‘No!’ I protest.

He laughs. ‘Come on, Ingrid.’

His hands are shaking. I’m not sure if it’s from the cold or because of what he’s about to tell me.

‘Do you smoke?’ he asks, looking at me.

I shake my head.

He sighs. ‘Do you mind if I smoke? It calms me down.’

I really don’t want him to smoke in my flat. I hate the smell of tobacco. It nauseates me and the last thing I want is for it to linger after he is gone.

‘I’d prefer you didn’t,’ I say.

‘Fair enough,’ he says, defeated. ‘Look, as I was saying. People see me and they make their minds up in the first few minutes. There’s me, a bit of a scruff. Not always looking my best. Maybe a fag in my hand. Wandering the streets when most people are at work. They see me as a dole artist. A scrounger.’

I shake my head when he looks at me, but I know that I’m fooling no one.

‘It’s fair enough, ye know. I struggle to keep a job. Bad with my nerves. Sometimes, when people find out what I saw, what we did, they kind of understand. And they soften a bit. ’Til they hear about Niall and his job, and his nice house and nice car. They think, well, that fellah saw it all too, and he’s not dossing about. They lose sympathy for me right and quick, you know. But here’s the thing, it never affected Niall the way it did me. He … well …’

‘He well what?’ I ask.

Declan blinks slowly as if the memory is being played out on the inside of his eyelids there and then.

‘There was a stick. He had a stick. And he prodded her, ye know, to see if she was alive or something. I don’t know. I mean it was clear she was dead. She was face down. But he prodded her anyway and …’ He swallows. ‘That stick went right through, right into her brain. I can still remember the sound it made …’

My stomach tightens. It must have been horrific.

‘Niall called for help. I threw up whatever was left of my lunch then I ran to find the grown-ups. I have never been so scared in all my life. But Niall, he seemed to take it in his stride, you know. Like it was no big deal. I mean, she was dead, and rotting and …

‘He waded into the water and pulled her to shore. I saw his shoulders shaking and I thought he was crying like I was.

‘I called to him to come back because I thought he might throw up, too. I knew, even then I knew, it would be bad if he was sick on her. You know, forensics and all that.’ Declan raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded.