Page 28 of The Guilty Girl

‘Did you talk to him at all?’

‘No. He was inside, I was outside.’ Glennon shuffled on the chair.

Lottie pressed on. ‘How did you get to the party?’

‘Drove.’

‘Give any lifts there or back?’

‘No.’

‘You sure?’

‘Of course I’m sure. I know how rumours start and I love my job enough not to allow any situation to be incorrectly construed.’

Lottie hid a snigger that was in danger of escaping. He had the grace to blush.

‘Like I said, in hindsight, it was a mistake to be there. I’m sorry, but I did nothing wrong and I didn’t see anything to make me feel uncomfortable. I definitely didn’t see anyone hurt Lucy. She was fine when I left.’

‘Did you speak to her then?’

‘Just to say I was off. She was with Ivy. The DJ was packing up. Kids were lounging around, getting ready to leave. That’s all I can tell you. I drove home. End of story.’

‘Did you see Hannah Byrne then?’

‘Can’t say for sure.’

‘Can anyone verify what time you got home?’

‘I live alone.’

‘To be clear, there’s no one to confirm when you arrived home or whether you stayed there?’

‘I don’t like your insinuation.’

‘I’m stating a fact.’

‘I went home, got into bed and slept until eight a.m.’

She sighed. There wasn’t much else she could extract from him at this point in time.

‘If you think of anything else, contact us, and thanks for coming in so promptly,’ she added grudgingly.

‘Anything I can do to help, I’ll be available. By the way, the school principal contacted me. She’s organising a memorial for next week. Will I let you know the details?’ He stood to leave.

‘Sure, let me know. One final thing, did you happen to see anyone hanging around the house? Someone acting suspiciously during the night or when you were leaving?’

‘I didn’t notice anyone or anything out of the ordinary. You know how kids are. Some were leaving, others were making out, and stuff.’

The ‘and stuff’ was what Lottie was worried about, especially for her Sean.

Before she went to talk to Cormac O’Flaherty, Lottie grabbed two minutes at her desk.

First, she phoned Sean.

‘What’s up?’ he said.

‘I wanted to tell you something before you heard it from anyone else.’