Clodagh’s insides tensed. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened yesterday. It was still too raw: the fear and the shock and the utter disbelief that another one of their group had been murdered.

‘We weren’t. Tara called me yesterday and left a message. Said she needed to see me urgently. I tried calling her back but she didn’t pick up, so I went to see her.’

‘You went all the way to London because she wasn’t answering her phone?’ Bella said. ‘Isn’t that a bit extreme?’

‘Probably,’ Clodagh said. ‘Part of me wishes I hadn’t gone. But then another part of me keeps thinking what if I hadn’t? How long would she have been there before someone found her?’

‘Doesn’t bear thinking about,’ Bella said. ‘So… you know how she died?’

‘She… I think she was stabbed.’

It was an effort to force the words out, but she somehow managed.

‘It was horrible, Bella.’

‘I’m sure it was,’ Bella said. ‘I know this is probably a stupid question, but is there anything I can do for you? I mean, shit, Clodagh, first Nick and now Tara. How are you coping?’

‘I don’t know that I am,’ Clodagh said. ‘I can’t stop thinking about them both. And wondering if I’d got to London a little earlier yesterday, maybe Tara would still be alive.’

‘You can’t think like that. Besides, if you’d got there earlier, who’s to say you wouldn’t have been killed too?’

Clodagh shivered. She hadn’t thought about that.

‘She called Simon too,’ Bella said. ‘Practically accused him of killing Nick. He was pretty upset afterwards. Maybe it’s better you didn’t get to speak to her. What did she say in her message?’

‘Just that she needed to speak to me, and it was urgent.’

‘Isn’t that the same thing Nick said in his text on Saturday?’

A puff of wind sent the clouds scurrying across the sky and suddenly the sun was out, turning the world lighter and brighter. The exact opposite of how Clodagh was feeling right now.

‘Something like that,’ she said.

‘And you really have no idea what either of them wanted to talk with you about?’

‘None.’ Clodagh lifted her glass and drank some water to avoid Bella’s gaze.

‘Isn’t it driving you crazy, not knowing?’

It wasn’t driving Clodagh crazy because she already knew. Although this wasn’t something she could share with Bella.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘Whatever they wanted to talk to me about, it had nothing to do with why they were killed.’

‘Of course not.’ Bella smiled, but Clodagh couldn’t bring herself to smile back.

‘The police asked us about Ivan as well,’ Bella said. ‘Apparently they don’t know where he is. I told them they should ask you. That you know him better than any of us.’