‘There was no sign of a struggle in the cabin, which suggests that Leon packed his things and walked out of there, so we need to find out if he did this voluntarily or was lured out. The cricket pavilion where he had been hiding has a direct view of where the head teacher’s body was found. At this point in time we do not know if Leon witnessed the murder and then ran, or if he was abducted by his teacher’s killer. It’s also possible that he murdered Steve Wilkinson himself. For now, we’re going to work on the basis that these two incidents are connected.’

Forest looked around at the assembled officers. ‘Due to the fact that Leon is extremely vulnerable, the search for him has to be our top priority. So far we haven’t received any credible information as to where he might be. There are appeals going out on social media, and we’re also going to be looking at CCTV footage from local transport companies. There are two different bus companies with routes that run near the park. No cars were permitted onto the estate yesterday, except for ours, so we’ll also be looking for any CCTV footage of the surrounding roads, because if someone took Leon in a vehicle they won’t have left by the main entrance.

‘DS Singh will be liaising with the team involved in the search for Leon, and he and I will be conducting interviews at the school. Leon’s classmates might be able to give us some insight into his state of mind, or indicate where he might go if he were scared or in trouble.’

A hand was raised at the back of the room, and Forest nodded at the man in question.

‘What about his phone and social media?’

‘We’ve put in a request to Leon’s network provider for access to his text and video call history. Social media will take a little longer. We need to establish which apps and social networks he was using and then submit individual requests for access.

‘I will be joining DS Singh at the school later today,’ Forest continued, looking at the assembled officers. ‘The rest of you will be divided up – some of you will be continuing the search, and others will be following up any reported sightings, anything that comes in from the social media appeal or by phone.

‘The dead man, Steve Wilkinson, lived in Derbyshire. Derbyshire police have informed his next of kin, a sister, of his death, and we’ll be putting out a statement later today. It’s only a matter of time before the media jumps on this and starts spouting theories, so we need to try and keep a tight rein on the information that we’re releasing. Is that clear?’