‘Perhaps you should ask him where he was, Mr Jones. He certainly had no answers for me.’

‘I most certainly will.’ He took a slug of water from a glass on his desk. ‘Good God, this whole thing is turning into a nightmare!’

‘Well, I suppose one could say that Frederiks’s absence has only been discovered because of Charlie’s death. But, rewinding slightly, it does mean Hugh Daneman had plenty of opportunity to go to his victim’s study without being seen. And then took his own life rather than living with his guilt and the subsequent consequences of his crime.’

A small spark of hope appeared in the headmaster’s eyes. ‘Perhaps it could be a possibility.’

‘You’ve just reiterated to me how preposterous it was to even suggest Daneman could commit murder.’

‘As I said, I didn’t know him well . . . hardly at all . . . I . . . well, however much I want a cut and dried solution to this mess,’ Robert Jones sighed, ‘I just can’t see it. Hugh has dealt with a lot of difficult boys during his long career as a tutor at St Stephen’s. I hardly think a clash of personalities would have incited him to kill.’

‘Unless there was another reason that we’re unaware of.’

Robert Jones clenched his hands together. ‘I know of none. You’re the detective, Inspector Hunter.’ He sighed. ‘How soon will you be informing the world of Hugh Daneman’s death? You realise what mayhem it’ll cause when the parents hear of this new incident, don’t you? They’ll wonder what the hell is going on here and I wouldn’t blame them.’

‘We won’t be releasing any information to the press for the next couple of days, until we have the results of Mr Daneman’s post-mortem. However, I want you to be aware it is possible there is a killer currently lurking in your midst.’

‘But doubtful, surely?’

Jazz chose her words carefully. ‘Mr Jones, this is your school. You are responsible for the overall well-being of your staff and pupils. I can only advise you of the information I gather as my investigation progresses, but ultimately, it’s your decision to decide whether or not to close the school.’

‘Well, surely, I need your advice? In your opinion, am I endangering lives if I don’t do so? If we close, it would be the end of the school, you know, it really would.’

‘If you want to keep the school open, what I suggest you do now is gather your staff together, and the prefects too, and inform them that Charlie’s death is no longer looking like an accident. Adults are just as capable of panic as children, so try not to be alarmist. The chances are that even if Charlie was murdered, it was a personal vendetta and not the work of a serial killer.’

‘Good God! You’re scaring me, Inspector, let alone my staff.’ Jones stood up and paced the small space behind his desk.

‘Have the staff warn all the sixth-formers to lock their private studies before they go to sleep at night, and in the case of the younger boys and girls who share dorms, have a member of staff or a prefect sleep in with them. I’m also arranging for police officers to be on permanent patrol at the school.’