‘But I do know better than you. I am Francie Byrne and Francie Byrne sees all.’

She wasn’t in the mood. ‘Fine, whatever.’

In the house, Francie made himself a coffee while Marjorie picked out the T-shirt, one of the five pairs of tight black jeans Rabbit owned, her black lacy bra and knickers, and two old crew wristbands with ‘Kitchen Sink’ and ‘The Sound’ written on them. She didn’t stay long in her friend’s room; it was too upsetting to be surrounded by everything that was Rabbit’s. She took a moment to inhale her perfume, but if she stopped any longer she knew she’d collapse. Keep going, get through – come on, Marjorie.

She burst into tears on the stairs. Damn it. She did her best to collect herself. She could hear Francie fiddle with the radio in the kitchen. Her knees gave way and so she sat on Rabbit’s staircase and hugged her T-shirt. Just for a minute. Just until her eyes and nose ran dry.

When she made her way into her friend’s kitchen, Francie looked at the clothes in Marjorie’s hand and placed his arm around her. ‘When I die, I want you to dress me.’

Marjorie smiled. Francie chugged down the coffee.

‘Where to next, boss?’ he asked.

‘The funeral home.’

‘Let’s do this,’ he said.

Marjorie followed Francie to the van. Kyle appeared out of nowhere.

‘Juliet at her gran’s?’ he asked.

‘Yeah.’

‘She OK?’

‘No,’ Marjorie said.

‘Tell her Kyle said hi – no, tell her sorry. No, tell her hi and—’

Francie leaned out of the window, ‘Hey Romeo, do one.’

‘Oh, yeah, grand,’ he said, and he stepped out of the way.

‘Just say—’ he shouted as they drove off.

Francie took a phone call from work in the car while Marjorie went into the funeral home and handed over the clothes to Vincent and Silent Ed. Vincent seemed confused as he unfolded the T-shirt.

‘You’re sure?’

‘Positive.’

‘And Mrs Hayes?’

‘She’s signed off.’

‘Right then, lovely, we’ll get to work, then.’

‘Can I see her?’

‘We really have very little time.’

‘Just for a minute, please.’

Vincent nodded. ‘Give me a second.’ He walked into a small room. Silent Ed stood silently. Francie arrived in.

‘How we doing?’ he asked.

‘I’m just going to see her,’ she said, and she was shaking.

‘Do you want company?’

‘No. Do you mind?’

He wrapped his arms around her. ‘Not at all.’ He turned to Silent Ed, looked him up and down. ‘Hey, kid? You ever wanna get laid, lose the dodgy ronnie,’ he said, referring to the young man’s attempt to grow hair over his top lip.

Silent Ed instinctively rubbed his practically non-existent moustache. ‘Trust me,’ he said. Vincent appeared and ushered Marjorie into the room.