‘Hello, Niamh.’ DS May speaks gently. ‘I’m so very sorry about your friend. We hoped we could talk to you some more about her as you might know something that could help us find out what happened to her.’

‘OK.’ In front of the two policewomen, Niamh seems younger, smaller, as though the news of Hollie’s death has reduced her in some way. Then I realise she has been reduced; in a village of adults, the two who were allies are now one.

DS May’s digital pen hovers above her notebook. ‘How long were the two of you friends?’

Niamh glances towards me. ‘Two years?’

I nod. ‘About that.’

DS May frowns slightly. ‘You didn’t go to the same school, did you?’

‘No.’ Niamh’s discomfort is obvious, her hands in little fists, clenched on the table in front of her.

‘Did you know any of Hollie’s other friends?’ DS May’s eyes scan her notes.

Niamh shakes her head. ‘She didn’t talk about anyone. I don’t think she had that many.’

‘Any boyfriends?’

Niamh glances at me quickly before shaking her head. ‘She didn’t have one.’

‘How about old boyfriends? Was there anyone she might have upset, or who wanted her back?’

‘No.’ An anxious look crosses Niamh’s face.

DS May turns to look at me. ‘Mrs Buckley, I know we’ve been over some of this last time, but how well would you say you knew Hollie?’

How well do any of us know each other – and how do you measure a relationship? ‘I’ve known her for years – and she’s spent a fair amount of time at our house since she and Niamh became friends. I also used to see her around the village. I go running,’ I explain. ‘Sometimes, weeks could go by without a sign of her. But she’s a teenager. I never thought of it as strange.’

‘You know her parents?’

I nod. ‘Not particularly well, but enough to talk to them in the pub, if our paths happen to cross. Stephanie – her stepmother – is a hairdresser and now and then I’ve been to her salon. I’ve been there recently, as it happens – but like I said, we’re acquaintances rather than friends.’

‘Hollie got on well with them?’

I frown. If she wants a window into their family life, she’s asking the wrong person. ‘As far as I know, but I’m probably not the best person to ask.’

DS May looks at Niamh. ‘Niamh? Did Hollie say anything to you about her relationships with her father and stepmother?’

Niamh shakes her head.

DS May is silent for a moment. ‘Hollie’s body was found in the grounds of Park House. Do you have any idea what she might have been doing there?’