‘I want yous to get into teams of five, with either a guard or a volunteer with a mobile phone. We’ll assign yous a search area, and after that you walk your area. You stay together and if you find something pertinent you phone it in. Are we clear?’

A few people mumbled something.

‘Are we clear?’

The crowd shouted, ‘Yes.’

‘Grand. Find a team and form a line over there.’ He waved towards a guard sitting at one of the pub’s outdoor wooden picnic tables.

Tom caught Maisie’s eye and made his way over to her. ‘The response has been strong,’ he said, gesturing at the volunteers.

‘Well, the story is juicy enough to bring out the best and worst of us,’ Maisie said.

‘I’m sorry about that, Maisie.’

‘Me too.’

‘I see you’ve got your rain gear on,’ he said.

‘We need to help.’

‘Good. We’ve cleared the graveyard, but there’s still some of the mountain to cover and the reservoir.’

‘And after that?’

‘Let’s start with the obvious and move on from there.’

‘OK.’ She spotted Deirdre, Casey and Mel Calley in the crowd, standing close to Jeremy’s friends, Dave, Mitch and Jonno. ‘Excuse me,’ she said to Tom, and walked over to the group.

They saw her coming and even though Jonno Lynch looked like he was going to make a break for it, they didn’t move, staring at her, like deer caught in headlights.

Deirdre

‘Hi, Deirdre,’ Maisie said.

Deirdre nearly died. Jesus, what am I gonna say? ‘Hi, Mrs Bean.’

‘There’s six of you and only four of us,’ Maisie said, pointing towards Fred and Valerie. ‘Why don’t you search with us?’

Deirdre’s face fell. ‘Ah, no, it’s OK, Mrs Bean.’

‘Please,’ Maisie said.

Deirdre looked at Casey and Mel. Casey cast her eyes to the ground. Mel shrugged her shoulders. ‘OK.’ Deirdre followed Maisie, leaving her friends behind.

Deirdre had been crying all morning. Her father had broken the news about Jeremy and Rave over breakfast. ‘I don’t want to upset you, love, but I can’t have you going into school without telling you.’

Her mother was mortified ‘It’s not right,’ she kept saying.

Deirdre didn’t believe them until her dad showed her the newspaper. ‘He’s not gay, Da.’ But even as she said it, something inside her clicked, and every question she’d ever had was answered, every doubt validated. She left the room crying and lay on her bed with her head buried in her pillow. You can’t be, Jeremy. You said you loved me. I asked you. I said if you didn’t want me you had to tell me, and you said you did. ‘I love you.’ That’s what you said. I trusted you.

‘Deirdre? Are you all right, love?’ her mother asked, through the locked door.