Morgan flattened out a piece of screwed-up paper. On it were two handwritten words.
Somebody knows.
‘Somebody knows what?’ Karen said. ‘Do you think Natasha wrote that? Here, let’s compare it to the handwriting in her study notes.’
Morgan placed the sheet of paper on the desk. ‘Looks similar in style. Was it the start of a note to someone? Or the discarded beginnings of an essay?’
‘Maybe she was planning to send a note to someone and thought better of it.’
They searched every inch of Natasha’s room, but found nothing to indicate where she’d gone last night: no messages, no secret diary hidden under the bed.
Then they made their way to Cressida’s room. It was decorated in a very similar style to Natasha’s, although much messier. Clothes were scattered on the floor, and scrunched-up pieces of paper were left on the desk. They were all study notes – nothing helpful.
They took their time going through the room methodically, but finally Morgan shook his head. ‘No luck with the rooms. That note worries me. I’ll ask Rick to speak to the staff at the pub in the village but I think we’re going to have to start the search, don’t you?’
Karen nodded slowly, her gaze magnetically drawn to the window. The view of the lake was almost obscured by trees. ‘Yes. I don’t know what we’re going to find in this weather, but there’s a chance one of the girls could be hurt – injured somewhere.’
‘Possibly, if it was just one of them, but two makes it unlikely. The other would have gone for help, wouldn’t they? But I think we should get a search underway. We need to make the most of the daylight hours.’ He checked his watch. ‘Right. I’ll get on to Sophie, ask her if she’s got anything from the local hospitals or accident reports, and I’ll ask Rick to follow up on the teacher who fell from the roof. What was her name? Alison?’
Karen checked the notes app on her phone. ‘Yes, Alison King.’
‘Probably nothing but it’s a bit of a coincidence it happened the same week, so I’ll get him to talk to the investigating officer.’
‘Good idea.’
‘If you can track down the other students and arrange somewhere for us to interview them, I’ll get the search party organised.’
Karen nodded. ‘Will do. Do you think we should get family liaison officers assigned for the Blakes and the Laytons?’
‘Yes, I do. Let’s get that sorted first.’
Karen pulled out her mobile phone and dialled as she looked out of the window. As she waited for the call to be picked up, she stared down at the patio below. As the rain hit the stones, it rebounded with force. Puddles pooled on the slabs. From this distance, the lawn looked lush and green, but the ground would be saturated and soggy. She hoped the rain would let up soon.
CHAPTER SEVEN
When they made it back to the entrance hall, they were met by a buzz of activity. The hall was filled with parents. The police constable who had been standing on the door was desperately trying to keep them contained in one area as they demanded to know where their children were.
Graham Doyle sat at the reception desk, his head in his hands.
He looked up as Morgan and Karen stopped beside the desk. ‘Detectives, please tell me you’re going to allow the students to go home with their parents now.’
‘I’m afraid not,’ Morgan said.
This response was greeted by angry exclamations from some of the parents who’d gathered to form a ring around the desk, and a groan from Doyle.
‘We need to speak to every student before they go home,’ Morgan continued, raising his voice so all the parents in the hall would hear him. His voice was calm but carried well, and eventually everyone fell silent to listen to him. ‘I know this is very inconvenient and you’re all worried for your children’s safety, but I promise we’ll get through the questioning as quickly as possible and you should be able to take your children home later today.’ He turned to Doyle and added, in a quieter voice, ‘We’d like to speak to Ella Seaton first.’
Doyle frowned. ‘Well, I suppose you could, but it would be more helpful if you chose one of the other students to kick things off. You see, Ella’s parents are away in Africa. They’re not going to be able to pick her up today, so she’ll be here overnight anyway. Perhaps Stuart Blythe would be a better choice. He’s quite anxious to return home. His parents are Lord and Lady Blythe—’
Morgan cut him off. ‘No, we need to speak to Ella Seaton first because she knew both the girls. Unless Stuart Blythe is close to them?’
Doyle thought for a moment. ‘No, I don’t think he is.’
‘Then we need to speak to Ella first, please.’
Doyle’s shoulders slumped as he sighed in defeat. ‘Very well. I’ll get her. The students have their meals in the dining room. It’s slightly smaller than the dining hall but should be a sufficient size to keep everyone together. Shall I ask the students and their parents to wait there until you’re ready to question them? The other teachers are already there.’
‘Yes, that’s fine.’
Doyle got to his feet, grumbling, ‘I don’t know what I’ll do at lunchtime. There’s certainly not enough sandwiches to go around.’
‘I’m sure they can sort themselves out,’ Morgan said. ‘The parents don’t have to stay. There’s nothing stopping them going out for lunch.’
Chidlow appeared at the back of the hall and barked at Doyle to keep the noise down. His face was red, and he waved his fist as he spoke.
‘V . . . very sorry, Lord Chidlow,’ Doyle stammered, trying to smooth his thinning hair. ‘I really couldn’t have anticipated this. All the parents have shown up to take their children home and—’
‘I really don’t care, Doyle,’ Chidlow growled. ‘I didn’t sign up for this. The whole thing’s an inconvenience I could do without.’
Chidlow caught sight of Karen watching him. He scowled and then retreated back along the corridor towards his study. A few seconds later, the door slammed.
Two young women were missing but Chidlow only seemed to care about the inconvenience and the disruption to his everyday life.
They settled in Doyle’s office after grabbing two extra chairs from the room next door, and waited for the programme director to bring Ella Seaton to them.
‘I’m anticipating some problems with these interviews,’ Morgan said as he quickly checked his phone for messages.
‘You think the students will be difficult?’
‘No, it’s the parents I’m worried about. Money means power, and I suspect most of the parents out there are used to getting their own way. They didn’t like being told they can’t take their children home.’
‘Well, there’s no way around it,’ Karen said. ‘We need to talk to them. We can’t just let them leave – they’re not all local. We’d be driving around the country for interviews if we let them go home now. There’s only eleven of them. It won’t take us too long.’
Morgan nodded. ‘We’ve spoken to Ethan, so that just leaves ten.’
‘Let’s hope we get something out of Ella Seaton. We might not even need to speak to the others,’ Karen said.