Up in the art room, Conway strolled across the window, all long stride and sharp shoulders. I said, ‘Yeah. It’s Holly.’ Conway would’ve eaten the head off me; fuck Conway.

Hiss of in-breath. Glances circling, but I couldn’t catch them as they zipped past.

Orla breathed, ‘Did she kill Chris?’

‘OhmyGod.’

‘Here was us thinking it was Groundskeeper Willy.’

‘Well, up until today we did.’

‘But once you started asking us and them all those questions—’

‘Obviously we knew it wasn’t us—’

‘But we didn’t think—’

‘It was Holly Mackey?’

I would’ve only loved to have an answer for them. See their mouths pop open and their eyes go wide, see them overwhelmed by me, The Man, pulling out fountains of answers like a magician. I said, ‘We don’t know who killed Chris. We’re working hard on finding out.’

‘But who do you think?’ Joanne wanted to know.

Holly, slouched at that table, all blue eyes and bite and something hidden. Maybe Mackey had been right, not wanting her talking. Maybe he had been right and she would’ve talked to me.

I shook my head. ‘Not my job.’ Sceptical looks. ‘Seriously. I can’t go around with an idea stuck in my head, not till I’ve got evidence.’

‘Ahh.’ She pouted. ‘That’s so not fair. Here you’re asking us to—’

‘OhmyGod!’ Orla, shooting upright, clapping a hand over her mouth. ‘You don’t think it was Alison, do you?’

‘Is that where she is?’

‘Is she under arrest?’

They were open-mouthed. ‘No,’ I said. ‘She’s just a bit upset. The thing with Chris’s ghost, that got to her.’

‘Well, hello, yeah? It got to all of us, actually?’ Joanne, cold: I’d forgotten to put her top of the list. Bad boy.

‘Bet it did,’ I said, good and awed. ‘Did you see him?’

Joanne remembered to shiver. ‘Course I did. Probably he came back to talk to me. He was looking straight at me.’

It hit me then: every girl who had seen Chris’s ghost would’ve sworn the same. He had been looking at her. He had come because he wanted something from her, only her.

‘Like I told you’ – Joanne had her bereaved face on again – ‘if he hadn’t died, we would’ve been together again. I think he wants me to know he still cares.’

‘Ahhh.’ Orla, head to one side.

I asked her, ‘Did you see him?’

Her hand shot to her chest. ‘OhmyGod, yes! I almost had a heart attack. He was literally right there. I swear.’

I said, ‘Gemma?’

Gemma shifted on the grass. ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure about ghosts.’

Joanne said, an edge on it, ‘Excuse me, I know what I saw?’