She steps into the room, shutting the door behind her, and then sits down on the rug. Al gives me a look that says, “This doesn’t mean I believe her,” then joins her on the floor.

“Okay, then.” Isaac gestures for me to sit as well, but I choose a chair instead and perch on the edge of it. Isaac slumps into his desk chair. He swivels idly from side to side, the wheels swivelling back and forth on the thin rug that covers the entrance to the basement. “Hit me with it. What’s going on?”

“There a rumour going round that I lied about Frank attacking me.”

“Is there?” He stops swivelling and cups his chin with his hand. “And who started this rumour?” He rolls the word “rumour” on his tongue as though he enjoys the sound it makes.

Al and Leanne both shake their heads.

“Leanne knows,” I say.

“Do you?” He rests his elbows on his knees and leans towards her.

When she shakes her head, Al leans away from her, a look of surprise on her face. “Yes, you do! You said you’d been sworn to secrecy.”

“No, I—”

“Okay, okay. Forget who started the rumour.” Isaac holds up his hands and sits back in his chair. His gaze shifts towards Leanne, just for a split second, then returns to me. “I’ll put this right, Emma.”

“Tell them!” I point at Leanne and Al. “Tell them Frank attacked me and that’s why you hit him. Tell them I didn’t lie about it.”

“Emma!” He wheels his chair towards me then puts a hand on my shoulder. He squeezes it as he leans towards me and hisses in my ear. “I said I’d put this right and I will.”

“But …”

“You need to trust me, okay?” There’s a finality to the way he says “okay” that stops me from objecting again.

“Right, let’s have a drink, shall we?” He rolls his chair back to his desk then reaches into the bottom drawer and pulls out four bottles of Budweiser.

None of us have drunk real lager since we got here. Daisy’s vodka is long gone, so are the bottles of wine the rest of us brought. We’ve been here twelve days now, and the only alcoholic drink available is Raj’s vile homemade beer. We were supposed to be leaving in a couple of days to go on a jungle adventure in Chitwan. The trip Leanne never got round to booking. Those plans feel like they were made in another lifetime.