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My feet slow, despite the imminence of the train. ‘What?’

‘Our social worker. Kate. She’s Pauly’s social worker too. He told me.’

‘It doesn’t surprise me that Pauly has a social worker,’ I say lightly. ‘But it should tell you he’s someone to stay away from.’

‘What’s wrong with having a social worker?Wehave a social worker.’

‘But we shouldn’t,’ I say. ‘We shouldn’t have one, Tom. They only got involved because of your father. They should have closed our file down by now. The school … If only you’d talk to me. Give me some answers.’

‘There’s nothing to talk about, Mum.’

When we reach the station, the train is at the platform and we have to run.

‘How long will it take before we see Granny?’ Tom asks, as we jump onto the train. ‘I can’twaitto see her.’

‘Not long. Just this train, then a short walk to the play park.’

It’s a specially chosen play park, of course – one that’s very public, with lots of escape routes.

I know Margaret loves us. She’s proved it time after time. But she still sees Olly. So I always plan our meetings very carefully.

You can never be too careful.

Kate

3.05 p.m.

‘Who is trying to get out of the school?’ I ask.

‘Lloyd Neilson,’ says Mr Cockrun. ‘Social services force problem children on us, Mrs Noble, and it becomes a constant struggle to remain unblemished. It’s a mystery to me why the government pressures us to get good results, then jeopardises everything with these damaged individuals. Why not send them to a failing school?’

‘The idea, Mr Cockrun, is that your outstanding school improves the behaviour of troubled children,’ I say. ‘That in a school full of well-behaved kids, children with issues can follow good examples. Make better friendships.’

‘Theories,’ says Mr Cockrun dismissively. ‘We live in the real world. A real world with boys like Lloyd Neilson. If there’s a loose railing, an open gate or a low fence, that boy will be over, under, through and out. That, Mrs Noble, is why there are holes in the school fence.’

‘So Lloyd is cutting the fence?’

Mr Cockrun nods. ‘And every time Lloyd Neilson is seen larking about in town, we’re forced to report an unauthorised absence. It’s all a matter of government record and makes it that much harder to keep our outstanding status.’

I notice the headmaster says, ‘every time Lloyd Neilson is seen’ not ‘every time he gets out’. Presumably absence records are only made when they have to be.

‘So Lloyd Neilson makes the holes, climbs out and makes a run for it?’

‘Yes.’

‘How do you know?’

‘He was seen. The caretaker watched him going at the wire. By the time we reached him he’d already cut the hole and made a run for it. The caretaker’s pliers went missing at the end of last term. We suspect Lloyd has hidden them somewhere in the school.’

‘Do other children play back here?’

‘All three Neilson boys. That goes without saying. You give those boys a rule and they break it.’

I think of my car parked on zigzag lines. ‘Anyone else?’ I ask. ‘What about Tom Kinnock? Have you ever seen him back here?’

‘No.’

I look over the hole again, assessing it for possibilities. ‘And no mention of adults lurking by the fence?’