I knew exactly what she meant, and I could vouch for this side of Mike’s personality. He found it hard to keep secrets, and he couldn’t often bite his tongue when there was something he wanted to say. He usually reacted to anything that wound him up before he had the chance to think about it. There were times he could control himself, however, and I knew that those times were when he was most dangerous.

‘And you’re certain he didn’t do that?’ Forest said, even more sceptical than Singh had been.

Absolutely. He wouldn’t have told Mike without consulting me first, and he certainly wouldn’t have done it in the middle of a trip, while he was supervising students. Steve would never have been so unprofessional. More tears were running down Jessica’s face now, and she looked desperate to defend Steve’s reputation. From what I’ve been told, they wouldn’t have had time to talk about it on Saturday morning, so that only leaves Friday. And when I say Mike wouldn’t have been able to keep his anger under control, I mean if he’d found out about it on Friday he would have killed Steve on Friday.

There was a pause as the weight of this statement settled. ‘So, you think Mike is capable of killing someone?’ Singh asked softly.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. No, no, that’s not what I meant. I don’t think he could. He’s got a temper, but it would never go that far.

I wanted to agree with her, but then I reminded myself that I’d never thought Mike would go as far as he did when we were together.

‘Is he impulsive?’

Yes, but he can control himself.

‘Has he ever been violent towards you? Abusive?’

I found myself holding my breath as I waited for her answer.

No, she signed, but I didn’t like his attitude towards me. He could be quite domineering. We were only together for a few months, and that’s why I ended it. When I dumped him he smashed up a few tennis racquets in the PE stores, but I think he just needed to take his anger out on something. He broke equipment, turned his anger onto an object. He never lifted a finger to me.

I let out the breath I’d been holding. That sounded more like the Mike I knew, in some ways. He had plenty of self-control when he wanted to. A small voice in the back of my mind told me Jess Farriday was obviously stronger and smarter than me, she could see the trouble coming a long way off and got out while she could, but I silenced it.

‘What can you tell us about Steve’s relationship with Leon?’ Forest asked, giving Jess a searching look.