand?’

The students all nodded, but none of them volunteered any information. Singh encouraged them to relax, and Bradley turned on the games console, but none of them seemed particularly interested. Around dinner time, Mike went over to the main school building to get some pizzas from the kitchen, which kept Bradley and Kian occupied for a while, but the girls just picked at their food.

As the evening wore on, I had to go back to the staffroom to interpret for Forest. Now the interviews were over, she’d stayed in the main building to keep an eye on the rest of the staff. The DI was happy for one of the teachers to stand in if she needed an interpreter for basic communication, but then she needed to speak to Liz to give her an update, which she thought was best kept confidential. Trudging through the snow back to the residence, I thought I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. Spinning around, I held my breath as shadows loomed at me. Everything sounded strange, muffled by a thick blanket of snow.