Leon sighed and sat back in his seat. I feel so stupid, he signed. I’d believed all along that Joe was real, that he cared about me. I should have realised it was too good to be true. He knew exactly what to say, you know? When I was down, or whatever, he could always say the right thing to cheer me up.

I’d been messaging him that evening, but only had a couple of replies from him. We were supposed to meet up on Friday evening, but he cancelled on me and said he’d see me the next morning instead. I couldn’t sleep, so I got up in the middle of the night and had a drink, but Mr Wilkinson found me in the kitchen and asked what was wrong. I made up something about falling out with Bradley and he was really nice about it.

The boy sighed again and shook his head. First thing the next morning I snuck out and went to the cricket pavilion, then I got a message from him saying he’d be there soon. It was absolutely freezing, and my coat didn’t really keep me warm, but I waited for a couple of hours. I texted him, but I didn’t get a reply, then when I tried a video call it wouldn’t connect. That’s when I realised he wasn’t coming. That maybe he’d been lying to me all along.

Leon covered his face with his hands for a moment, then continued. I was so fucking mad, you know? But I was embarrassed mostly. I know the others had been messaging Joe too, but I was the one who fell for him. I was the one who made the plan to meet up with him. He never wanted to video chat; I thought he was shy or something, but now I know the truth it seems so obvious. I didn’t know what to do, because by then I knew people would have been looking for me. If I went back to the cabin they’d ask me where I’d been, but I didn’t really have any other option. So, I picked up my bag and went back outside.

‘What happened when you left the pavilion?’ Singh asked.

I wandered around in the snow for a while. It was coming down really heavily, and I couldn’t work out which way it was back to the cabin. I was just beginning to panic when I saw Mr Wilkinson in the distance. He was walking towards a stand of trees, and he had his phone out.

‘Did you see anyone else at that point?’ Forest asked.

Not then, no. It took me a while to get to the spot where I’d seen him, because of the snow. And when I did, he was already dead.

‘Tell us what you saw.’