I sighed. It’s okay. I’m hoping a bit of space will help him to understand why I didn’t tell him. But I still don’t know if Max is right for me, you know? It’s fun, in a lot of ways, when I’m not stressing out about being in a relationship, but it doesn’t feel like there’s much fire there. Does that make sense? It’s just … nice.

Well there’s always Singh, she replied with a wink, laughing when I rolled my eyes at her.

Don’t start that again. That one’s a dead end, I replied, trying not to remember how natural it had felt to fall asleep on his shoulder the previous night.

Okay, okay. What’s going to happen now? she asked. With the school, I mean. They can’t keep it open if staff are being attacked.

I don’t know. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow. Whatever happened to Mike, though, it means the murderer is panicking, I told her.

What do you mean? she asked.

Two attacks in two days? They’re trying to cover their tracks, and they’re just making things worse. The longer it takes to find Leon, the greater the danger he’s in.

Fifteen minutes before the murder

Sasha paced up and down in the living room. Mike had gone out about ten minutes after Steve to find out where the head teacher had got to, and the students were getting fractious.

What’s going on? Where’s Leon? Bradley kept asking her every few minutes.

I don’t know where he is. Mike and Mr Wilkinson have gone to look for him. They’ll be back soon.

You said that ten minutes ago.

And on it went. Kian looked like he was close to tears and kept wrapping his arms around himself. Bradley looked ready to punch someone, and Courtney was trying to keep him calm. Only Cassie seemed unruffled by the situation, curled up on the sofa, watching the others.

Can we go and help? Bradley asked.

No, Sasha replied with a firm look. I don’t want you getting lost out there in the snow. You might not find your way back here.

We’d be careful, Bradley insisted. We’d be able to follow our own footprints.

No, you wouldn’t, it’s snowing too heavily. They’d be covered over in minutes, Sasha insisted.

Well we can’t just sit here doing nothing! He turned to look at the others. This is our fault. We could have stopped him.

Why is it your fault? Sasha asked.

Bradley took a deep breath, then looked down at the floor. We’re his friends. We should have known. We should have stopped him.

She shook her head. It’s not your fault. If Leon’s run away, he kept his feelings hidden from everyone.