Samira rolled her eyes again, but sat up a little straighter in her chair. He was worried about how he felt about other people, if you see what I mean.

The detectives both frowned, but I had interpreted her words as clearly as I could – she was trying to skirt around the issue, rather than her meaning being lost in translation.

I mean, like, who he liked. Like, boys, not girls.

‘Leon’s gay?’ Singh asked.

Well, maybe, Samira said, tilting her head from side to side to show indecision. That’s the point. It’s not as simple as straight or gay. I don’t think he really knows. But he thought he might be, and he said he didn’t really fancy anyone in particular, but he thought about boys rather than girls.

‘Had he talked to anyone else about this?’

Samira shrugged. I didn’t think so, she signed. Leon’s my best friend, he tells me everything, but he holds himself back with other people so I don’t think he’d come out to anyone else. This was a big thing for him, and he was only really starting to talk to me about it.

‘Could someone have found out, maybe bullied him?’ Forest asked.

No, I’m sure he would have told me about that.

At that moment, Singh’s mobile phone began to ring and he winced.

‘Sorry about this,’ he said, pulling it out of his pocket and checking the display. When he saw who was calling, he frowned and stood up. ‘I need to take this, I’m sorry.’ He walked out of the room and left Forest and me with Samira and her brother.

‘Are we done, like?’ he asked.

‘Not just yet,’ the DI replied, her voice icy. ‘We have a couple of other questions.’

‘It’s just, I need to get to work, don’t I?’

‘I understand that,’ Forest said, and I could see she was getting annoyed with his impatience. ‘But it’s very important we talk to Samira. A boy is missing, and he could be in danger.’

She turned back to the girl. ‘Samira, are you worried about Leon?’

The question seemed to take Samira by surprise, because she hesitated before answering.

Of course I’m worried, because I don’t know where he is. This isn’t the sort of thing he’d do, just walk out and leave without saying anything. But I think he can look after himself.

The door opened and Singh walked back in, his phone still in his hand. He shot Forest a serious look, then sat down and immediately turned to Samira with more questions.

‘Samira, did Leon ever mention anything to you about meeting someone this weekend? Anyone new?’

What do you mean? she asked, looking warily towards her brother.

‘Did he tell you he was going to meet anyone while he was away on the trip?’