‘Perfect,’ he says when he walks in. ‘Well, perfect for two hundred euros,’ he chuckles.

‘I know it’s small but we don’t have any neighbours to bother us and it’s close to the college.’

Andriu plonks himself down on the single bed which just about fits along one wall. There’s a picture of a single yellow flower hanging on the wall above the wooden headboard. I lean on the bed to straighten it but instead I take it down. ‘You’ll probably be wanting to put your own stuff in here,’ I say, tossing the picture onto the small chest of drawers beside me, before looking back at Andriu. He says nothing, but smiles. I find myself holding his stare a little longer than is necessary and a rush of heat flushes up my face. I get the feeling it won’t be the last time I’ll be on this bed with this man.

Chapter Thirteen

Tara

I’m sitting with a cup of coffee in my hand that Lucas made for me. The two detectives are sitting on the sofa in front of me. I’m nervous, my legs are shaking, my hands trembling. Thankfully, Lucas is in the room or I think I’d shrivel up and die.

The male detective speaks first, introducing himself for a second time. Then he asks me to confirm that I am indeed Tara Moore. I wish I could say, no; that I’m Mary Moore or Annie Moore or Britney Spears, anything to get them out of here but I’m not. So I nod and take a sip of my coffee.

‘Do you know why we’re here?’ Detective Mullins asks. I shake my head even though I have a bloody good idea.

‘Well, it’s in connection with your residency at Huntley Lodge. You did live there, didn’t you? Do you have the exact dates?’

‘I… I… I was there three years ago.’ My brain is turning to mush. I can’t think straight.

‘It’s okay. Take your time.’

‘I know it was September because we moved in when college started but what year…?’ Numbers are dancing in my head, two thousand and… shit, what year did I start college?

‘Would that have been 2014?’ the detective asks. I nod.

‘Until 2016, maybe?’

I nod again, wondering why they asked if they already knew.

‘September, we left at the end of September.’

‘And Tara, can you tell us who lived there with you?’

‘Yes, there were various people there at different times, some just while they were stuck for somewhere to stay but the main people paying the rent were myself, Andriu Fitzpatrick and Faye Connolly.’

‘Were they in college too?’

‘Andriu was working and Faye was in college. I dropped out the year before we left.’