Gerry entered the office going over the conversion he and Sandra had with Sarah Matthews in his head. The minute he had shut the main office door behind him, Sandra had disappeared into her own office. His eyes scanned the room, looking for any signs that his colleagues were in the office before making a beeline to the incident board, writing up the important parts of the interview in the blank gaps underneath Simon Page's photo. He scribbled down the names of Chris Matthews's close classmates as well as the names of the schools he had taught at whilst Chris was his student.

As he began to brew both himself and his guvnor a mug of coffee, he allowed his mind to wander to their conversation in the car before speaking to Sarah Matthews. No matter how much Sandra wished that he hadn't seen what he had, she couldn't ignore it. He noticed as she tried every method to cool herself down, apart from taking her jacket off. Although, his mind had focused on the last thing she had said to him, "I'm not ready Gerry."

This was a positive thing wasn't it? She wasn't denying that he knew anything; she had simply said that she wasn't ready to openly admit it. But maybe she didn't have to. He could ask her questions, and all she had to do was answer.

He sighed and finished stirring the brew in his hands. It was worth a try. He sent a quick glance over towards her office, making a mental note that the door was left open. That either meant that she was open to being disturbed, or she was in such a rush to get into her safe space that she had forgotten to shut it. Either way, he took it as a sign to see if she was okay.

He gave a gentle rap on the door with his knuckles as he stood on the threshold to the room. He had suddenly become very nervous about approaching Sandra with these questions and he secretly hoped that she would make the first move. However, he was greeted by silence.

"Sandra?"

After the second call of her name, it became apparent to him that she had zoned out once more. He knew he had to step in otherwise a repeat of the night they had spent together would occur and he couldn't risk that happening at work when who knows who might walk in. As he repeated her name a third time, she glanced up to see who was at the door. The first thing he noticed was the sharpness in which she shook her head, as if she was mentally telling herself off for something. He slowly stepped through the door and shut it quietly behind him. He cautiously stepped over to the desk and placed the mug of coffee iin front of her.

"Are you okay?"

He knew he might not get the truth, but it was a risk he had to take. As she rose her head to meet his eyes, he noticed the glassy look that the tears had given them; threatening to spill at any moment. There was no emotion in those eyes, and it deeply saddened him. She had remained silent, not answering his question until she began to murmur.

'How am I meant to say to you the true extent of what I'm feeling. I can't even admit it to myself, let alone you. How on earth am I meant to tell you how hard it is to fight your own mind every minute of every day. How do i explain how after years and years of hating my dad for leaving us the way he did, i'm now feeling the exact same way. How i no longer hate him for it, as i finally understand how he was feeling.'

He stood in shock, not knowing how to react. In a way, he was glad she had made that move, even if it was unintentionally. The main question in the front of his mind was now whether she knew she had said all of that. He took a breath, not knowing whether to give any sign that he had heard it all. How could he have missed that? Okay so he knew he hadn't noticed the decline in her health, but he had recently found out some of the puzzle pieces. He needed the last few pieces of the puzzle, and talking to her about how she was really feeling would complete just one of those pieces. Sighing, he drew his eyes up from the dull carpet tiles to watch her rub her thumb up and down the handle of the untouched mug. He took a deep breath, and bit the bullet,

"Sandra...why can't you admit it to yourself?"

Her bloodshot eyes shot up to meet his gaze. A flash of panic spread over them, and he could see it. The tears that had threatened to spill had won and were trailing their way down towards her chin.

"How?"

The word almostly silently escaped her lips as the tears continued to fall. He moved to sit in the chair opposite her, not looking away from her - afraid that she would disappear if he broke eye contact. Guilt flashed across his mind, the questions suddenly not as important as he once thought. She was his guvnor, and she had been hiding this huge piece of information from everyone. Concern and sadness flooded his features as he watched how she took his words,

"You said it all out loud. Listen to me, I want you to be completely honest with me, okay?"

He watched her as panic began to take over her mind despite the fact that she was nodding in answer to his statement. He sighed, knowing that he didn't want to hear the answers, as hearing the words come from her mouth would mean that it was true. However, he knew he needed to hear her say it, instead of assuming. He needed to hear her say it, so he was able to make decisions on what to do knowing he was right about what was going on. He knew he had to dive in at the deep end, no matter how uncomfortable it made either of them.

"Do you want to harm or kill yourself?"

He didn't know how to react to the sight of his friend nodding at the question; confirming his worst fears. He felt the need to comfort her, to try and help her realise that he wasn't going to leave her. He sighed once more, pondering the situation and what to do. He had to keep silently reminding himself that they were at work, and that they had to stay professional. He tentatively reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. He noticed how she didn't shy away from his touch. He noticed she had become nervous as her hand started to heat up slightly from the nerves.

"Sandra,"

He was annoying cut off by the sound of Jack and Brian entering the main office. He sighed in frustration, knowing she had finally begun to open up her mind to him. He didn't know when he would next get a chance to speak seriously to her. Sadly he pulled himself up to his feet, and slowly let go of her hand.

"We'll get you some help Sandra, together. I promise."

He knew it was a big promise to make, but one he would break every rule in the book to keep. He shot her a smile before leaving the office and shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the kettle and picked up his mug of coffee he had neglected earlier. His colleagues greeted him, offering him a biscuit from a pack they had picked up on their way back to the office.

"How did you get on with Sarah?"

He turned to look at Brian as he sat on the sofa opposite the boys. Placing his mug on the spare coaster on the table, he sighed and relayed the information back to them.

"Sarah said that Simon had taught at the school most of the time Chris had attended. Half way through Chris's last year at the school, it was announced that Simon was leaving as he had a new job at the same school Chris was moving up to. The original investigation looked into the new school as well as the teachers from the old one, but failed to check the school he taught at before he moved to the first school when Chris was just 6. Sarah told us that she had heard reports from parents at the school saying that Simon was told to move on when some sexual assault and harassment claims were made."

Steve looked at Gerry in confusion, "Didn't the original investigation look into the claims from parents?"

"They did, but these claims from the very first school were made by Simon's colleagues. The original team failed to connect the dots. The school chose to believe Simon, but told him to move on to another school to silence any concerns. The claims weren't taken seriously by the original team as they believed Simon was in the clear too, saying that his colleagues were just trying to get him out of the school for whatever reason. She also gave us a list of some of Chris's classmates who moved up to the same school Chris and Simon did. Ah guv, anything to add?"

Gerry added the last sentence as he saw Sandra leave her office and join them on the sofas. She sat down next to Gerry and proceeded to distribute the names of the classmates between them all; noting that Steve and Brian remain together when interviewing. Gerry took a sip of his coffee, amazed at how quickly she could throw herself into her work, and how Steve and Brian were none the wiser to the conversation he had just had. As the boys stared at the list of paper with their interviewees on, Gerry subtly reached to the side of him and gave Sandra's hand a gentle squeeze; reassuring her that he was still there and wouldn't tell the boys. He wanted to continue their conversation that evening, but thought he would give her at least 24 hours to compose herself and her thoughts before approaching the subject yet again.