‘So, Dr Pike doesn’t teach at all?’ Imogen asked.

‘He doesn’t actually take many classes himself; he might fill in once or twice. His role this academic year is more administrative,’ The receptionist smiled, a small look of confusion hidden beneath the surface. She seemed disturbed that no one was answering the phone.

‘Everything all right?’ Imogen said.

The receptionist smiled and continued to listen to the phone ring. They could hear the distant ring of the unanswered phone reverberating through the hallway.

‘I’ll go and check his office,’ the receptionist offered when she put the phone down. She wandered out through the back door of the admin area.

‘Did we talk to a Dr Pike?’ Adrian asked.

‘Name’s familiar,’ Imogen said, pulling out her notebook and flipping through it. ‘Yes, briefly, although I don’t think we questioned him; he was the one who told us Lassiter was away.’

‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’

‘You think it’s Pike?’

‘I don’t know,’ Adrian said.

‘Do you think Parker got him already?’ Imogen asked.

‘No. That’s not what I think,’ Adrian said; Parker had promised he wouldn’t kill whoever the final person was and Adrian believed him. He didn’t seem to lie. Even if telling the truth hurt him, he still did it.

‘That’s strange.’ The woman returned. ‘His office is empty.’

‘What do you mean by empty?’ Adrian asked.

‘Come and have a look for yourself,’ she said.

They followed her through the corridor to a room at the end. She pushed the door open and, sure enough, bar the furniture and a few small stacks of clearly discarded books, the room was empty. It had been cleaned out.

‘Do you have any idea why Dr Pike’s stuff has gone?’ Adrian asked.

‘None,’ she said, her forehead knotted in confusion.

‘Is this unusual behaviour for him?’ Adrian pushed as they made their way back to the front desk.

‘Well, last year a student of his fell off the cathedral. You probably saw it on the news at the time. It was awful; filmed it for some stupid internet thing. Dr Pike was quite affected by that and I am not sure he ever got over it. He’s definitely been different the last couple of months. I do hope he’s all right.’

‘Toby Hoare? Is that the kid you mean? He was one of Dr Pike’s students?’ Imogen asked.

‘Yes, lovely boy. He was here on a full scholarship. I remember doing his paperwork. No parents or anything to speak of. Very sad.’

‘Could you give us a home address for Dr Pike?’ Imogen said, pre-empting Adrian’s next request.

‘Of course. I’ll see if there’s any reason on the system for his absence. We have been going through some renovations, so maybe his office is being done up; although this block isn’t due for refurbishment until the summer.’

The timing of this was beyond suspicious. The lady handed Adrian a printout that contained Pike’s home address, along with the list of the previous students with the initials next to their names, and he nodded her a thank you. Adrian rushed out of the building back towards the car park, Imogen following close behind him.