Forget Me Never

in and dancing along to it. I could even remember the night I’d slept on the sofa bed, lying on my side, listening to the distant waves.
    After a moment I realized things were different after all. It was messier, for one thing, and the shelves were a lot more cluttered, mostly with semi-precious rocks and dowsing crystals. How many does Fay need? I wondered. It’s crystal overload here. Dani would have agreed. She might have been a bit of an oddball, but she wasn’t oddball enough to believe in this stuff – she never went into New Age shops. And yet . . . I frowned. Something was hovering at the edge of my mind, something that didn’t feel right . . .
    Fay came in from the kitchen with a glass of lemonade. She went over to the table and switched off a soldering iron; it looked like she’d been doing some kind of metalwork, which explained the smell.
    ‘Good journey?’ she asked.
    I shrugged. I wasn’t sure what to say now I was here. Luckily Fay seemed to understand.
    ‘I’ve got a few of Danielle’s things, if you want them,’ she said. ‘Nothing much – a hairbrush, some earrings. Wouldn’t have felt right chucking them.’ She paused. ‘Do you want to be alone for a bit?’
    I nodded gratefully. Fay went into the kitchen, closing the door, and I heard the noise of pans being moved about.
    Slowly I moved around, letting the memories flood back. For one short weekend, so much had happened. Eventually I reached the balcony doors. They were open. I felt a soft breeze flutter over me. I breathed deeply, looking out at the beautiful sea view.
    There wasn’t much on the balcony – just a few flower pots and a sunlounger. The iron railings around it weren’t as high as I remembered – they really didn’t seem very safe. Or maybe I was only thinking that because of what happened.
    Summoning all my courage, I edged forward and looked down.
    Below was the tarmac path that wound along the cliffside park. Further down it a man was cycling and there were two teenagers with a German Shepherd on a lead. The path was clearly well-used and yet no one aside from one eyewitness had seen Dani fall. At least being in a public place meant her body hadn’t lain there for long.
    I turned to face the doors and backed away until I could feel the railings against my legs. The eyewitness had said that no one else had been on the balcony when Dani fell – one reason why it had seemed too fanciful to think it might have been murder – but what if Dani had seen something the eyewitness couldn’t? Something, or someone, that she’d backed away from quickly. I knew for a fact she’d gone backwards – that had always struck me as wrong for a suicide. But what could she have seen? What could have scared her so much?
    In the kitchen Fay was finishing washing up. I placed my empty glass down on the draining board.
    ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll be off now.’
    ‘Did you find what you needed?
    I shook my head. The backing away from something was just a theory – I needed to mull it over. ‘Did you speak to Dani the week before it happened?’
    ‘Afraid not. I was off backpacking.’
    ‘Do you think she killed herself?’
    Fay gave me a sympathetic look. ‘What’s the alternative? She wasn’t careless enough to have an accident.’
    To my horror I felt tears of frustration well in my eyes. I made for the door with a mumbled goodbye. Fay caught my shoulder.
    ‘Hey, Sophie. I’m not letting you leave like this.’
    I found myself gently but firmly sat down on the couch.
    Fay pulled up a chair. ‘You didn’t just come here to say goodbye to Dani, did you?’ she said.
    I made a non-committal sound.
    Fay leaned forward. ‘Danielle may not have mentioned it, but I’m a trained hypnotherapist,’ she said. ‘That means I use hypnosis in the treatment of emotional and mental issues – which covers pretty much anything. Allergies, stress, insomnia, you name it.’ She paused. ‘Including bereavement. So if you want to talk . . . I listen to people’s problems all the time.’
    That explained the crystals and candles then. It sounded so tempting, and Fay had a very kind face. ‘Don’t like the sound of being hypnotized,’ I said hesitantly.
    ‘It’s actually a natural state, but if you’d prefer to just talk, let’s do it that way. Whatever you’re comfortable with.’
    ‘I can’t let go of Dani,’ I began, trying to think how I could word this and not sound insane. ‘Everyone thinks I’m just being