Page 26 of The Guilty Girl

‘Excuse me, how did you know the McAllisters were away?’

‘Lucy told me.’

‘Why would she tell you?’

He smiled his fake white-toothed smile again and Lottie cringed. He was trying too bloody hard.

‘Inspector, the kids don’t see me as a teacher as such, because it’s just sport and recreation. They talk to me. Lucy talked to me. She was always bringing in notes from her mother with reasons to be excused from PE. The week before the school broke up for the holidays, she was in tears. Said her parents were away and she wasn’t feeling well so she couldn’t get a note.’

‘And what did you do?’

‘I excused her.’

‘Still not a valid reason to be at her party.’

‘No, but she was upset and we got talking. She told me she was throwing an end-of-exams party. She knew I worked at some of the nightclubs, and because her parents were on holiday she was afraid there might be trouble. She asked if I could stand at the door to keep out troublemakers. I said of course, I’d like to help out for a few quid and—’

‘Help out?’ Lottie said. ‘I can’t understand how you thought that was okay.’

‘At the time, I didn’t see any harm in it. After all, most of them attend the nightclubs where I work.’

‘Most of them are too young to be allowed into nightclubs.’

‘Doesn’t stop them. Fake IDs and all that jazz.’

‘All that jazz,’ Lottie muttered, trying to contain her irritation. ‘The school is closed for the summer holidays. How did you make the arrangements with Lucy?’

‘I needed the extra cash, so I was supervising the exams. Before her last exam, Lucy came and spoke to me.’ His face took on a mournful expression. ‘It’s really awful what’s happened. She was a lovely girl. How … you know … how did she die?’

Lottie ignored the question. ‘You knew her well?’

‘Not really. Like I said, she wasn’t into sports at all. It’s Hannah Byrne who’s the star of the show. In the not too distant future, Hannah will represent Ireland on the international stage. She’s a natural athlete.’

‘Was Hannah friends with Lucy?’

‘Ivy Jones is Lucy’s best friend. Joined at the hip, those two. Hannah is a bit of an outsider. I was surprised to see her at the party, if I’m honest.’

‘Why?’

‘She doesn’t move in Lucy’s circle.’

‘Yet she was there.’

‘She was. I’m sure there were plenty who just turned up. Hard to keep a party secret nowadays, you know.’

‘Did any troublemakers try to get in?’

‘Everyone seemed fine to me.’

Not by the end of the night, Lottie thought. ‘Did anything stand out at the party for you?’

He shook his head. ‘It was just a crowd of teenagers celebrating the end of exams. For some of them it means moving on to college. A lot of drinking and dancing.’

‘Any evidence of drug taking?’

‘I didn’t see anything like that. I’m not naive, so I’m sure it went on. You know kids of that age …’

‘Is there a drug problem at the school?’