Stop! I waved my hands high in the air to make sure I had their attention. You know I can’t interpret if you all sign at once.

Some of them looked suitably chastised but a couple scowled at me, as if I was the one stopping them from helping. I didn’t have any gloves on, because that would have made my signing really unclear, and my hands were aching from the cold. Rubbing them together, I wondered how much of my morning this was going to take up.

‘What do you need to tell them?’ I asked, turning to DS Singh next to me. He gazed past me towards the tree line for a moment, then looked back towards the crowd in front of us, huddled against the steps of Normanby Hall.

‘I understand that you want to help,’ Singh began, addressing them while I interpreted. ‘A child is missing, a child from your community, and we appreciate all support that’s offered to the police. But there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground in the park, and we don’t know if there is still evidence buried underneath it. If we have too many people walking around, there’s a chance it could make it harder for us to find Leon. Do you understand?’

A big man at the front rolled his eyes once Singh had finished speaking. You don’t care about the boy, he signed, an accusing look aimed directly at the detective. You should be encouraging people to help!

‘We doubt Leon is still in the park,’ Singh replied, doing his best to reason with the man. ‘It would be more helpful if you could share our posts on social media, and ask anyone you know in the local area if they’ve seen him.’

Most of the group were nodding in agreement with Singh, but the man at the front clearly wasn’t satisfied. Seeing his friends were less than keen to start arguing with the police, however, he relented and stepped back, turning to sign something to a woman next to him. A moment later, they started to move towards the main gate, the two PCs trailing in their wake.

The officer who’d phoned me that morning had sounded very flustered when she explained that a group of deaf people had turned up at Normanby Hall. The police officers who were there had managed to establish that they wanted to help, but beyond that the communication barrier had been too great. I’d arrived about ten minutes after DS Singh, and it had taken us a good half hour to calm them down and convince them that their attempt to be helpful was anything but.