The possibility that she’d been looking the wrong way still hung heavily around her neck as they approached the press pack at the entrance to Heathcrest. Woody sometimes said that there were times that she couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

The thought of Woody coincided with her gaze landing on Tracy Frost standing away from the crowd, her five-inch heels sunk into the patchy grass. Her hands shoved deep into her pockets.

‘Awww… shit,’ Kim said, as something occurred to her. ‘Stop the car, Bryant.’

He did so, and she lowered her window.

Frost narrowed her eyes but approached anyway.

‘Wanna be shitty again, Stone?’ she asked.

‘He fed you the line, didn’t he?’ she asked. ‘Woody put you front and centre and told you what to say.’

Frost shrugged.

She should have seen it. Woody would never have let pressure from above stop him doing everything he could to protect the children at that school and alert the parents to the danger. He had asked Frost to shout murder knowing it would be out there in seconds. He hadn’t said it. She had.

‘Look, I’m sorry—’

‘Save it, Stone,’ Frost said, shaking her head. ‘Keep your apology but maybe next time have a bit more faith in people. Both him and me,’ she said, returning to the press pack.

‘Well, that told you,’ Bryant said, driving through the cordon.

‘Yeah, and I deserved it,’ she admitted. Frost she was still on the fence about but Woody she should have known better.

* * *

She sighed heavily as she got out of the car.

‘How is this even possible?’

Three deaths and a fourth attempt in a few days and students were walking to class as though nothing had happened. Should Joanna have been taking a lesson this afternoon, she wondered sadly, glancing at the window of what was once her classroom.

She headed along the second corridor towards the end of the wing. She passed Principal Thorpe’s office and knocked on the door of the office next to it.

‘Come in,’ called the counsellor.

‘Mr Steele…’

‘Graham,’ he said, waving them in.

He stood as she sat, and she nodded her appreciation of his good manners. There was a gentleness about this man that reminded her of Ted; a softness around the eyes, a note of compassion in his voice.

‘May we ask you about Shaun Coffee-Todd?’

‘Of course,’ he said, colouring.

Kim remembered comments about the boy not being the most memorable child. ‘You didn’t know him well?’

He hesitated and then shook his head. ‘If I’m honest, I’m afraid not. In my position it’s often the kids that cause the most trouble that come to my attention.’

She could understand that. Teenage problems and angst often presented as loud, troublesome and disruptive behaviour.

‘Did you have any reason to see him at all?’ Kim asked, wondering if there was some kind of link there.

He shook his head. ‘I’ve checked my records in case my memory had failed me, and he never asked to see me, nor did I have cause to seek him out.’

‘You know he was in one of those secret clubs?’ Kim asked.

‘Damn groups,’ he said, angrily.

‘You don’t approve?’ she asked.

‘I fully support Principal Thorpe’s efforts to stamp them out. They offer nothing positive to the majority of the students and a sense of imperialism to the few. Any group that insists on initiation pranks to join is not a good place to be,’ he said, lacing his fingers. ‘Now, is there anything else I can help you with?’

Kim got the feeling he wanted to move on.

‘Joanna Wade gave you a poem of Sadie’s?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘She did and then asked for it back.’

‘Did you read it?’ she asked.

He hesitated. ‘I did, but I didn’t really understand it,’ he said, looking sheepish.

She didn’t hold that against him. She wouldn’t have got it had it not been for Joanna.

‘Did you speak to her about it?’

He nodded. ‘I tried to ask her about it. I know Joanna was concerned about something in the poem, but she didn’t say what. She knew I was meeting with Sadie, so asked me to raise it and see if she opened up at all.’

‘Were you hopeful?’

He shrugged and then shook his head. ‘She hadn’t opened up so far in our sessions, but I gave it a try. Sometimes it just takes something small, a catalyst if you like, to take the first brick out of the wall.’

Kim took the poem from her back pocket.

