I wrap my arms around my knees, rocking backwards and forwards on my bed. My head is banging. Noah is dead. I can’t shake the image of his body out of my mind. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night after Oliver told me to go back to the annexe; he didn’t come back and see me, like he told me he would, in fact I didn’t hear him come back in at all. He must’ve stayed up at the house with Mary. They would’ve needed to have called the police.

I pick up my phone and dial Callum’s number, please pick up, please pick up. It’s early still, but I’m sure the news about Noah will have spread, unless Mary’s keeping everyone under lock and key.

‘Hey,’ Callum’s voice appears on the line. ‘You alright?’

Callum doesn’t know. Has he just woken up? I hold my hand to my forehead.

‘Have you not . . . have you not heard about Noah?’ I can’t stop the shakiness in my voice.

There’s silence on the other end as Callum takes in what I’ve said.

‘I . . . I’ve heard a couple of people talking about him, but, what’s happened?’

‘Callum, he’s dead,’ I say, the words tumbling out of my mouth.

‘Shit, what the hell?’

I can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out yet. ‘It’s looking like he threw himself out of the window. I heard the scream last night, me and Oliver, we . . . we found his body.’

‘Fucking hell, I thought something was up, but . . . have the police been called?’

‘Oliver said they were gonna call them last night, but I don’t know if they’ve turned up yet,’ I reply. I get out of bed and tiptoe over to my window. There’s no one standing outside the house, it looks like they’ve moved the body. I shudder; thinking of Noah’s last words to me. He knew something and now there’s no way I’ll be able to find out what that was. ‘I can’t see anything outside the house where his body was found last night. Look, I’m gonna have a shower, then I’ll be at the house.’

‘OK, yeah, need to get changed myself; I’ll see you in a bit,’ Callum says.

‘See you.’

I end the call. Opening my Gmail account I find my last message to Max. He still hasn’t got back to me after I sent him the information I had about Oliver. God, now Noah’s gone; Max is the only one who can help me. I send him a message.

            To: Max Hardy

            From: Danielle Olsen

            Date: 17 June 2024 at 06:00 a.m.

            Subject: Oliver Adams

            Have you got anywhere yet?

I place my phone back on the cabinet and dive into the bathroom.

Once I’ve showered, I sprint to the house. Thank God no one’s hanging about in the garden. It’s still only a quarter past six.

The kitchen is still and silent when I enter. I feel physically sick at the thought of Noah’s body potentially being brought in here last night. Oliver must’ve called an ambulance, there’s no way he and Mary would’ve wanted everyone to have come down this morning, to see his body lying on the ground. Unless they removed it.

Voices reach my ear. They’re coming from the living room, I recognise Oliver’s. I open the door. Oliver and Mary are sitting beside each other on the sofa, there are two people sitting in chairs in front of them. I freeze.

‘Ah, Grace,’ Oliver says looking up at me. His eyes are red. ‘This is PC Graham Smith and PC Sarah Clarke; they’re going to want to speak to you about Noah.’

The two police officers turn round to face me. They can’t be much older than me. Sarah smiles warmly at me, a strand of her chestnut hair falls over her left eye. They’re both holding onto mugs of tea. How long have they been here?

‘Hi, Grace,’ Sarah says. She’s frowning at me. There’s no way she could recognise me, my picture’s never been published. ‘Do you mind if we have a quick chat? I understand this must be very shocking for you, but we have to get to the facts of what happened.’

I nod. ‘Um, yeah, sure,’ I say.

Sarah switches her gaze back to Oliver and Mary. ‘Do you mind if we speak to Grace on her own?’

A long pause stretches out, before Oliver smiles. ‘Yes, that’s fine.’

He and Mary get up from the sofa. There’s no way they want to leave me on my own with the police. Once they’ve left the room, I sit opposite the two police officers. God, I would give anything to find out what’s going on in Oliver and Mary’s minds now.