But what if he’s not? What if someone has him? I asked.
Max frowned. I don’t know. I’m sorry. He squeezed my shoulder. I’m sure he’ll be okay.
Let’s talk about something else, I told him. I need something to take my mind off it, if I can’t be doing anything useful.
I stayed at Max’s flat for a couple of hours, and by the time I left I felt more relaxed than I had in days. He was such easy company, and it always felt like he knew just what I needed him to say. I didn’t know what the future held for the two of us – I was still wary about long-term commitment, given how my relationship with Mike had turned out – but the present was enjoyable and uncomplicated.
When I arrived home, I found Anna sitting in the living room watching a TV programme about bailiffs.
Want to go out and get something to eat? I asked her.
I’m watching this, she replied, nodding to the TV. I watched it for a moment, then stood between her and the screen.
No, you’re not. Whatever that is, it’s about as entertaining as a poke in the eye.
This brought a slight smile, and she looked down at the old T-shirt she was wearing. I’ll get changed.
Ten minutes later, we wrapped ourselves up in coats and scarves and walked up the road into the village. Technically, we lived in a small town, but it was so small everyone who lived there referred to it as a village. We had a post office, a Co-op, a couple of pubs, a chippy and an excellent chocolatier, as well as an Indian restaurant, which was where Anna and I were headed. We didn’t chat as we walked, which was unusual for Anna, but I realised that there were some things that were fast becoming the new normal, since her accident.
Any news about the missing boy? she asked me once we were seated.
I shook my head. Nothing that I’ve been told. Hopefully he’s safe somewhere, and just ran away.
Anna gave a deep sigh. I waited expectantly for her to sign something but she carried on reading her menu, even though she always ordered the same thing. I had expected her to dig for details, especially seeing as I’d been at her old school, but she seemed disinterested, or perhaps preoccupied.
I saw the news about the head teacher, she told me. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me yesterday.
I shrugged apologetically. You know the rules. It hadn’t been released to the media, so I couldn’t tell you.
Has anyone told the police why Ms Villiers left? she asked, her eyes narrowing.
I frowned. Who’s that?
The previous head, she was still at the school when I was a student.
No, why? Well, they were told she retired.
Anna shook her head, a smug smile spreading across her face when she realised she knew something I didn’t.
What was it then? I asked, impatient for her to tell me and stop playing games.
Her smile dropped. I can’t remember exactly. There was some sort of scandal, I know that, but it was hushed up pretty well. All I know is that there were rumours flying around that Jane Villiers had been forced to leave by the governors, because of something she did.
Can you find out what it was?
Anna chewed a mouthful thoughtfully before replying. I think I know someone who might be able to tell me.
I didn’t push it any further, even though I wanted her to get her phone out and contact that person straight away. If something had happened at the school to force the previous head out, did that have any connection to the murder of her successor? And why had nobody at the school told the police about it?
Thirteen hours before the murder
You need to be careful, that’s all we’re saying. Don’t do anything stupid, Bradley told Leon, but Leon wasn’t interested. The boys were sitting in the room that was theirs for two nights, and Bradley had decided to confront Leon about his plans.
How the hell do you even know about it? he asked, anger bubbling up inside him.
Bradley looked at Kian, who hid his face behind the magazine he was holding.
Cassie told him, Bradley said, indicating his brother.
Shit. That little cow’s been reading my texts. Leon was tempted to go and have it out with her, but Bradley held him back.
Don’t. You know she’s not worth getting into shit over.
Leon struggled against Bradley for a minute, then shoved him away and sank down onto his bed with his head in his hands. What if one of them told the teachers? That was the last thing he needed. It had taken him so much courage to get to this stage, he didn’t want anything messing it up.
The door swung open and Cassie and Courtney wandered in. Courtney sat down on Bradley’s bed, snuggling her body up against his, but Cassie stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.
You’ve been reading my messages, Leon said, standing and facing her.
No, I haven’t.
Bollocks. How else would you know about … He broke off as the door swung open again. Mike stood there, his eyebrows raised when he realised all five of them were in the room.
Come on you lot, you know the rules. Girls in one room, boys in another. If you want to spend time together you do it in the communal room, not your bedrooms.
But what if one of us is gay? Cassie asked. The other four all glared at her, but she looked back with wide, innocent eyes. What? It doesn’t make sense if someone’s gay.
Mike sighed and held the door open, ushering all five of them out. Before leaving the room, Bradley grabbed Leon’s arm and held him back for a moment.
Look, I know we haven’t exactly been best mates, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. You need to be careful.
Whatever, Leon replied, shrugging Bradley off. He didn’t need advice from someone like him, especially after the things Bradley had got up to at school.
Chapter 12
Tuesday 27th November
There’s something I need to tell you.
Sasha Thomas looked a little drawn, and I wondered if she’d been sleeping poorly since Leon disappeared. It had been over seventy-two hours, and the longer he was missing, the worse his chances of being found safe.
