‘Devastated. I couldn’t believe I’d done such a stupid thing. I might be a drunk, but I’m not a murderer.’

‘No one is until they commit the crime, Mr Millar,’ Jazz said coldly. ‘So, what were you doing in the headmaster’s office a few days later when I saw you?’

David looked surprised she had to ask. ‘I wanted to see Rory, of course. I still hadn’t managed to see him.’

‘I’m amazed you wanted to be anywhere near the school when you knew you’d murdered one of their pupils, Mr Millar.’

‘I didn’t think of it like that. I just wanted to see my son.’

‘So, when did you decide you should confess?’

‘Well, I’ve only sobered up in the past few days, whilst I was up in the Lakes with Rory. And it made me see what I needed to do. I couldn’t live with the guilt. I needed to give myself up, whatever the consequences.’

‘Why did you take Rory from school and disappear with him?’

‘Hold on!’ For the first time since the interview began, David seemed defensive. ‘For a start off, I didn’t “take” Rory. He turned up on my doorstep on Sunday. He wasn’t feeling very well, I knew I had something to tell him, so I decided we should have a few days away so I could explain things to him. Besides,’ David shrugged, ‘I knew if I was going to confess, it was unlikely I’d be seeing him very much over the next few years. And I texted Angie when I arrived to let her know we were both fine.’

‘Terminating the interview with Mr David Millar at eight forty-five a.m.’ Jazz switched off the recorder. She rested her head on her palms and stared at David for a while.

‘Mr Millar, I would like you to go back downstairs and try and think hard about the events of that night. I would also like you to think very carefully about why you’ve decided to confess to the murder of Charlie Cavendish.’

‘I’ve told you, I can’t live with the guilt. Isn’t that enough?’

‘A jury has still got to find you guilty in a court of law, Mr Millar,’ Jazz reminded him.

‘Well, surely if I’ve said I did it, that won’t take long, will it?’

‘The facts will still have to be put to them and you will have a defence lawyer. At the very least, a good counsel might lead to the lessening of your sentence.’ Jazz pressed a buzzer and a constable appeared in the doorway. ‘Could you take Mr Millar back down, please?’ She stood up. ‘I’ll be back with you later.’

Jazz watched the door close, then rewound the tape and listened to the interview again. Then she picked up the receiver and dialled Angelina Millar’s number.

Unable to sleep the night before, clockwatching as the hours ticked past slowly until four a.m., when she’d been told she could go and collect Rory from Foltesham police station, Angelina had left Julian asleep, had a bath, then paced the floors downstairs until it was time to make the short journey to retrieve her son.