‘It’s imperative we find Leon; he’s in grave danger. This killer has been successful twice and it could have been three times if they hadn’t been interrupted. I’d better go and speak to the deputy head while we wait for a crime scene crew,’ he said, but when we walked over to the main building we discovered Liz Marcek was in a meeting with the governors.

‘It’s been going on for hours,’ the receptionist, Karen, told us, keeping her voice low. ‘I took in tea and coffee a little while ago, but they didn’t show any sign of wrapping it up.’

‘You might as well go home,’ Singh told me, and he walked me back to my car. ‘Don’t worry too much about Mike,’ he said.

I didn’t tell him that far from being worried about Mike, there was a part of me that wondered if I might be rid of him once and for all.

Chapter 36

I texted Max before I left, and he told me he’d meet me at my flat. I was looking forward to coming home and cuddling up with him. I needed a break from the case, from the atmosphere in the school, from everything to do with Mike, and I hoped an evening with Max would provide that.

I opened the door to the flat and immediately felt the tension in the air. Naively, I jumped to the conclusion that Max and Anna had had a falling-out and I would have to come in and smooth things over. When I walked into the living room, however, I could see that something had happened. Max was leaning against a wall with his arms folded and Anna was sitting on the sofa, her jumper pulled over her knees like she used to do when she was a teenager and she knew she was in trouble.

Hi, I signed to them both. Everything okay?

Why the hell did you never tell me about Mike? Max signed, the expression on his face a mixture of hurt and anger.

I shot a look at Anna, and she winced. He started asking questions, and I wasn’t going to lie to him. I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you hadn’t told him anything at all.

When you said you didn’t want to talk about your past relationships I assumed there’d been someone pretty crap, but I didn’t expect this, Max signed, his face red. And now you’re working with him?

I’m not working with him, I snapped. He works at the school in Lincoln where I’ve been for a few interviews, that’s all.