‘Why?’ I asked.

‘Because I strongly suspect that her killer is in this video.’

I stared at him in disbelief, but I knew from the look on his face that he was completely serious.

He handed me a list with eighteen names on it. Several of the names had been crossed out.

‘These are all the people that appear in the video,’ he said. ‘Twelve guys, six girls. Some left the party before she went missing, ten have solid alibis. But you should talk to the other eight, see what you can get.’

I was finding this difficult to process. He thought she’d been murdered by somebody she knew? Somebody she trusted?

‘You really think one of her friends could be involved?’ I said. I couldn’t believe it.

‘In this case I don’t think we’re dealing with an outsider,’ said Matt. ‘Right from the beginning I suspected we weren’t being told the full story. I’ve talked to all eighteen of them myself, and things just don’t add up. That’s why I tracked you down, Jacki. I’d come across people with psychic powers before – they’d approached our team and offered to help, though most of their theories were ridiculous and we’d never seen any real results. But when I heard about the Beth Cullen case, how you’d helped solve a twenty-five-year-old murder, I knew I had to find you. Nobody ever thought that case would be solved, just like nobody thinks we’ll ever solve this one.’

He rubbed his forehead, all of a sudden seeming quite tired. ‘Plus, Jacki, I think an independent voice on this case is what we need. Someone otherwise unconnected. I need someone I can trust.’

He was putting a lot of faith in me; I hoped I wasn’t going to let him down. He carried on in his serious tone.

‘I think you should meet the remaining eight party guests. This is the perfect time, as they are all in town. You should come up to Dublin next week if possible.’

‘I have school though,’ I said. There were only a few weeks more of transition year… less than a month left until the holidays, but there was no way Mum would allow me to miss any days.