‘Would you mind meeting at the clinic? I won’t be able to talk to you until this evening, around five. I’ll make sure I’m free then. Is this going to take long?’

‘No, it shouldn’t take too long,’ she says, but I know the answer to that depends on what I have to tell them.

When the detective agrees to call at five, I give her the address of the clinic and close my phone. I’ll need to prepare for this because, as I warned Tara, I don’t want to slip up. Detectives have a way of getting you to say things you didn’t intend to say. I know this because I never meant to tell them I put Valium into my whiskey the night I crashed my father’s car into a big oak tree. And yet I did tell them.

I push open the door and walk into the kitchen. Both heads turn to look at me. My father is the first to speak.

‘Are you ready?’ he says, pulling his heavy weight off the chair with the aid of the table.

I nod. Mam hands me a lunchbox then leans in to kiss my cheek. It’s the same routine every time.

‘Take care, Faye. Don’t forget to ring us.’

‘I won’t.’ I take the box and shove it into my overflowing bag before leaving the room. Already my brain is calculating what I should tell the cops this evening. I could act as dumb as an old fool or I could use this to my advantage. Drop Tara in it. I’ll have to be careful, though. I don’t want them finding out what happened or I’ll never practice as a doctor again. Not in this country anyway. Maybe Australia.

I thank my father for the lift, take my bag from the back seat, then walk up the steps to the front door of the clinic. Another Monday. Another week begins.

‘Good morning, Faye.’

Elvis, the security man is on duty today. He’s always full of energy and smiles. Elvis is not his real name. He earned it by grooming sideburns the size of two small cats down his face.

‘Morning, Elvis,’ I say, my head held high. I walk down the corridor, the familiar walls, smells, sounds tapping into my conscience. Here we go again.

Anna is sitting at the reception desk. I wave. She waves. Then I carry on to my room, second on the left at the end of the corridor.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tara