Singh and Forest listened carefully as I interpreted, then went back through to speak to the four students. While Sasha and the detectives had been talking, the students had closed in and formed a tight group, signing to each other but keeping their hands low so we couldn’t see. I tried a subtle glance over through the doorway, but they were keeping their conversation well concealed. When the teenagers saw the detectives come back into the room they stopped their conversation and turned to look at them expectantly. Bradley shuffled further forwards beside his brother, almost shielding Kian from view. There was no sign of Liz or Mike.
Forest gave all the students a serious look. ‘I understand this is very difficult for you, especially with the news you’ve just received, but there are some questions we need to ask you. I want all of you to think carefully and give us truthful answers. If you think something isn’t important, tell us anyway, because it might be more important than you realise.’
Kian’s eyes widened as I signed this speech; Courtney and Bradley looked at each other, worry lining their young faces, but Cassie didn’t seem to react at all, sitting back with a little smile on her face. Was there something she knew, or did she not understand the seriousness of the situation?
Singh took over, sitting down opposite the four students, getting onto their level so as to not appear intimidating.
‘First, we’d like to know when you all saw Leon last.’
‘We don’t know where he is,’ Courtney spoke up quickly. Her voice was soft, with a nasal quality to it, but her speech was clear. The detectives knew from experience that not all deaf people were fully reliant on BSL, but Forest still looked a little surprised to hear Courtney speak.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll come to that later. Think back to when you last saw him,’ Singh repeated, keeping his voice low and gentle.
A small line appeared between Courtney’s eyes as she thought. ‘Friday night, when we all went to bed. I didn’t see him in the morning.’
Same, Cassie signed.
Bradley looked at his brother. We went to bed about eleven, something like that. We didn’t see him in the morning, did we?
Kian shook his head, but didn’t add anything. I wondered how often he let Bradley speak for him.
‘Did any of you leave your rooms in the night?’
There was a pause before any of the students responded to this question, and I thought I could detect a slight flush on Cassie’s face. A movement caught my eye: Bradley’s hand snaking down to squeeze Courtney’s. This time, however, none of them looked at each other, but each in turn claimed they’d been in their rooms all night.
Singh’s next question established that they’d all been woken around seven-thirty on Saturday morning – Sasha had been in to wake the girls, and Steve the boys.
Mr Wilkinson asked us where Leon was, Kian told the detectives, his anxiety showing in the speed at which he signed. But we didn’t know, did we, Bradley? We said we didn’t know. We didn’t see him leave.
‘Okay, now let’s talk about Mr Wilkinson. When did you last see him?’ Singh asked.
‘He and Mike were talking in the kitchen when we got up,’ Courtney offered, Cassie nodding her agreement. ‘They kept asking Bradley and Kian questions. We didn’t know what was happening until Bradley told me Leon had gone.’
Bradley continued the story. When we were all up, he went out to look for Leon.
‘He didn’t come back to the cabin after that?’
All four students shook their heads.
‘Did you see anyone else outside the cabin?’ Forest asked.
There was a moment of hesitation as the four of them looked at each other again. Well, Mike went out as well, Cassie offered. He said he was going to look for Leon and Mr Wilkinson. But he came back alone.
I felt a sense of unease as a look passed between the two detectives. My head swam as a thought hit me – could Mike have done this?
Singh sat forward and looked at each of the students for a moment. ‘I’d like you to think back before the trip. Had there been any problems between Leon and Mr Wilkinson?’
Oh, come on, you don’t think Leon killed him? Bradley replied, immediately animated and ready to defend his friend. He could never do something like that!
‘We’re not assuming anything,’ Singh replied, holding up a hand to try and calm Bradley. ‘We need to cover everything, that’s all.’
No, they got on really well, Bradley replied, then sat back and folded his arms, showing his refusal to engage with the question any further.
Kian looked nervous, but he nodded. I don’t know Leon as well as Bradley, but I don’t think he ever said anything bad about Mr Wilkinson.
The two girls nodded their agreement with Kian.
‘Okay,’ Singh said, changing tack. ‘Did Leon give any sign that he was upset or worried about anything on Friday?’
Bradley seemed to think for a moment, then looked over at Courtney. He seemed a bit preoccupied, like there was something on his mind, maybe. He was looking at his phone all the time on the bus and once we were in the cabin. Mr Wilkinson told him off a couple of times.
Forest took over. ‘Did he tell you why he was looking at his phone?’
Bradley shook his head. No, and I think he definitely wanted to keep it private.
‘Thank you. We’ll look into Leon’s messages and see if that helps us work out what happened,’ Forest assured the students. Far from relaxing them, however, I noticed a look of panic flit across the faces of Bradley and Courtney. Had the detectives noticed it too?
‘What happened to Mr Wilkinson?’ Courtney asked, a tremor in her voice.
‘I’m sorry, but we don’t know yet.’