I didn’t think it was relevant, which is why I didn’t tell you yesterday, she began. But last night I realised that I don’t know what’s relevant, and just because I don’t see any significance in it doesn’t mean it won’t be important.
‘That’s true,’ Singh replied, encouraging her to continue.
She sighed. Leon and Bradley fell out, a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty stressful for all of the residential kids in the days following.
‘Can you tell us what happened?’
I don’t know exactly what happened. They were never best friends, but they always used to get on fine, until suddenly they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Bradley would scowl and leave the room whenever Leon walked in. It culminated in a fight.
One evening, a couple of weeks ago, Bradley just launched into Leon. He likes to come across as a tough kid, Bradley I mean, but it’s all an act. Something like that was totally out of character. Leon’s the one who’s been known to get violent, but Bradley definitely started it.
Forest leant forward slightly, frowning. ‘Other than defending himself against his father, this is the first we’ve heard about Leon being violent.’
He was in the past, but not any more, Sasha said hurriedly, clearly not wanting to portray Leon in a bad light. After everything that happened with his dad, he found it hard to deal with his emotions. He would lash out, but we’ve done a lot of work over the last three years and he’s like a different boy. I would have told you straight away if I’d thought Leon could have gone back to his old ways.
‘Did you find out what the fight was about?’
Sasha sighed. They wouldn’t talk about it. Once Mike got them separated he had a word with them both, but he said neither of them would say why they were fighting. But I have a feeling it had something to do with the fact that Leon is gay.
‘And you think Bradley had a problem with Leon’s sexuality?’ Singh asked.
I don’t know for certain, but it was around the same time that Leon told me he was gay. It’s possible he’d come out to his friends at the same time.
‘And Mike Lowther spoke to both of the boys after the incident?’
Sasha nodded.
‘We’ll see if he remembers anything else about it and can tell us what he knows,’ Singh said, making another note. ‘You said this was about two weeks ago?’
Something like that, Sasha replied. The issues between them rumbled on for a couple of weeks beforehand, then the fight was maybe ten days ago.
‘Did these problems continue?’
Things were a lot better in the couple of days before the trip, she explained, an earnest look on her face. They weren’t suddenly friends again, but they were at least being civil to each other, and sitting in the same room together. The other night, Leon and Kian were playing on the Xbox together, and I thought Bradley was going to start on Leon, but he just sat down and watched them. That was progress, she added.
‘And there was nothing that happened on Friday at the cabin, no reprise of the issues, no more fights?’ Forest asked.
Sasha shook her head again. No, they were getting on pretty well. The two of them were sharing a room, along with Kian, and they both seemed fine with the arrangement, so I assumed Bradley had got over whatever was bothering him.
Forest cocked her head on one side, looking thoughtful. ‘How has Bradley been behaving since Leon went missing?’
Sasha frowned. What do you mean?
The DI paused for a moment before elaborating. ‘Does he seem to be worried about Leon? Upset at all?’
Sasha’s frown deepened. I know what you’re suggesting. You think Bradley had something to do with Leon disappearing. I honestly can’t see it.
‘We’re not making assumptions at the moment,’ Singh said smoothly. ‘We need to know everything that might possibly be relevant, then we can decide what’s important and what isn’t.’
Well, Bradley has definitely seemed worried. He’s been asking about what’s happening, if Leon’s been found yet. The look on her face suggested she wasn’t convinced by Singh’s reasoning.
I wondered if we’d be speaking to Bradley again today, given what Sasha had told us. If there was some stuff going on in Leon’s personal life that upset him, that could have been the catalyst that led to him running away. And just because none of the adults who had been on the trip had witnessed another fight, it didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. Leon, Bradley and Kian were sharing a room, with no supervision overnight, so nobody really knew what had gone on in that room after everyone went to bed. The more people we spoke to, the more obvious it was that the police were wading into a minefield of conflicting information. I had no idea how they were going to figure out which details were important and which were irrelevant.
‘Has Leon ever talked to you about any concerns he’s had in school?’ Singh asked.
Never, she replied, shaking her head emphatically. He felt safe here, I’m sure of it.
‘What about any people he was close to outside school?’
No, I would have told you. He didn’t have any family other than his parents. His mum is dead and there is no way he’d want to visit his dad.
‘Can you tell us more about Leon’s dad?’ Forest asked, changing tack.
He’s a violent man. That’s why Leon’s mum left him, but she never reported anything so social services weren’t aware of his unsuitability as a parent. She looked down at her feet for a moment before continuing. I feel partly responsible for what happened to him. I was one of the people who allowed Leon to go into his dad’s custody. We weren’t to know what he was like, without so much as a complaint filed against him.
Leon hasn’t told me all of it, but he said it started off small. The occasional cuff around the ear for not picking up after himself, or spending too long on the computer. But it escalated as time went on. His dad couldn’t sign very well, and Leon’s understanding of speech is limited, so the communication barrier caused a lot of problems. He didn’t always know what his dad expected of him, which obviously caused frustration on both sides. By the time everything came to a head, I think Leon was being beaten on a regular basis.
