She was so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn’t notice the door opening until it was too late. Liz Marcek stood over her, and Jess quickly minimised the windows she had open. Had she been fast enough, or had Liz seen what she was up to?

What do you think you’re doing? Liz’s face was pinched with anger as she glared at Jess, demanding an explanation.

Steve asked me to check something for him, she replied, her mind moving quickly to come up with a plausible explanation.

Really? Liz asked, disbelieving. And why would he ask you, instead of me?

Jess laughed, a short, nasty bark. What use have you ever been to him? You don’t even notice what’s going on right under your nose. Steve told me you’re lucky you kept your job after what happened with Jane.

Liz’s face turned scarlet. Get out of the head teacher’s office. I’ll be letting him know what you’ve been up to.

Jess tried to close down the computer, but Liz smacked her hand away. She had no choice but to step back, leaving the room with a final glance at the deputy head.

Chapter 15

Wednesday 28th November

A feeling of guilt gnawed away at me as I thought about my day ahead.

Anna and I were visiting Jane Villiers that afternoon, and I hadn’t told Singh about it. I knew I should have, but I didn’t want to be accused of interfering again. There was a part of me that felt that accusation would be justified; who was I to be digging around into someone else’s past? Would it actually help Leon, or was it an unnecessary distraction?

Walking into the main school building, I bumped into Saul, the IT teacher.

‘Sorry,’ I said, helping him to pick up the heavy textbooks and files I’d knocked out of his hands.

‘It’s fine, one more inconvenience won’t make a difference,’ he grumbled.

‘Have you been thrown out of your room by the tech team?’

‘Yeah. I mean, I could have helped. I know these systems better than anyone. If they let me help I bet they’d be finished quicker.’

I patted his arm sympathetically. ‘It’s probably a policy they have to follow, just to make sure any evidence they find is recorded properly. Don’t take it personally.’

He nodded.

‘Where are you taking all these, anyway?’

‘Staffroom. I’ve got assignments to mark.’

‘Want a hand?’

‘Sure,’ he said with a shrug.

I followed him down the corridor to the staffroom, which was empty once again. I assumed when teachers had any free time during the day they spent it at their desks. Max was a teaching assistant and often regaled me with tales of how many hours the teachers at his school worked.