As she started peeling potatoes, the purr of an engine had her looking out of the kitchen window.

It was Sam’s car. What was she doing home so early?

As her girlfriend joined them, explaining she had left work early as she felt unwell, Rosie fell quiet, an almost petulant look on her face.

Luckily, Sam didn’t pick up on the vibes and she excused herself to go lie down.

‘What’s got into you?’ Tash demanded in a hushed whisper after Sam had left the room.

Rosie shrugged, the canister of tea bags still in her hand. ‘I was just enjoying it being the two of us. It’s been like old times, don’t you think?’

‘It has.’ Tash’s tone softened. ‘But Sam is happy to have you here too, and she’s gone upstairs, so technically it is still the two of us.’

Rosie nodded, her expression turning vacant. ‘I guess.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘I should go. I’m going to head to Hannah’s. She might be back now.’

‘I thought you were going to stay for dinner?’

‘I’m feeling much better now.’ Rosie threw her arms around Tash, hugging her tightly. ‘Thank you for letting me stay’.

‘You’re welcome, but what about dinner?’

Rosie wasn’t listening. She had gone through to the living room to fetch her phone and bag, then was in the hallway slipping on her boots and jacket.

Tash watched her leave, her mouth open. Sam and Rosie had always been on good terms. Why was Rosie acting like this? She stood in the kitchen and watched as her old friend climbed into her car and sped off up the road. She had to be taking drugs again. She would message Hannah and warn her.

As she reached for the phone, the newscaster on the radio spoke and she froze.

‘The body of a woman who was found on Friday has been identified as Lauren Bell.’

Tash reached for the counter, needing something to hold on to, a pulse beating between her ears and growing louder. Reeling in shock, she didn’t focus on the full report, but picked out a few key words. ‘Suspicious’, ‘police want to speak to a man’, ‘eyewitness’.

Lauren Bell wasn’t an uncommon name. It wasn’t their Lauren. It had to be someone else.

But Tash knew she was kidding herself.

They had been having such a nice time. Why did Sam have to come home and spoil it?

Never mind. Rosie would drive to Wells and go and see Hannah. She would surely be back from her weekend in Hixton by now.

As the radio station she was tuned to cut to the news, she slammed her foot on the brake. That was the last thing she wanted to be listening to. She needed happy, happy.