Sasha’s eyes filled with tears. He hid it from everyone at school, because his dad told him he deserved it, that having to take care of Leon was the reason his mum became ill and died. I still wonder how none of us picked up on it. We thought the changes in his behaviour and attitude were because of grief, and he was at a transition point in his education as well. It got worse in the holidays, and that’s when Leon snapped. His dad had cornered him in his bedroom, but he always carried a pocket knife and Leon managed to get hold of it. He gave his dad a nasty gash on the arm, then ran next door for help. The neighbour called the police and an ambulance.
Forest and Singh both sat back when Sasha mentioned the knife and a chill ran through me. Hadn’t Forest said that a penknife was found near Steve’s body, and they presumed it was the murder weapon? Did this mean Leon could actually have killed his teacher?
After a moment, Singh asked another question.
‘Was his father badly hurt?’
Not at all, Sasha said, her face suggesting she wished he had been. It was only superficial. But Leon broke down when he spoke to the police, told them about the abuse, and the doctor’s examination showed he’d sustained multiple broken ribs over the course of at least six months, as well as an awful lot of bruising. His father’s lawyer tried to suggest that Leon had stolen the pocket knife earlier on in the week, making it a premeditated attack, but there was no evidence against Leon.
The detectives and I sat in silence for a moment. I couldn’t imagine what Leon had been through, losing his mum only to be handed over to a monster.
‘Thank you, Sasha,’ Forest said eventually. ‘Is there anything else you can tell us about Leon and the state of mind he might be in at the moment?’
No, I’m sorry. Except, he had become a little more secretive of late, keeping his phone close to him all the time and never letting anyone go near it. I know you’re trying to access his messages, so there might be something on there that can help you.
The DI thanked her again and asked her to fetch Bradley so they could talk to him. As Sasha left the room, she looked back at me for a split second, then closed the door behind her.
‘Bloody hell,’ Forest exploded, slamming her chair against the wall. ‘How did we miss that? Surely someone should have looked into Leon’s background and shown us that he attacked his dad with exactly the same weapon his head teacher was murdered with?’
Singh was as baffled as she was, and I turned away from them to look out of the window while they discussed what to do next. The sky was dark and soft white flakes were floating past the window with alarming frequency.
‘It’s snowing again,’ I pointed out to the detectives. ‘We’ll need to keep an eye on it, so we don’t get stuck.’
Forest frowned at my interruption, then turned to watch for a moment before replying. ‘It’s only light. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.’
Her phone rang, and Singh and I waited as she had a brief conversation with whoever was on the other end.
‘Finally, we’re getting somewhere,’ she said once she’d hung up, her eyes glinting with something that looked like triumph. ‘They collected a number of blood samples from the snow at the scene. Most of it was Steve Wilkinson’s, but there was another person’s blood too, and they’ve identified the DNA. It’s Leon’s.’
Chapter 13
There was a delay before we could continue with the interviews, while Forest called the lab back to double check their results and ask for more information.
‘Right, it seems they found Leon’s blood on the penknife that was used to kill Steve Wilkinson. So, he was definitely there at the crime scene, and is now our main suspect.’
‘We’re assuming Leon killed Steve and cut himself in the process?’ Singh asked with a
frown.
‘That seems the most obvious answer,’ Forest replied. ‘The knife belonged to Steve. According to Mike Lowther he had used it a couple of times on the Friday night, cutting branches for kindling so he could teach the kids how to build a fire. Lowther thought he was showing off, though that probably says more about his attitude than his boss’s. I’m sure if Leon had cut himself with Steve’s knife before Saturday morning, we would have heard about it.’
‘Mmmm,’ Singh replied, looking out of the window with his arms folded.
I turned to Forest. ‘But what if Leon had come across someone attacking Steve? There could have been a struggle, and Leon could have been injured then.’ I hadn’t met the boy, but I still felt an urge to defend him.
Forest looked sceptical, and I thought she was going to snap at me for interfering, but she appeared to be thinking about my suggestion.
‘If that happened, and that’s a huge if, where is Leon?’ she asked.
‘The killer took him with them,’ Singh replied, and I shot him a quick smile for backing me up.
‘But why?’ Forest stood up and paced across the room a couple of times. ‘If you’re going to kill one person, and there’s a witness, why kidnap the witness? Why not just kill them too?’
‘Because they only intended to kill Steve, and had no interest in killing an innocent child?’ Singh suggested, trying hard to keep his frustration from his voice.
Forest shook her head. ‘No, if you’re willing to kill one person, you’ve stooped to a level where you’d kill anyone. Kidnapping Leon, if he’s a witness, leads them to more problems. How can they ever let him go, if he’s seen them?’
Singh’s shoulders sagged. ‘I don’t know. But it’s still possible.’
‘And where did they put him? If one of the staff, or students, followed Steve Wilkinson out of that cabin and killed him, what did they do with Leon after he was injured?’ Forest sat down firmly, crossing her legs and leaning back.
‘Maybe they took him to the pavilion?’ I offered, but she shook her head.
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