‘No, nothing like that. A branch snapped, narrowly missed one of the groups who were searching.’ Pulling up a chair and lowering his voice, he continued. ‘Paige, what’s going on here? With you and Mike Lowther?’ He nodded towards where Mike was sitting alone, now the PCs had left.

I shook my head. ‘Not now.’

He looked at me for a moment and I wondered what he was thinking, but then he sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair.

‘My first case as DS and this is what I get: a missing child and a murder all rolled into one investigation.’ He let out a long breath. ‘I’m already worried we’re not going to find this kid. The weather’s against us, and we don’t even know if he’s still in the park.’

I reached forward and squeezed his hand. ‘It’s only been a few hours. If he’s run away he’ll have headed for somewhere to shelter.’

‘We have to assume there’s some connection to the murder. It looks like Leon was in the cricket pavilion,’ he told me, keeping his voice low. I glanced over his shoulder to where Mike was getting a cup of tea and talking to a couple of PCs.

‘No sign of where he went after that?’

Singh shook his head. ‘We think there are two possible scenarios here – either Leon saw who killed Steve Wilkinson and ran away, or …’

‘You think he might have killed his teacher?’ I said, trying to keep my voice down.

‘We have to consider the possibility,’ he said, rubbing one of his temples. ‘There’s evidence he was in the pavilion, very close to where Steve Wilkinson was killed.’

‘Was he alone?’

He gave me a calculating look before shaking his head. ‘We don’t know. But we’re also considering the possibility that he’s been abducted, maybe by the murderer.’

I suddenly felt a lot colder and pulled the blanket tighter around myself.

‘I don’t know how long we can carry on searching in this snow,’ he said, looking out of the window. ‘I’m worried we’re already too late.’

He spoke the last sentence so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. When I had worked with him before it was clear that Rav Singh cared about the victims he came into contact with, but this was the first time I’d seen him this vulnerable. I almost reached out to hug him, but as I moved he stood up and rubbed his hands together. As he turned, he noticed Mike hovering nearby.

‘Mr Lowther, can you come with me please?’ he said, professional once again. ‘This seems like a good opportunity for me to take your statement. Then perhaps you can assist with the search, as you’re dressed for the weather.’