Irritation snakes up Cullen’s spine. It would be easier just to go with the parents’ version, wouldn’t it? Why is Keane so insistent on picking at the scab? The hairs on her moustache glisten in the light from his desk lamp and he is suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to be alone.

‘Do we know how many pills Satnam took?’

‘It says on the internet that you have to take a lot to overdose.’

Cullen snorts. ‘Oh, well, if it says on the internet…’ He holds up a hand to discourage Keane’s response and stands to signal that the meeting is at an end. Surprised when Keane makes no move to leave, he pastes a weak smile on his face and says, ‘Is there something else?’

‘You’re not serious, are you? About it being an accident.’

Cullen feels stumped. He takes a step away from his desk towards the door and hovers, desperate for Keane to leave.

‘I’ll let the Vice Chancellor and the department know. Sooo…’ He goes over to the door and holds it open now. Keane’s ample behind remains in the visitor’s chair. He wonders for a second if she’s wedged in. A vision comes to mind of having to wheel her out still stuck to her chair.

‘In my opinion, a team meeting would be a wise precaution,’ she begins. ‘The senior directorate: welfare and pastoral, academic and administration need to discuss how the university is intending to respond. We don’t want to do nothing and find we have a suicide contagion on our hands.’

Cullen allows his smile to fade and openly checks his watch. The thought of a meeting makes his heart sink. He is drowning in meetings, most of them useless.

‘So here’s the thing, Lea. As you know, we’re about to go into admissions for next year. As you’ll also be aware, competition for the top students in STEM is the stiffest it’s ever been. Every university in the country is after them. The last thing we need is to stir up any adverse publicity. No one died…’

‘Not yet…’ Keane says pointedly.

Cullen suddenly feels exhausted and it’s not yet ten o’clock on a Monday morning. What will it take to get the harpy off his back and close this thing down?

‘You’ve been very clear, but as Dean…’ and your superior he thinks, but is wise enough not to say, ‘I’d say that we have no reason not to respect the parents’ view. That’s what I’ll be recommending to the VC. If anyone other than the parents gets in touch about this, I suggest we shut them down. We’re investigating an unfortunate incident, we’re not making any public statement right now, please respect the party’s rights to privacy, blah blah blah.’