‘Are you sure he’s telling the truth?’ I demanded. ‘Maybe he just wanted to get in here and trash the place while I was asleep.’

Warren took a deep breath. ‘The thing is—’

‘Because his family have a history of trespass. I’ve dealt with them before.’

Warren studied me for a moment. His eyes were brown, like Joe’s. But while Joe’s were as clear as milkless tea, Warren’s were almost opaque, small and wedge-shaped and so deep-set they looked almost like his scars.

‘The thing is, Rob, we’re pretty sure Darren didn’t mess up your bed. We’ve been asking a lot of questions, and it turns out someone did see Darren yesterday. Pissing on the house.’

‘Who?’

‘Ali.’

‘Ali?’ If it had been anyone else, I would have suspected some kind of collusion. But Ali…

‘Are you sure Aaron didn’t make him say that?’ I was clutching at straws.

Warren blinked. ‘You mean Darren?’

‘Darren. Yes. Darren.’ I could tell he’d heard my name-change story because his eyes narrowed. But he didn’t pursue it.

‘No,’ he said. ‘We don’t think so. Ali’s a good kid and he thinks the sun shines out of Joe’s arse. He wouldn’t lie to Joe.’

I frowned. My mind was working busily. If Aaron hadn’t ruined my mattress, then who had? And why? What had Aaron been up to last night? Had he really been so desperate to call his mother?

Perhaps he’d wanted to tell her about me…

‘We figure it was either Nathan or Jake,’ Warren continued, ‘and we think it was Jake. Because Jake probably knew what Marcus was doing to that pipe. Jake would have been primed for it. That’s why he moved so fast when everyone else was distracted by the leak in the bathroom.’

It made sense. I couldn’t fault the logic.

‘Besides, Nathan doesn’t feel right for this kind of thing.’ Warren shifted uncomfortably, scratching his ear. ‘He’s never caused any damage, except tagging. Jake, on the other hand…’ He trailed off.

‘What about Jake?’

Warren sighed. ‘He’s got a bit of a history. With women.’

‘What?’

‘Nothing actionable. But at school, when those teachers’ tyres were let down, and the phones in their bags were smashed, and everyone thought it was Jake—’

‘Don’t tell me.’ A chill settled into my bones. ‘The teachers were all women.’

‘Yeah.’ It was the first time I’d seen Warren look really uncomfortable. ‘It’s his mum, obviously. She’s schizophrenic. She’s been self-medicating with all kinds of shit. She almost committed suicide—’

‘My mum committed suicide. But I never broke into anyone’s house.’

Warren looked shocked. I was pretty shocked too. Normally I don’t talk about my mother.

‘Jesus, Robyn.’ His voice was gruff. ‘I’m sorry. How old were you?’

‘Fifteen.’