Page 32 of The Guilty Girl

‘I told you, I didn’t force it down her neck.’

‘What did you do?’

He sighed dramatically. ‘The party was boring, so I bought a couple of pills. Showed them to her. I swallowed one. She took the other from me. Happy?’

‘What type of drug was it? MDMA?’

‘I’ve no idea. Told you, I don’t normally do drugs.’

‘Where did you get the pills?’

Cormac gulped. ‘Does it matter?’

‘Everything matters in a murder investigation.’

His jaw literally dropped and his face turned ashen; even his freckles took on a sickly hue. His hands shook. ‘Murder? But she was okay …’

‘Who?’ Lottie was in her stride now, but she wasn’t enjoying undressing the boy’s lies.

‘Hannah. She went a bit weird after she eventually swallowed the pill. She was upset, and I think that’s why she took it.’

‘Why was she upset?’

He wrenched his hands into one another, twisting his fingers. ‘I’d never have given it to her if I thought it would affect her so much. Swear to God.’ He started to shiver.

‘Hannah is fine,’ Lottie said. White lie – the girl was anything but fine. She wondered if the doctor had seen her yet so that she could be formally interviewed.

Cormac swiped his sleeve under his nose and sniffed. His breathing was laboured. ‘My inhaler …’

‘Where is it?’

‘I’ll get it.’ He stood and found a blue inhaler on the shelf beside the sink. He took a few puffs before sitting down again. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘Who did you buy the drugs from?’

‘Jake Flood.’

‘Tell me more.’

‘He was handing out the drinks. He’s only fifteen, so I don’t know why Lucy roped him in.’

‘How do you know him?’

‘Just know of him. He does boxing.’

‘Know anyone else who was at the party?’

‘Hannah knew the guy on the door. She said he was her coach or a teacher at her school. Then there was that creepy DJ. Richie something. Ponytail and beads round his neck, thinking he was the dude.’ The words tumbled from his mouth in his hurry to unburden himself.

‘Take another puff of your inhaler.’ She needed him to calm down. ‘Back to Jake Flood. Is he known as a drug dealer among your peers?’

‘My what?’

‘Your friends.’

‘Don’t know. Told you, I don’t normally do—’

‘You know his name, so you must know more.’