‘I remembered you had a gate at the back,’ Bella said. ‘The one that leads onto the downs. When I saw those creeps outside, I came around the back. I didn’t want to give you a fright like the last time, so I knocked on the front door. You haven’t forgotten we’d arranged to meet up, had you?’

Of course. Coffee and a catch-up.

‘Completely slipped my mind,’ Clodagh said. ‘But you know what? It’s bloody good to see you. Come in.’

‘It’s good to see you too.’ Bella smiled. ‘I tried calling earlier, to check you were still okay to meet, but I kept getting your voicemail.’

‘It’s turned off,’ Clodagh said. ‘Too many phone calls from journalists.’

‘Have the police been in touch yet?’ Bella asked. Then, when Clodagh nodded, ‘Us too. They turned up on our doorstep first thing. I can’t take it in, Clodagh. First Nick, now Tara.’

‘Come on,’ Clodagh said. ‘I’ll make coffee and we can sit in the garden and have a proper chat.’

It was a grey day. Clouds and humidity had replaced the warm sunshine they’d been enjoying for most of the summer. But it was still better being outside than stuck in the house with the walls closing in on her.

‘This coffee is amazing,’ Bella said, after Clodagh handed her a mug of the special coffee Adam ordered online. ‘You’re not having any?’

‘I’ll stick to water, I think.’ Clodagh held up the glass she’d brought out for herself. ‘I’m not feeling too good.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Bella said. ‘It’s the shock. I thought I was going to faint when I heard she was dead. The police wouldn’t tell us how she died. They kept saying it was too early to give details. She was so fragile, part of me wonders if it all got too much for her and she took her own life. But then there’s another part of me that keeps thinking, what if she was killed too? Because it’s impossible to have any real perspective on anything after what happened to Nick.’

Clodagh shifted in her chair, knowing she’d have to tell Bella sooner or later.

‘She was killed, Bella.’

‘The police told you that?’

‘They didn’t have to. It was me who found her body.’

‘Oh God.’ Bella put a hand over her mouth. ‘Clodagh, I don’t know what to say. How awful for you. Are you okay? Sorry, stupid question. How could you be okay? But I don’t understand. The police said she’d been found in her apartment.’

‘I went to see her yesterday,’ Clodagh said. ‘But by the time I got to her apartment, she was already dead.’

‘I see,’ Bella said, after a moment. ‘If you don’t mind me asking, why did you go to see her? I didn’t think you guys were particularly close.’