Her face fell. Oh, nothing like that, she replied, waving a hand dismissively. I know who’s sleeping with who, who’s fighting, shit like that. I know what’s going on with staff and students, because I stand quietly and watch. Cassie seems to think she knows shit about everyone, but she spends more time telling everyone how clever she is than she does actually observing anything.

She blew out a cloud of smoke. Leon will be fine, I know he will. He’s been through some terrible shit, and he came out okay. The hand holding the cigarette shook slightly as she took another drag.

You don’t seem very worried about where he is.

She shrugged. He’ll have found somewhere to stay. He’s resourceful.

As she signed, I watched her body language. Her leg was jiggling constantly, and she kept looking up and blinking. Were her eyes watering because of the cold, or was her body betraying signs of something that she refused to admit to?

I smiled at her. Well, if you think of anything, please tell the detectives. They just want him back safe.

Samira let out a sarcastic little huff, but she nodded anyway. Grinding out her cigarette on the brick wall behind her, she kept hold of the butt rather than tossing it onto the floor. She gave me a nod, then walked away, back towards the school.

As I walked through the main entrance I heard my phone start to ring in my pocket. Before I could answer it, Forest looked up from her spot in a doorway and beckoned to me.

‘We have a development. Come with me.’

I followed her into Liz Marcek’s office, which was almost full already: Liz was sitting at her desk, Sasha was leaning by the window, a frown etched on her face, and Singh had a chair opposite the deputy head’s desk. I joined him there, and Sasha moved around behind Liz so they could both see me as I signed.

What is it? Sasha asked, her face showing how worried she was that the worst had happened.

‘There’s still no sign of Leon,’ Forest began, and both the women seemed to sag slightly. ‘However, we’ve had full access to Leon’s messages from his mobile provider, and it’s not good.’

Sasha didn’t take her eyes off me, but Liz’s gaze flicked back and forth between me and the detectives.

Well? she asked. What have you found out?

‘For the last six weeks, Leon has been communicating with someone who claims to be a sixteen-year-old boy called Joe. Leon and Joe started out messaging on a chat forum, where Joe told Leon he was a survivor of abuse. The two continued messaging each other regularly, and gradually the messages moved from being friendly to more intimate. Some of the messages are of a sexual nature.’