Graham looked surprised and then smiled. ‘I won’t ask.’

‘It’s a copy,’ she explained. ‘But I’d like you to take another look at it and tell me what you think.’

He took the sheet from her and reached for a pair of John Lennon-style glasses that looked totally lost on his face. He read and frowned at the same time. ‘I’m afraid I still don’t get the content, but it does seem as though she’s angry about something.’

Kim leaned across and pointed at the capital letters at the beginning of each line spelling out the word ABORTED.

‘Oh, Oh, I see,’ he said, colouring slightly. He stared at it for a full minute. ‘I should have spotted that,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Seems so obvious now.’

‘Don’t feel too bad,’ Kim said. ‘We’re detectives and didn’t see it at first.’

His face filled with horror. ‘You don’t think Sadie—?’

‘No,’ Kim said, shaking her head, quickly. ‘Definitely not Sadie but would you have any idea who she might have meant. Have any of the girls—?’

Graham held up his hand and stopped her. ‘If they had I wouldn’t be able to divulge it as you well know, Inspector.’

She accepted his point.

‘Has anyone required additional or urgent counselling?’ she asked, going for the same answer in a roundabout way.

He smiled. ‘It’s safe to say I’ve been busy, and I really wish I hadn’t been.’

‘Anything out of the ordinary?’ she asked.

‘What I can say is that all I have seen are normal reactions to a sudden and unexplained death or three,’ he said.

‘Has Saffie Winters been to see you?’ she asked.

He considered and then shook his head. ‘No, but I really wish she would. I did seek her out yesterday to see if she wanted to talk. Her refusal to return home to her parents has us all concerned, but it would be unwise to force her,’ he said.

Kim agreed. ‘And would you categorise her response as normal?’

Graham shook his head. ‘People react differently to traumatic events, Inspector,’ he offered, evasively.

‘And now would you answer the question I asked,’ Kim responded.

He smiled. ‘Probably not but…’

‘Graham, may I ask you a question that you may feel uncomfortable answering?’ she asked, recalling his reaction the previous day.

His gaze narrowed. ‘Of course.’

‘Are there any students here that you’ve met with that you consider capable of violence?’ It was not a theory she was yet ready to abandon until she had something more substantial pointing towards an adult. ‘Someone physically able to haul Christian up over that beam?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, officer, but that’s not a possibility I’m prepared to consider.’

‘But it’s one that we have to,’ Kim said. ‘Is there anyone with a history of fire starting or animal cruelty?’ she asked, recalling Alex’s insight.

Again, he began to shake his head but paused.

‘There’s something, isn’t there?’

‘It’s probably nothing. I mean…’

‘Please, let us be the judge of that,’ she advised.

‘Alistair Minton, sixteen years old. I had to speak to him a couple of months ago, but I can’t imagine that he—’

‘What about?’ Kim asked.

‘Animal cruelty,’ he said, as a look of distaste clung to his mouth. ‘There was a stray cat that used to hang around the kitchen, just taking the odd scrap. He caught it, glued its—’

Kim felt the tension seeping into her bottom jaw. ‘Is this an image I really need in my head?’ she asked.

‘Probably not,’ he agreed.

‘And his explanation?’ she asked.

The counsellor shook his head. ‘That he thought it would be a laugh. There was no remorse or empathy for the animal’s suffering.’

‘So, what did you do?’ Kim asked.

‘Informed his parents and voiced my concerns.’

‘And?’

‘They cancelled his half-term skiing trip.’

‘Devastating,’ Bryant said, mirroring her thoughts.

‘I still don’t think he’s capable of—’

‘Thank you for your help,’ Kim said, standing.

Bryant was ahead of her and opened the door as the counsellor spoke again.

‘Officer, it’s probably no more than a coincidence but there’s probably something else you should know about Alistair Minton.’

‘Go on.’

‘He’s the ex-boyfriend of Saffron Winters.’