Bradley’s hands hovered over his keyboard, and she could see he was playing a game on screen with coloured balloons floating through hoops. The balloons gradually fell to the ground and popped.

‘I’m a private investigator. I need to talk to you about Melanie Cheng.’

‘What?’

‘You heard me.’

‘Has something happened to Mel?’

‘That’s what I’m trying to find out.’

The other two in the room squirmed with embarrassment.

‘Sorry,’ Bradley said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘It’s Jenny, Jenny Skelf.’

‘Skelf, like Hannah?’

‘Is there somewhere we can talk alone?’

Bradley looked at the other two, eyebrows raised, looking for help. They both shrugged, not getting involved.

Bradley pushed his seat away from the desk and closed the laptop. He got up and towered over Jenny, another giant from the super-tall next generation. She caught a whiff of a scent on him, surprisingly expensive and non-toxic. He was trying to assert some authority as he pushed past her into the corridor.

‘Come on,’ he said, walking off.

She closed the door and followed him, up two flights of stairs to a doorway onto the roof. Out in the fresh air they scuffed over a concrete floor, a weather station to their left and beautiful views to the right. They were next to a golf course and fields, then the Pentlands hunkering in the distance like watchful gods.

Bradley turned at the ledge with the sun behind him, and Jenny put her hand up to shade her eyes. With him looming over her, she suddenly felt less in control.

‘What’s this about?’ he said.

‘When was the last time you saw Melanie?’

‘Is she missing?’59

‘Give the boy a gold star.’

‘Jesus, poor Mel.’

‘So what can you tell me?’

He shifted from one foot to the other, lots of nervous energy. ‘This is terrible but I don’t know anything about it.’

‘How well do you know her?’ Jenny moved to the side so that she could see Bradley’s face better. She heard the thwack of a golf ball out on the course, the sound of a van driving by the building.

‘She’s in one of my tutorial groups,’ Bradley said. ‘Solid state.’

Jenny didn’t know if that was the class or some other weird code.

‘Do you ever see her outside of class?’

‘Sure, at the Quantum Club. Hannah goes there too.’

Jenny hadn’t confirmed she was related to Hannah, and she wasn’t about to.

‘What is this club all about?’

Bradley shook his head and shrugged, his shoulders jiggling.

‘Just philosophy of physics, really. Knockabout stuff. Did you know that until recently physics was still called natural philosophy at Edinburgh Uni?’

‘And do you like Mel?’

He frowned. ‘Yeah, she’s lovely.’

‘I mean “like” like.’

‘I don’t know…’ He tailed off, rubbed his chin, pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. ‘I mean, she’s pretty, for sure.’

‘You fancy her.’