‘Christ, absolutely not.’ Dud was adamant. ‘Yeah, he was pissed off with his dad. He’s a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, conventional type, and Charlie was a free spirit. They clashed. If anyone was depressed, it was me. I really liked Em, and Charlie knew I did too. It was like he stole her on purpose.’

‘So there’s nothing you can think of that could have happened in the days leading up to his death to shed some light on how he died?’

‘Nope, sorry, Detective.’ Dud shrugged. ‘Charlie was the same as ever.’

‘Okay, Dud. Thanks for your time.’

Dud stood up and walked to the door. Turning back, he said, ‘I’m not under suspicion, am I?’

‘Do you think you should be?’

‘I can understand you guess I have a motive.’

‘You do.’

‘Yeah . . . but I’d have got over it eventually. Knowing Charlie, he might have binned Em next week. I didn’t want him dead, not really. He was my best mate. I miss him.’ Dud shrugged, opened the door and left the room.

‘How did you get on?’ Jazz looked up from her notes as Miles walked in.

‘We can rule out any form of substance abuse. To a man and woman, Charlie’s mates were adamant he didn’t and wouldn’t touch anything.’

‘Okay. Anything else?’

‘Fallout over a girlfriend with Dud, his best mate. The girlfriend ran out halfway through the proceedings. I’ll go and hunt her down, have a word. She’s pretty upset. And also, his mates confirmed Charlie was a bully. But Frederiks seemed to turn a blind eye, for some reason.’

‘I know. Matron said. Any further info on the night in question?’

‘According to those who walked back to school with him, Charlie was fine at eleven, which seems to be the last time anyone saw him alive. His neighbours on his floor were watching television downstairs so they heard nothing. According to the PM, Charlie was almost certainly dead by the time they arrived up in their studies.’

‘So.’ Jazz chewed on her pen. ‘Looks as though I’m right about the Epilim substitution.’

‘Yup. The problem is, Ma’am, everyone knew about Charlie’s allergy. They therefore knew there was a very easy way to get rid of him.’

‘Well, it worked like a charm. Okay. I’ve got to go across to Daneman’s house, meet the SOCOs before they leave. Why don’t you track down this girlfriend of Charlie’s? I’ve spoken to Norton and I’ve got a rental car arriving here for you at three. Take that. With only two of us, we need the flexibility of separate transport.’

‘Three, don’t you mean?’

‘Roland’s still at the dentist. Wonder if it’s official policy round here to bugger off early on a Friday?’ Jazz sighed as she gathered her files into her briefcase. ‘I’m going home afterwards to use my own phoneline, download this stuff on Daneman HQ have sent through. Throw me the keys to the car, will you?’

Miles did so. ‘Talking of buggering off early, I wouldn’t mind getting on the road sooner rather than later. Traffic’ll be bad as it’s Friday.’