‘She was the one who gave us Leon’s number, so she must have known about his second phone. She’s been planning this for months. But why? Why frame Steve?’ Singh stared at the house as if something about it would give us the answer.

‘There must be something we’ve missed, something in their shared past. This has been going on for months. Liz engineered the scandal that got Jane fired, and I bet she used her influence with the governors to make sure Steve was appointed as the new head teacher.’

‘We haven’t found anything that connects them before September,’ Singh replied. ‘If Liz has been holding a grudge against Steve, she’s kept it pretty well hidden.’

‘Had they ever worked together before? Did he bully her in a previous job?’

Singh shook his head. ‘We would have found something like that. I think Liz has only ever worked at the school for the deaf.’

‘If it wasn’t related to work, it must be something more personal then. Family?’

‘Nobody else lives here,’ Singh replied, nodding at the house. ‘They told me when I asked for the address. As far as we’re aware she doesn’t have any children.’

‘It doesn’t have to be a husband or kids,’ I said, then a thought occurred to me. ‘The first time Anna and I visited Jane, she told us that Liz had been grieving for her brother when the video of Bradley and Courtney turned up,’ I told him.

Singh cocked his head on one side. ‘You think Steve was connected to her brother’s death? What happened to him?’

‘Jane wasn’t certain, but she thought he might have overdosed. When you went to Steve’s old school, you told me you discovered that a member of staff was fired for taking drugs and Steve reported him for drug-driving. He ended up killing himself.’

A look of comprehension dawned on Singh’s face. ‘How did we miss that? I bet you’re right. I bet …’

‘He was Liz’s brother.’

We sat for a moment, looking at the snow-covered garden.

‘Is she at work today?’ I asked.

‘As far as I know. We need to see if Leon’s here.’

I nodded. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Stay in the car. I mean it, Paige. Back-up are on the way, but I’m going to see if I can see anything through the windows in case he’s inside.’

I knew I couldn’t argue with him, especially after what had happened the last time we’d worked together in February, when I’d knowingly walked into a house to confront a murderer. I just hoped we weren’t too late for Leon.

‘Don’t do anything dangerous, though,’ I warned him as he got out of the car. He nodded at me, then crunched his way up the path to the front door.