It had been harder than Sasha thought to slip into River Hill. Security had been tightened, as it had at all local schools, but reporters were standing at the gates interviewing concerned parents and she saw Jim Haskell was there.

Becky’s brother had become a go-to angry voice for the media, giving many interviews demanding that Karin be removed from her teaching position, and petitioning that the police reopen the inquiry into the events at the Bad Place. Sasha wondered if Karin had already got in to work, or whether she had been told to stay away.

Now, she slipped into a seat in the classroom, hoping to settle the matter of Angel’s bullying quickly and get back to work, hopefully well before the post-mortem on Lydia was completed. ‘Will this take long?’

The teacher closed the door Sasha had left wide open. A class had just finished and the corridor was flooded with pupils and staff rushing back and forth.

‘I know what this is about,’ said Sasha as the teacher, a woman called Emily Mirpuri, sat down. ‘And I just want to say that I’ll back whatever action you decide to take, as long as it’s proportionate.’

She was livid about Tilly’s behaviour and keen to know what the school was intending to do about it, but at the same time she didn’t want Tilly to be suspended. Sasha knew how difficult the teenage years could be for girls, and how easily friendships could turn toxic. The bottom line was, she just wanted the bullying of her daughter to stop.

‘Well, that’s good to know.’ Emily moved papers about on the desk. ‘Just to fill you in, I’m head of pastoral care here, which means it’s my job to look after the well-being of all of our pupils. So I want to help Tilly and Angel.’

‘Angel is very upset about what’s happened.’

Emily’s eyes lifted to the bump on Sasha’s forehead. ‘She hasn’t been in school for the last couple of days.’

‘She’s not been well,’ lied Sasha, ‘but she’ll definitely be in tomorrow. I’ve told her to stay out of Tilly’s way and try not to inflame the situation, but it would be good to have assurances that the matter will be dealt with promptly.’

‘That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. How we can ensure together that nothing like this happens again.’

‘Happy to do anything to help. And, of course, you’ll be speaking to Tilly’s mother about this, too.’

‘I’ve already done so.’

Sasha liked the way the conversation was going. The teacher had no doubt delivered to Tilly’s mum some hard truths about her daughter’s behaviour.

‘I don’t want Tilly to be punished too much, it’s such a difficult age. Their wiring’s still a bit scrambled.’