“I prefer Liz.”

“Okay. Ryan not here?”

“He’s got classes.”

“When will he be back?”

“Not till after teatime.”

“What do you do, Liz?”

“I’m a musician.”

“Make a living at it?”

“You know what it’s like…”

Banks did, having a son in the business. But Brian’s success was unusual, and even that hadn’t brought in heaps of money. Not even enough for a new car. He moved on. “You know why we’re here, don’t you?”

Liz nodded. “About Luke.”

“You could have come forward and saved us a lot of trouble.”

Liz sat down. “But I don’t know anything.”

“Let us be the judge of that,” said Banks, pausing in his examination of her CD collection. He had noticed a cassette labeled “Songs from a Black Room” mixed in with a lot of other tapes.

“How was I to know you were looking for me?”

“Don’t you read the papers or watch television?” Annie asked.

“Not much. They’re boring. Life’s too short. Mostly I practice, listen to music or read.”

“What instrument?” Banks asked.

“Keyboards, some woodwinds. Flute, clarinet.”

“Did you study music professionally?”

“No. Just lessons at school.”

“How old are you, Liz?”

“Twenty-one.”

“And Ryan?”

“The same. He’s in his last year at college.”

“He a musician, too?”

“Yes.”

“Do you live together?”

“Yes.”

Annie sat down on one of the beanbags, but Banks went to stand by the window, leaning the backs of his thighs against the sill. The room was small and hot and seemed too crowded with three people in it.

“What was your relationship with Luke Armitage?” Annie asked.

“He’s…he was in our band.”

“Along with?”

“Me and Ryan. We don’t have a drummer yet.”

“How long have you been together?”

She chewed on her lip and thought for a moment. “We’ve only been practicing together since earlier this year, after we met Luke. But Ryan and me had been talking about doing something like this for ages.”

“How did you meet Luke?”

“At a concert at the college.”

“What concert?”

“Just a couple of local bands. Back in March.”

“How did Luke get into a college concert?” Banks asked. “He was only fifteen.”

Liz smiled. “Not to look at. Or to talk to. Luke was far more mature than his years. You didn’t know him.”

“Who was he with?”

“No one. He was by himself, checking out the band.”

“And you just started talking to him?”

“Ryan did, first.”

“And then?”

“Well, we found out he was interested in music, too, looking to get a band together. He had some songs.”

Banks pointed toward the tape. “Those? ‘Songs from a Black Room’?”

“No. Those are more recent.”

“How recent?”

“Past month or so.”

“Did you know he was only fifteen?”

“We didn’t find out until later.”

“How?”

“He told us.”

“He told you? Just like that?”

“No, not just like that. He had to explain why he couldn’t just do what he wanted, you know. He was living with his parents and going to school. He said he was sixteen at first but then told us later he’d lied because he was worried we’d think he was too young to be in the band.”