Once Singh had got us inside, I rushed over to Leon and untied him.

You don’t understand, she’ll kill us both, he signed to me as soon as his hands were free. He was shaking from the cold, his eyes wide with panic.

It’s okay, he’s a detective, and more police are coming, I told him confidently, assuming they would have arrived by the time I got his feet untied and got him out of there.

Leon shook his head, but allowed me to guide him back through the garden to the front of the house, Singh letting me take the lead with Leon to keep him calm. The police cars I had expected were nowhere to be seen. It shouldn’t be taking them so long to arrive, but we couldn’t rely on them now.

‘Come on, we’ll get you to the station,’ Singh told Leon with a reassuring smile.

No! We need to go to my school right now. The look in his eyes was one of pure panic.

‘What?’ Singh and I were both surprised by Leon’s insistence.

She’ll kill her. I told you! She’s going to kill us both, he said, fear making him look younger than his fifteen years.

Singh and I looked at each other, confused.

‘Kill who?’ the DS asked. ‘Who is she going after?’

I could see the concern in Leon’s eyes as they darted between Singh and me, wondering if he could trust us.

She said she’d kill me like she killed Mr Wilkinson.

I remembered what Samira had told us. The police know it wasn’t you, you’re not in trouble. They just want to take you home, okay?

He nodded, tears in his eyes. I’ve been so scared.

I know, I know, I replied, giving him a hug. But we need to make sure everyone else is safe too. Okay?

He nodded again.

Who is she going after? I asked again.

Cassie.

Singh and I looked at each other, then I guided Leon towards the car. I didn’t want to take him back to the school, but we needed to prevent Liz from getting to Cassie.

Singh put a hand on my arm to stop me. ‘Paige, stop. We’ll send someone out to the school. We need to get Leon to a hospital.’

‘You said you were getting back-up to meet us here but nobody’s turned up,’ I snapped, pulling my arm away and climbing into the driving seat. ‘Ask them to meet us there, but we need to get to the school. If Liz sees we’ve found Leon maybe she’ll give up and leave Cassie alone.’