focus on Noel. Conor will be set free. I knew it couldn’t have been him.
‘When did the USB arrive?’
‘Just yesterday.’
‘And you’ve no idea who put it in the letterbox?’
‘No, but does it matter? It shows what it shows,’ I say, wondering why they care. Surely the photos are enough proof that Noel had a motive without needing to know where it came from.
‘Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that,’ Fintan says. ‘The last file Vicky saved onto the USB was dated the day she died. Whoever took it from her computer was the last person to see her alive.’
I freeze. I can see Fintan’s lips moving but I can’t hear anything. I try to open my mouth but it won’t open. Could she have…? No, not Amanda. She wouldn’t do a thing like that.
But Amanda said she called to Vicky the week before she was murdered so… So why did she have that USB in her apartment? Unless… Amanda lied to me? Amanda was there the day of the murder. She was the last person to see Vicky Murphy alive. I can’t breathe. The space around me blurs as I realise what this means. Did Amanda kill Vicky?
‘Are you okay, Laura?… Are you ok?’ Fintan’s words gradually come into focus. I force my eyes to blink. ‘I—I’m fine, I just…’
‘I know it’s a shock Laura, but we need to find out who had the USB if we’re going to prove Conor didn’t take it from Vicky’s apartment.’ He looks at his feet then back at me. I can tell he’s not falling for the letterbox story.
‘So, I’ll ask again, Laura. Where did you get the USB?’
Chapter Sixty-Nine
I can feel Fintan’s eyes on me. But what do I say? If I tell him the truth, that I found the USB in Amanda’s apartment, Amanda will be arrested. She could go to jail and all because of me.
If I don’t tell him where I found it, they’ll think Conor took it from Vicky’s apartment. Conor will be charged. Shay’s daddy will spend his son’s childhood in prison. Choosing between the two people I love most in this world, my two best friends, is an impossible task.
Amanda is the one person who has always been there for me. When I was arrested for causing Jamie’s death, she stood up in court and told the judge how wonderful a mother I was, which helped get my sentence suspended. Amanda never judged me.
As kids, she was always looking out for me. I remember playing skipping on the green in front of the house one day when Sharon Grey pushed into the queue in front of me. I stood back and let her. Amanda dragged her by the hair to the end of the queue and told her if she cut in front of me again, she’d beat her up. Amanda was only six at the time. I was almost nine. She had already sensed how weak I was and gradually became my bodyguard, my life coach, my everything. She wrapped an invisible blanket around me and took me everywhere with her. Even to Imanage, where she got me the job that led to my meeting Conor. How could I betray her now? She was trying to protect me by going to Vicky’s. Trying to keep my new perfect world intact. This is my fault.
But Conor. How could I possibly send Conor to jail? He’s Shay’s father. I love him. The moment I met Conor was the moment I began to live again. Conor gave me back everything I’d lost: respect, confidence, the ability to get excited about something, anything. He took my dull existence and made it worthwhile. He loves me and I love him.
Conor has suffered enough pain. People don’t see it. They just see money and privilege and luxury. They don’t see the sorrow gnawing at his soul. And I know for certain that Conor didn’t kill Vicky. My husband is not a murderer.
* * *
‘Where did you get the USB, Laura?’ Fintan sighs. He’s tired, waiting for me to answer. Fintan is not aware that if I answer, I’ll be sending someone I love to jail. And all because of my secret. I should have told Conor the truth about Jamie in the beginning. If I had, Vicky Murphy would be alive today.
‘Laura,’ Fintan says. He wants answers. He wants the truth. I lift my head. Tears blur my vision. I wipe my eyes and look straight at him. This the