‘The French say they won’t let us go home until the kids have been questioned,’ a man said. ‘Except they haven’t even started yet, have they? We could be here for days.’

This thought caused a ripple of distress among the rest of the parents.

‘They need to do all they can to piece together what happened today, so we have to be patient,’ Bish insisted.

‘My girls are beside themselves,’ the mother of the twins said. ‘One of their friends is listed as unaccountable.’

A few others voiced similar fears. How would they tell their children that the person who’d sat opposite them at dinner for the past seven days could be dead, or badly injured?

‘I just spoke to one of the parents at the hospital,’ Bish said. ‘Reggie Hill and Amy Jacobs will be allowed to go home soon enough. Their injuries are minor. There are four students in a critical condition. Fionn Sykes, Lola Barrett-Parker, Manoshi Bagchi and Astrid Copely. They were all seated at the front of the bus. If there’s any relief in this situation, it’s that the bus wasn’t at full capacity and the vacant seats were closer to the front.’

‘Whose bodies are outside?’ a woman dared to ask.

‘I can’t say for sure.’ Not quite a lie. Bish cleared the hoarseness from his voice. ‘A young Spanish girl was killed at the steps of her bus. The two closest to the destroyed bus are obviously ours. So you’ll have to prepare your children for the worst news.’

‘They need to remove the bodies,’ said a father dressed as if he’d just walked off a golf course. Half these people had been on holidays. They seemed to have got into their cars or onto a flight with nothing more than what they were wearing. ‘It’s wrong for them to still be out there,’ he added.

‘I’m afraid that can’t happen until everyone’s done their job,’ Bish said.

He watched as a number of the women wept. Men wiped tears from their eyes, shaking their heads in disbelief.

‘Can I ask that you don’t take up Ms Gilies’s time for the next couple of hours,’ Bish continued. He kept his tone gentle. ‘There are at least half a dozen parents and guardians still in transit and it’s important she’s free to speak to them if they ring. If there’s any further information, I’ll update you. All I can say is that I’m grateful my daughter’s here and not at the hospital. Or lying outside. The best thing for now is to be with your kids.’

The group seemed less manic at least. There was a murmuring among them and Bish went to walk away.

‘This business with the LeBrac girl,’ one of the fathers said. ‘My son said she was cagey. Strange.’

‘And gave out sexual favours to more than one of the lads,’ a woman said. ‘If she comes from that heinous family ––’

‘I can’t speak of that,’ Bish said firmly, ‘because there’s little I know. But regardless of whose daughter she is, Violette Zidane is unaccounted for, and as much a victim of this tragedy as your children.’