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on the side, then bustled off, leaving me to contemplate the posters that someone had stuck up around the little office. Florence’s skyline from the Belvedere, overlooking the city. A stagnant green canal lined with gorgeously decaying buildings – Venezia written in hysterical italics across the bottom. Someone liked Italy, but not enough to stick the Venice poster up properly. One corner curled upwards where the Blu-tac had lost its stick, and it had been by no means straight to begin with.
    There was only a mouthful or two of tea left in my mug when the door swung open and DS Blake strode in.
    ‘Sorry for the wait. We had a few things to finish up at the scene.’
    He sounded abrupt, distracted. I could tell that his mind was moving at a million miles an hour and felt even more lethargic in comparison. He leaned on a radiator behind the desk, gazing into the middle distance, and didn’t say anything else. After a minute or two, I felt that he had forgotten I was there.
    The door banged again as Vickers came in, carrying a cardboard folder. He threw himself into the chair opposite me and leaned on the desk for a second, one hand to his head. I could practically see the effort that was going into gathering his strength.
    ‘So, they tell me that in addition to finding the body, you know our victim,’ Vickers said at last, pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed.
    ‘Er, yes. Not well. I mean, I teach her.’ All that time to think, to compose myself, and there I was, getting flustered by the first question. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as unobtrusively as possible. My heart was racing. Ridiculous. ‘I’m her English teacher. I see – saw – her four times a week.’
    ‘And that’s at the posh girls’ school on the hill, is it, just off the Kingston road? Edgeworth School? Costs a fair bit, doesn’t it?’
    ‘I suppose it does.’
    Vickers was looking at a piece of paper from the file. ‘The family home isn’t in a particularly posh area. Morley Drive.’
    My eyebrows shot up. ‘My house is just a couple of streets away from there. I had no idea she lived so close to me.’
    ‘So would it surprise you that they sent Jenny to such an expensive school?’
    ‘I got the impression that the Shepherds were happy to spend their money on school fees. They wanted what was best for Jenny. They pushed her to achieve. She was a bright girl. She could have done anything with her life.’ I blinked rapidly, annoyed by the tears that were thickening my voice. While I waited for Vickers to think up another question, I concentrated on picking at the chair innards. It gave me something to do. I now saw how the hole had developed. If Vickers minded me making it worse, he didn’t say anything about it.
    ‘Did you know she was missing?’
    ‘Michael Shepherd came to the school this morning to see if he could find out anything from Jenny’s classmates,’ I explained. ‘He didn’t think the police –’
    ‘– were taking him seriously,’ Vickers finished off as I ground to a halt. He flapped a hand in my direction as if to reassure me that he didn’t mind. ‘Did he find out anything useful?’
    ‘He was just … desperate. I think he’d have tried anything to find his daughter.’ I looked up at Vickers, almost afraid to ask. ‘Do they know yet? The Shepherds?’
    ‘Not yet. Soon.’ He looked even more exhausted at the thought. ‘Andy and I are going to tell them ourselves.’
    ‘It’s hard on you,’ I offered.
    ‘Part of the job.’ But Vickers didn’t sound as if it was routine, and Blake was frowning at his feet when I looked at him.
    Vickers flicked open the file and closed it again. ‘So you didn’t have a relationship beyond teacher and student, you said. Nothing personal there. You weren’t really in touch with her outside of class.’
    I shook my head. ‘I mean, I kept an eye on her. That’s part of my job, to see if the girls are happy, if they’re dealing with