“One of her friends caught me staring and tossed a slice of tomato at me. It skimmed my shirt and left pips on the shoulder.” He rolled his eyes, not impressed. “Elsbeth ran over and apologized. She promised to buy me a drink, if we ever met again. Then, a couple of days later, I saw her in a student bar and we got talking. Her eyes were full of passion and determination. She had such a clear vision about what she wanted from life, to bring stories to people. When she said she was writing a book, I knew it would be a success.”

Liv detected longing in his words. “So...you did love her,” she said.

Anthony nodded. “Very much so. I fell deeply,” he said. “We were both eighteen. We sat on her bed together at night and played records until we fell asleep. She loved The Cure and New Order. I’d wake in the morning and find her scribbling beside me. She read everything she wrote aloud to me. I encouraged her submission letters and consoled her through many rejections. She said I was her rock, the most dependable person she knew.”

His description reminded Liv of the early days of her relationship with Jake, when they couldn’t get enough of each other.

“I remember her shrieking with delight when her book offer came through and we danced together on the bed. By then, we were in our third year at uni. We were very much a couple...and then we weren’t.”

“What do you mean?” Liv said, finding it difficult to imagine Anthony acting with such enthusiasm. “What happened?”

He shrugged. “It’s all ancient history.”

“I’d still like to know.”

He cast her a look. “I thought you were a cleaner, not an archaeologist.”

“I’m a good multitasker.”

Anthony closed his eyes, thinking back in time again. “Things changed between me and Elsbeth over the last few months we were together. She became more furtive and distant, said she was changing her name to Essie Starling. She started to hang out with other writers. They wore biker jackets and drank too much, not my kind of people. I thought I saw her with someone else. They were standing close together under a tree, I’m not completely sure. I tried hard to save us.

“She invited me to her publication party for The Moon on the Water, but I could tell it was out of habit, maybe even duty. I decided not to go.