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ten for Communion.’
    ‘Can you get everyone in?’
    ‘Just about. There’s always a few stragglers. It’s a sport for some of them, missing chapel,’ replied Father Anthony. ‘And it’s been extended over the years. There’s a stone in the floor halfway along the aisle marking where the altar used to be in the old days.’
    ‘I assumed that the library . . .’
    ‘No, that was the assembly hall until the Bishop Sutton Hall was built.’
    Dixon nodded.
    ‘Anyway, I must lock up. Nice talking to you,’ continued Father Anthony. ‘Let me know if you need anything.’
    Suddenly, they heard footsteps running along the cloisters behind them and Dixon turned to see three girls rushing into the chapel, tears streaming down their faces.
    ‘Can we talk to you about Isobel, Father?’ spluttered one.
    ‘Of course, of course. Let’s sit over here,’ replied Father Anthony, gesturing to the pews at the back of the chapel.
    ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ said Dixon.
    Father Anthony smiled and nodded.
    Dixon walked back along the cloisters and had reached the steps at the end before he could no longer hear the girls crying. He opened the door to the masters’ common room and looked in. It was pretty much as he imagined it would be. Old armchairs and sofas with a small kitchen area against the back wall. There was no one at home so he looked at the notice boards to the left of the door, which displayed the team sheets for the various rugby matches the following day. The 1st XV were playing St Dunstan’s at home so Dixon made a mental note to keep away from the rugby pitches, just in case.
    He fetched his overnight bag from his Land Rover and then went back up to his rooms on the first floor, in amongst the physics labs. He smiled when he remembered sitting a physics multiple choice paper and scoring four out of fifty. Physics had never been one of his better subjects and he could hear the teacher’s voice even now.
    ‘ Dixon, a monkey could’ve got more than that. ’
    Needless to say, physics hadn’t been his first choice at A Level.
    There was a small jug of milk in the fridge so he made himself a cup of tea. Then he threw his overnight bag on the bed and unzipped a pocket in the bottom. He pulled out the file on Isobel Swan, which he had wrapped in a towel, and began flicking through the witness statements. There were twenty-one in all, from her parents, the headmaster, her housemaster, teachers and various friends who had seen her at some point that evening. She had her own study/bed room in Gardenhurst and no one had seen her arrive back, her disappearance only coming to light when her body had been found the following morning by one of the ground staff. Dixon thought it odd there was no statement from the groundsman who had found her. He made a mental note to ask Jane about that.
    Isobel had been studying maths, physics and chemistry and had been expected to sail through her exams on her way to medical school. She was one of those lucky students for whom studying and passing exams came easily. Dixon had been one of them too, until Fran had disappeared.
    He turned to the statements of Emily Setter and Susannah Bower and read them again. After Isobel’s driving lesson they had gone to the cinema and then called in at Pizza Hut for a bite to eat. Susannah had driven and they had got back just after 10 p.m., leaving her car in Conway Road, a small residential cul-de-sac opposite the school. They had last seen Isobel in the hall at the mai n entrance when they had gone in different directions along the main corrid or, Emily and Susannah turning left and Isobel turning right. Nothing that Isobel had said had given either of them any cause for concern or reason to believe that she might run away. Dixon thought about his last night with Fran and it all sounded a little bit too familiar.
    The officer who had taken Susannah’s statement had been more thorough, having asked her to describe Isobel’s route to