‘Leon wouldn’t …’ Courtney began, but then she stopped herself and shook her head.
‘What were you going to say?’ Singh asked.
‘Leon wouldn’t run away,’ she replied, looking down at the table as she spoke. I didn’t think that was what she’d been intending to say at first, but she didn’t speak again.
The detectives stepped out of the room for a moment, had a quick discussion, then came back in and dismissed the students, with an appeal to speak to them if they thought of anything else. The four teenagers barely waited for me to finish signing this to them before they all got up and left the room together, arms folded or hands in pockets, as if they were deliberately avoiding communicating with each other until they were away from us.
I didn’t know what to make of this group of kids. They were all in care, which suggested they all had difficult backgrounds, and who knows what sort of memories this situation might be bringing up for some of them. Still, there was something strange about the way they’d been behaving, as if they were only giving the detectives the answers they thought they wanted. Bradley and Courtney were clearly close, maybe not just friends, and Sasha had told us how protective he was of Kian, so where did that leave Cassie?
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. A tall black man stood there, his head ducked slightly as if he were trying to make himself look smaller.
Hi Saul, Sasha signed with a smile.
He nodded at her, then looked awkwardly at the two detectives, but didn’t say anything.
This is Saul Achembe, the school’s IT teacher, Sasha explained.
‘I’m on speed dial for the residential kids in case the wifi goes down,’ he joked, then suppressed his smile. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be making jokes under the circumstances. Liz said you needed some things from me, access to Leon and Steve’s accounts.’
‘Yes please,’ Singh replied. ‘We’re looking at Leon’s social media, but we’d like to see his internet history as well, see if there’s anything he’s been accessing through the school networks that could help our investigation.’
‘I’ll help in any way I can. Do you need me to access Leon’s account for you?’
Forest stood up. ‘I’ll go and see if the tech guy has arrived. You can give him access and he can downl
oad what we need for now.’ She turned to Singh. ‘I’ll meet you at the car.’
Saul nodded and stood back to let Forest leave the room first.
When we left the residence, Sasha said her goodbyes and crossed back over to the main building, along with Forest and Saul, whilst Singh and I went to the car park. A fresh dusting of snow had fallen while we’d been inside, and I could clearly see a trail of footprints leading up to my car, despite the scuff marks that showed some effort to conceal them. Had someone been trying to see inside? I looked around, my heart in my throat, but whoever it had been was long gone.
Fifteen hours before the murder
Cassie was bored. Leon and Bradley were having a conversation about the film they’d watched last night in the communal area, which she’d thought was crap. She didn’t enjoy action films, especially not something set in space. She liked romance, the sort of film with a gorgeous lead actor she could fall in love with. Leaving the rest of them in the common room, she went back to her bedroom to get her bag. Mr Wilkinson said they needed to be ready to leave at half past four.
Closing the door behind her, she flung herself down on her bed, then rolled over when she felt something hard against her back. Picking up the object, she examined it excitedly. Another gift!
She tore off the purple paper and opened the little box. It was a necklace, with a small silver pendant dangling from it. At first she thought it was a dog, but on closer inspection she realised it was actually a wolf. Turning the paper over, she looked for the note. There was always a note.
In the end she found it at the foot of her bed. It read:
Dear Cassie,
You have been such a good friend to me, I wanted to give you something special. The wolf represents loyalty – you have been loyal, always helping me when I needed it. Wear this and think of our friendship.
Beaming with pleasure, Cassie put the necklace on and looked at herself in the mirror. The little wolf’s head sat in the perfect position at the base of her throat. Nobody had ever given her jewellery before. She’d had other presents, but nothing as special as this.
When had it been left? She hadn’t been back to her room since this morning, so they could have left it at any time in the last few hours. Smiling to herself, she was sure she knew who her secret gift-giver was, whatever Leon said. He didn’t know what he was talking about, and she’d show him.
Cassie thought about going back out into the sitting room wearing the necklace, just to see if any of the others noticed. But she couldn’t – it had to be a secret, her friend had been very clear on that. If she started telling people about the gifts they would stop, and that was the last thing she wanted. She was special, and she would do anything for her friend to keep it that way.
Chapter 9
Monday 26th November
Why won’t they let us help?
There’s a kid missing, we need to find him.
What are the police doing?
I waved my hands firmly at the group of deaf people who had turned up unannounced at Normanby Hall an hour earlier. A couple of PCs flanked them, giving the group sideways looks as we communicated.
Stop! I waved my hands high in the air to make sure I had their attention. You know I can’t interpret if you all sign at once.
Some of them looked suitably chastised but a couple scowled at me, as if I was the one stopping them from helping. I didn’t have any gloves on, because that would have made my signing really unclear, and my hands were aching from the cold. Rubbing them together, I wondered how much of my morning this was going to take up.
