Kim’s expression gave nothing away as the familiar figure sauntered across the great hall towards her.

‘Cheers, mate,’ she said, under her breath to her colleague who really could have warned her.

The expression of Joanna Wade was amused as she took a seat on the other side of the reproduction desk.

‘We meet again, Miz Wade,’ Kim said, meeting her gaze and recalling her insistence on the title the last time they’d met.

‘As I knew we would, Inspector,’ the woman offered, sitting back and crossing her long legs.

‘Death unites us once more,’ Kim observed. ‘But what brings you here?’

Kim had first met Joanna Wade a couple of years earlier while investigating the murder of school principal Teresa Wyatt, a woman linked to the discovery of bones at the site of a derelict children’s home. After interviewing most of the woman’s colleagues and receiving the exact same ‘saintly’ description, this woman had been the only one to tell them the truth, while flirting outrageously with Kim.

She had changed very little, Kim noted. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail revealing a strong, square jaw and piercing blue eyes. Her plain black trousers were well cut, emphasising her long legs, and a plain white silk shirt showed a St Christopher around her neck.

‘Buy me a drink and I’ll tell you,’ she said, smiling.

Kim ignored the response and continued. ‘You taught Sadie Winters?’ she asked.

All amusement disappeared from Joanna’s eyes and was replaced by sadness.

‘I did, indeed, Inspector,’ she said.

‘For how long?’

‘Since I joined the team last September.’

‘So, just over six months?’

‘Six months is a long time here,’ she replied.

The response took Kim by surprise. Not so much the words as the tone. It was covered with a quick smile, the type one uses to convince the other person it was a joke, but Kim had not missed the regret. She really found herself wondering why Joanna Wade had made the move but guessed that she was not going to find out.

‘Different to your last school?’ Kim asked. If she recalled correctly Joanna’s teaching methods had sometimes been unconventional and derided by her boss despite getting and keeping the attention of her students.

Joanna simply nodded, and Kim understood she was getting no more.

‘So, what was she like, Sadie?’ Kim asked. ‘And please don’t say troubled,’ she added.

Joanna shook her head. ‘I wasn’t going to. I’d describe her as introspective, reflective and far more talented than she gave herself credit for.’

‘In what way?’

‘Poetry,’ Joanna answered. ‘She saw her writings as pointless ramblings. They were expressive and occasionally a little self-indulgent, but she was thirteen. I think we were all captivated by our own emotions at that age. Her poems reflected much of what was going on in her mind.’

Kim saw Bryant make a note. She guessed it was to ask Dawson about such writings amongst her personal possessions.

‘Like what?’ Kim asked, wanting to understand the girl better.

‘Her place in the world, fear, often loneliness, just stuff,’ Joanna said, glancing away.

Kim waited for her gaze to return. ‘“Stuff”?’

There was something that Joanna was keeping to herself.

‘As I said, Inspector, she was thirteen years of age.’

The set expression was back, and Kim felt the woman’s resolve to say nothing more on the subject. She had a feeling that Joanna’s stubbornness mirrored her own.

‘Did you ever have any trouble with her in lessons?’ Kim asked.

Joanna shook her head. ‘I didn’t.’

‘Indicating that someone else did?’ she pushed.

Joanna opened her hands expressively. ‘Sadie loved English, so she was never any bother to me.’

Kim opened her mouth to speak as Principal Thorpe entered the grand hall and stopped dead. The young couple chatting excitedly behind almost walked into him.

The woman’s right hand instinctively covered her extended stomach.

These folks were getting in early.

The principal’s face turned thunderous before he remembered prospective customers were right behind him.

‘May I ask…’

‘My apologies for relocating,’ Kim said, pleasantly. ‘But the office allocated for questioning and taking statements was not particularly suitable.’

She wanted to ensure that the young couple were under no illusion as to who they were.

They both frowned towards the principal whose face was colouring with rage. The woman’s hand had remained against her stomach.

‘Alternative facilities will be found, Inspector,’ he said, with a slight flare of the nostrils.

He offered her a look as he guided the young couple past, leaving Kim in no doubt they’d be rehoused at the earliest opportunity.

Joanna Wade smiled at her ruefully. ‘Does Inspector Kim Stone normally get everything she wants?’

‘Most times,’ Bryant answered for her.

‘So, Miz Wade, what more can you tell us about Sadie’s accident?’ Kim asked.

‘Not much,’ she admitted. ‘I wasn’t there.’

‘How did you come to know about it?’

‘I was in my classroom preparing for a lesson when I heard a commotion in the hallway. I heard her name and the word roof. I can add two and two like any other person.’

‘And where is your classroom?’ Kim asked, wondering how far away from the action she’d been.

‘I’m at the front of the house facing the second row of elm trees.’

‘To the left of the metal grate in front of the daffodils?’ Kim asked.

Joanna thought for a moment and then nodded. ‘Pretty much,’ she answered.

Kim realised that if Sadie had jumped she would have sailed right past the teacher’s window.

‘Okay, thank you, Miz Wade.’

‘Finished with me so soon?’ Joanna asked, allowing her voice to drip with disappointment.

Kim hid her smile. Different case, different location but Joanna Wade had not changed one bit.

‘If we need anything further we know where to find you.’

‘At the Waggon and Horses on a Thursday night playing darts, as I already told you.’

‘Thank you,’ Kim said, holding the woman’s intense gaze.

Joanna offered her a smile as she stood, turned and walked away.

Kim took out her phone as a thought occurred to her.

‘Yeah, boss,’ Stacey answered on the second ring.

‘Stace, you got the witness reports there from Plant yet?’

‘Yep. He dropped ’em in about an hour ago.’

‘How many?’ Kim asked.

‘Around forty, fifty or so,’ she answered.

‘Drop the background checks for now and go through them all, Stace. In detail.’

‘Okay, boss, what exactly am I looking for?’

‘We now know that Sadie was never on the roof, but everyone heard that she was. It had to have started somewhere. I want to know who was the first to say they actually saw Sadie Winters up on that roof.’