“I want to make one thing perfectly clear,” Robin said, before Matthew could say anything else. “I’m intrigued. I’m intrigued by the Standedge Incident. I’m intrigued by what happened. And I’m intrigued by you. But I don’t want you to think that I won’t drop this and go back to London if I find out that you are lying about Sam.”

“I’m not lying,” Matthew said defensively, although still in his small voice.

“How do you know her?” Robin pressed.

“I don’t.”

“Then why did she call you?”

“I don’t know. It was a random call. I thought it was someone taking the piss. I thought she was drunk.”

“How’d she get your number?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where was she calling from?”

“It was an unknown number.”

“And she said something about trusting me?”

“In a roundabout way. She wasn’t making much sense.”

“What did she say?”

“She said your name. She said you were the greatest man she’d ever known. And that you were someone to rely on. She said if you asked for help, Robin Ferringham would help,” Matthew said plainly. He stated it so unenthusiastically it was hard to not see it as fact.

Robin’s tone softened, although not consciously. “I don’t understand why she would call you and not me.”

Matthew sniffed. “Neither do I.”

“And she didn’t mention anything else?”

Matthew faltered. “No.”

Robin didn’t believe him. No one would. “You’re lying. What else did she say?”

“She muttered some incoherent stuff about...a black hound...and a horse’s head.”

“What?”

“I didn’t understand it. That’s where I got the idea she was drunk or on drugs or something. It didn’t make any sense. Who would understand that?”

A black hound. And a horse’s head. He definitely didn’t understand it. “When was this?”

Matthew brought up both his cuffed hands to wipe his nose. “It was the middle of the night. Like 3:00 a.m.”

Robin interrupted. His patience was thin. “I mean when? What year? What month?”

Matthew’s breath hitched, creating something between a sigh and a yelp. “I don’t... It was October. Nearly Halloween. Not last year. And it was before the others went to university. But I didn’t tell them about it. Because they’d gone quiet. And then I just forgot it. So...it must have been...20...yes, 2015.”

Robin stopped. His signing pen dropped out of his hand and clattered onto the table. His vision became hazy. His mouth quivered as he formed the next sentence. “Are you sure?”

Matthew regarded him as though he were a time bomb. “Are you okay?”

“Are you sure?” he said through clenched teeth.

“I...I think...” Matthew searched his memory. “Yes. Yes. I’m sure.”

Robin sniffed, blinked away his tears. “I think you were the last person to speak to Sam before she disappeared.”

Chapter Fourteen