‘What do you need to tell them?’ I asked, turning to DS Singh next to me. He gazed past me towards the tree line for a moment, then looked back towards the crowd in front of us, huddled against the steps of Normanby Hall.
‘I understand that you want to help,’ Singh began, addressing them while I interpreted. ‘A child is missing, a child from your community, and we appreciate all support that’s offered to the police. But there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground in the park, and we don’t know if there is still evidence buried underneath it. If we have too many people walking around, there’s a chance it could make it harder for us to find Leon. Do you understand?’
A big man at the front rolled his eyes once Singh had finished speaking. You don’t care about the boy, he signed, an accusing look aimed directly at the detective. You should be encouraging people to help!
‘We doubt Leon is still in the park,’ Singh replied, doing his best to reason with the man. ‘It would be more helpful if you could share our posts on social media, and ask anyone you know in the local area if they’ve seen him.’
Most of the group were nodding in agreement with Singh, but the man at the front clearly wasn’t satisfied. Seeing his friends were less than keen to start arguing with the police, however, he relented and stepped back, turning to sign something to a woman next to him. A moment later, they started to move towards the main gate, the two PCs trailing in their wake.
The officer who’d phoned me that morning had sounded very flustered when she explained that a group of deaf people had turned up at Normanby Hall. The police officers who were there had managed to establish that they wanted to help, but beyond that the communication barrier had been too great. I’d arrived about ten minutes after DS Singh, and it had taken us a good half hour to calm them down and convince them that their attempt to be helpful was anything but.
I understood why they wanted to do something. In a small community, you protected your own; even if they didn’t know Leon, they identified with him in many ways, and they wanted to make sure he was safe. They’d just gone about it in the wrong way.
‘Want me to wait around in case they come back?’ I asked Singh, as he watched the group trudge away through the slush.
He nodded slowly, deep in thought. ‘Probably a good idea. I’m off to look at the pavilion, if you want to come with me?’
It seemed a strange request, as I wasn’t a police officer, but I knew from the last case that he liked to have someone to bounce his ideas off, and it looked like there was something on his mind.
We walked in silence for a few minutes, following the police tape through the churned-up snow. It was only once the cabins were in sight that I ventured to ask a question.
‘What’s on your mind?’
‘I’m worried about Leon,’ he replied.
I nodded. ‘Do you think he’s alive?’
Singh blew out a long breath. ‘I hope so. If Steve’s murderer also killed Leon, why haven’t we found his body yet? No, I think he’s on the run.’
‘Do you think he killed his teacher?’
‘Either that, or he knows who did it and he’s trying to get away from them. Or they took him with them.’
I shivered. Leon was only fifteen, and whatever had happened I was sure he would be terrified.
We passed the cabins and carried on through the park, until the cricket pavilion came into view. There was blue and white police tape around the building, but Singh lifted it up to allow me to slip underneath, then followed suit.
‘What are you looking for?’ I asked, allowing him to go first as we approached the door to the pavilion.
‘I want to get a feel for the building,’ he replied, glancing at the windows before pushing open the door. ‘I want to try and work out what Leon could have been doing here, see what it’s like inside, find out what he might have seen.’ He gave me a brittle smile. ‘Until we can work out what actually happened, it might help.’
I nodded. ‘Whatever I can do.’ I thought it didn’t really matter who was there, he just needed a warm body to listen to his thoughts as he voiced them, but then he gave me a smile that made my insides glow. I realised he was genuinely pleased I was there with him, and felt flattered that he’d asked me.
Following him inside, I looked around at the bare wood of the floorboards and the panelled walls. The building was fairly basic, with one long main room, then two changing ar
eas off to the right-hand side. Singh wandered through to check these areas, but I knew he wasn’t looking for anything in particular. He’d be letting his brain process his ideas while he looked, then focus his attention on the areas that he felt mattered when he’d had that time to mull things over.
Not wanting to disturb his train of thought, I stayed by the door until he was back in the main room. Plastic chairs and folding tables with chipped veneer surfaces were stacked along the back wall, dust gathering on them. It was hardly the season for cricket, and I doubted this building was hired out for events in the way larger cricket clubs might be used.
‘What am I missing?’ Singh’s voice startled me slightly; I hadn’t realised he was standing right next to me.
‘Why do you think there’s something you’re missing?’ I asked, turning the question back round on him.
‘We know Leon left the cabin at some point during the night or the early hours of the morning, because he wasn’t there when the staff and students woke up at seven. We also know that Leon must have been in here, because the door had been opened and the snow outside was disturbed. No one else would have had that opportunity after the snow started other than Steve, and the few footprints we found were several sizes too small to be his. So, we need to know why Leon came here in the first place, and then why he left.’
‘Maybe he just wanted a bit of time to himself, then realised it was freezing and this was the nearest place to shelter without going back with his tail between his legs?’ I suggested.
Silent Night Page 7
