‘It was a purely voluntary arrangement,’ explained the head. ‘We’ve had a number of such volunteers before with no problem at all. Experts in all sorts of different subjects often offer to share their expertise.’ Lewis was now grey with worry. ‘Although Edwards stayed longer than any of the others.’

Jackman gathered up the paperwork. ‘I’ll need to take all this, Mr Lewis. And I’ll need a statement from you detailing every phone call that passed between you and Edwards and his agency.’ He smiled a little more amicably at the headmaster. ‘In truth, it appears that all the proper checks were done. I’m beginning to see why you believed him to be just who he said he was. He engineered this placement extremely carefully, and these letters and credentials are impressive, considering that they’re probably faked. Our people will be able to clarify my suspicions, but there’s little doubt that this man you call Edwards is actually a Jordan Spiller, whom we believe to be searching for his son, taken from him by his wife when she absconded.’

Lewis turned even greyer. ‘But why Davy Frances?’

Jackman hesitated. ‘We aren’t sure. The fact that he’s adopted may be a factor, though we know Davy couldn’t be his because the boy was adopted at the age of five.’ He shook his head. ‘As I said, we don’t know what his agenda is.’

‘If he’s a father, he won’t hurt the boy, will he?’ asked Lewis desperately. ‘He was so kind with the children, full of all the right values. Or so it seemed.’ He looked anxiously at Jackman. ‘Is he dangerous?’

Seeing the anguish on his face, Marie lost all her anger. Poor man. He obviously really cared about the children in his charge.

Jackman was choosing his words carefully. ‘He is a danger to some, Mr Lewis. As to that particular boy, well, we just have to hope not. He’s spent a lot of time and effort getting hold of him — he’d been planning for months, possibly longer — so I don’t think he intends to harm him.’

Lewis didn’t look too convinced. Nor was Jackman, as Marie knew. But he had to say something to alleviate this man’s distress.

Simon Laker called from the adjoining office, where he’d been going through the CCTV footage. ‘Sir! We’ve located him.’

They all sprinted through. Simon ran through the footage again. ‘Look. They’re leaving by the fire door at the back of the biology lab. And the boy’s not being taken against his will, far from it in fact.’

Simon was right. Young Davy Frances was walking alongside Spiller, glancing furtively about him. At one point he was actually ahead of Spiller. And it was Jordan Spiller. His thin frame was unmistakable. He and Davy appeared to be chatting animatedly.