‘Whoever’s blackmailing Hampton must have put the fear of God into him for him to believe them. Either that, or they’ve been very clever about covering any links to the porn site. I assume someone’s on their way over to talk to Mrs Hampton?’

‘Collins is – she left twenty minutes ago – and I’m going there when I leave here.’

He scratches his head. ‘At least we’ve got a name to follow up now. Philip Mason. We need to bring him in for questioning.’

‘I have an address and a photo.’ I slide the image across his desk. ‘Elise Buckley found it on Google images while I was there. She confirmed it’s him. He was at Hollie’s funeral.’

The DI frowns. ‘Do you think there’s anything else she isn’t telling us?’

‘I don’t trust her, that’s for sure.’ I pause. ‘I’ve just had a thought. The house that Hollie showed Niamh … It isn’t impossible it was Mason’s place. And Mason’s land backs onto Park House, where Hollie was found.’

‘We need to find him. He could be connected to both the porn ring and Hollie’s murder.’ The DI speaks through gritted teeth. ‘Maybe on one of her free-spirited jaunts, Hollie stumbled across something and Mason felt he had no choice but to get rid of her.’

Niamh

When I think back to Hollie’s funeral, all I remember is how wrong it was. The sadness, the hymns, and DS May across the churchyard watching everyone. As I watched James Hampton talking to people afterwards, I wondered if he had any idea what Hollie knew about him. Not that it matters. When you’re dead, nothing matters.

It’s like I can feel what’s happening around me under my skin, in my bones. I think of Hollie’s wide, brown eyes, her hair flowing behind her, her constant agitation. Hollie’s world was never going to be right. There were too many problems out of her control, things that she couldn’t resolve.

Hollie felt more than most people. She lived harder, more intensely, hurt more deeply. I noticed it with Dylan, too, how a light burned between them, dazzling everyone. And then, afterwards, Hollie’s world darkened forever.

At the funeral, I wanted to shout at all the villagers. Scream that Hollie should still be here, that her death is yet another that shouldn’t have happened. But behind the tears that vanished as soon as they walked out of the church, none of them actually cares.

And it isn’t over. The night after the funeral, I overheard my mother ask my father about Phil Mason.

He answered with another of his lies. I know because Hollie told me my father knows Phil Mason very well. Her death isn’t the end of this. Nothing will ever be the end of this.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Elise