They were still looking for the final player in the game. Adrian felt a weight on him as DCI Kapoor, DI Walsh, Gary and Imogen all pored over the incident boards looking for more clues. If he told them what he knew that might help, but it could also throw them off a significant development. He told himself he was keeping quiet for the good of the investigation. So far, no further leads had been discovered and the urgency seemed to be disappearing out of the case, with the knowledge that both Finn Blackwell and Russ Beacham were dead.

‘Please, someone tell me we have some idea who was behind all of this. We have got four dead students and four dead teachers. How is it possible that the person who connects all of these murders has completely evaded capture? Go through all of the witness statements, crime scene reports, any photos. Everything. We must have crossed paths with this person at some point, and if not, why not?’ DCI Kapoor said.

‘I’ve had an idea,’ Adrian said. ‘We asked Gary to find any students that had either been in trouble with the law or in the news for any reason going back fifteen years.’

‘That doesn’t really help us though. It could be dozens. We need to make the list of suspects smaller not bigger,’ DCI Kapoor said.

‘Well, we found out that Robert Coley worked at the uni thirteen years ago, so it’s possible that this game has been going on at least that long. It never made sense to me that they would have a professor from another university involved. So we need to cross-reference those students with their courses and lecturers and see if anyone new pops up in connection with these names Gary has found.’

‘Fine. DS Grey, go back to the university and speak to any faculty in the humanities department that you haven’t already. If that turns nothing up then speak to the ones you have. Adrian, are you OK to go with her?’

‘Of course,’ Adrian said, surprised.

He hadn’t officially been let off the leash since Caitlin Watts had made the accusations against him. He was a little nervous, if he was honest, but he didn’t want to voice those concerns in case he was forced to take some mandatory therapy.

They left immediately. In the car on the way to the university neither one of them spoke. Adrian wanted to ask Imogen what she was thinking about but thought better of it. Fortunately there was no traffic, so they got there in less than five minutes. Adrian couldn’t stop himself from cracking first, he always cracked first.

‘Is there something wrong?’ he asked.

‘No.’

‘So yes, then.’

Imogen got out of the car. Adrian watched her, deciding whether to say anything or not.

‘You knew what you were doing. You deliberately went on your own to that place. You could have been killed.’

‘Oh.’ Adrian hadn’t even considered that she might be upset with him about that. ‘I’m sorry.’