What do you mean? They were teacher and student, Jess replied with a shrug.

‘We know that Steve tutored Leon in science for a short time. Did he ever talk to you about the boy, about any problems he might have had?’

No, he never mentioned it to me. I hadn’t even realised he was doing it. We didn’t really talk about work if we could avoid it.

‘So you don’t know what Steve thought of Leon, or if they’d had any disagreements in the past?’ Forest persisted.

I’m sorry, no, Jess replied, more firmly this time.

Despite further questioning, she couldn’t tell the detectives anything about what might have happened over the weekend, and they sent her back to her class. I’d been wondering if I should mention what I’d seen the previous day, with the students talking about someone called Joe, but I thought better of it. I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing first, and that meant looking for Sasha and seeing what she knew before I spoke to Singh.

After reassuring the DI that I had my mobile on me, should they need me back, I walked out of the front door and round the side of the building, heading towards the residence where I expected Sasha would be. The building was locked, but I rang the bell and waited. After a couple of minutes I tried again, but still nobody appeared. The students would be in class, and it was possible that no staff were in there, but I thought I’d have a wander round the building just in case someone was around.

Turning the corner, I looked at the windows, but they were all covered with net curtains; thinking back to when I’d been inside, I realised the rooms on this side were all student bedrooms. Carrying on down the side of the building, I heard footsteps behind me and spun around, but couldn’t see anyone. I paused, assuming they were about to come round the corner, but nobody appeared. I felt a creeping sense of dread as I remembered the footprints leading up to my car. Could there be someone trying to get me alone? You’re imagining things, I told myself, shaking my head and approaching the large window to one of the communal rooms.

I cupped my hands around my eyes and pressed my face up to the glass to see if anyone was in the residence common room. Once my eyes had adjusted, I realised there were two adults in there, standing close together with their backs to me and signing. I didn’t stop to try to see what was being said, but knocked gently on the window. Mike turned round and looked at me, a mixture of surprise and guilt on his face. Sasha followed Mike’s gaze and raised a hand in greeting when she saw where he was looking.