Page 7 of Dying Truth

‘Of, course,’ he said, as they stepped outside.

‘There is one on my master set, the deputy principal has an identical set to mine. The janitor, the maintenance crew, each housemistress or master has a reduced set of keys, which includes a roof key.’

‘So, that makes?’ Kim prodded.

‘A total of fourteen roof keys,’ he answered.

Kim glanced at Bryant who took out his notebook.

She stepped outside onto the flat roof and looked around assessing the scale of the buildings joined together by walkways and ladders. From where she stood Kim could make out four clear wings, each the size of a couple of football pitches. Navigating the area from up here would be challenging enough, but downstairs, spread over three floors, she’d need a decent satnav to get her around the school.

She stepped over a roof light and around an air conditioning unit to head towards the area she thought was the side of the building.

Thorpe’s phone began to ring. ‘Please, excuse me,’ he said, edging back towards the stairwell.

Bryant joined her on a patch of recently repaired bitumen.

‘My apologies, Inspector. I have to go,’ Thorpe said, gravely. ‘Sadie’s parents are at the police cordon.’

‘Do they know?’ Bryant asked.

He shook his head. ‘Only that there’s been an incident.’

Kim understood. Delivering such news over the phone was only done as a last resort. She did not envy him his next job.

‘We’ll let you know when we’re done,’ she advised as he re-entered the building.

Bryant shoved his hands into his trouser pockets as he stood beside her.

She narrowed her eyes at him when he started humming theGhostbusterstheme.

‘Just look down there,’ she said.

‘Must I?’ he asked, taking a tentative step forward.

Three storeys below lay the body of Sadie Winters, guarded by uniform officers while others worked to take details and clear the area. Keats had arrived, accompanied by his team of crime scene techs, who were changing into white protective suits.

‘You think she jumped from here?’ Kim asked, lining herself up with the body on the ground.

Bryant nodded and stepped back. ‘Yeah, seems about right.’

‘Hmm…’ she said, taking five steps to the left.

‘Was that the wrong answer?’ he asked.

‘How about here?’ she asked, ignoring his question.

Again, he took a cautious step forward and shook his head. ‘Too far away.’

She walked past him and headed to the right.

‘How about here?’ she asked.

‘Guv, are you trying to make me throw up?’

‘I haven’t cooked for you in ages, now just look,’ she urged.

He looked down and shook his head. ‘Much too far away from where she landed,’ he said.