Cut to the Bone by Alex Caan Page B

relationship with you.’
    Red crept up Dan’s thin neck, into his face. Anger and embarrassment, she thought.
    ‘Those jealous twats, you wanna watch them. They can’t stand me, they’ve been trying to get between me and Rubes for ages.’
    ‘So they made it up? You and Ruby didn’t break up?’
    ‘We were just going through some stuff, that’s all. Rubes is mine. She isn’t going anywhere, we were meant to be.’
    Interesting turn of phrase, charged with the idea of ownership, thought Kate. ‘Do you feel Ruby belongs to you in some way?’ she said.
    Dan glared at her, but didn’t deny it.

Chapter Eighteen
    ‘Do you have any idea who might wish to harm Ruby in this way? Did she ever speak about anyone, a fan possibly, somebody she might have been afraid of?’ said Kate.
    ‘No. Well, yes. Look, we are all out there, us Youtubers, we are the future. People, they leave all sorts of comments online, proper fucked-up, hateful shit. But they’re just trolls, jealous and bitter, cowards. Hiding behind their keyboards, so we just ignore all that.’
    ‘Any persistent trolls?’
    ‘A few, but they get smacked down by our fans.’
    ‘So she wasn’t concerned about her safety at all?’
    ‘No, not that she said. Looks like she should’ve been. Fuck, to think some sicko was planning this shit, right?’ Dan looked more animated than upset.
    ‘Yeah, some real sicko,’ said Zain, not very subtly.
    ‘What do you mean? You think I’m involved with this shit?’ Dan turned crimson again, staring wildly at Kate, turning his body away from Zain.
    ‘Nobody is saying anything of the sort,’ Kate said. ‘We are just trying to build a picture. Anything you can tell us will help. Was there anyone Ruby was in communication with? Any new friends she’d made online?’
    Dan laughed at this. ‘She’s not ten or an idiot. She’s not gonna chat to some random freak online. I used to get it, all these old pervs pretending to be girls. We’re not stupid, we got wise to that stuff quickly. She didn’t get groomed, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
    ‘Is it possible she turned to someone, if she was depressed, for instance?’
    ‘She would turn to me, turn to her friends, turn to her millions of fans. Not some loner serial killer. Fuck’s sake.’
    Zain leaned closer to Dan, making him shift away again an inch.
    Kate tilted her head slightly in Zain’s direction. They had agreed on the way up that they would spring it on Dan, see how he reacted.
    ‘Ruby’s parents told us a little story,’ said Zain, almost speaking into Dan’s ear. ‘About you, a birthday party and a swimming pool. And the woman you threw into it.’
    Dan jumped away from Zain, red and sweating.
    ‘What? What do you mean?’
    ‘They said that back in July, you had a birthday party, in a flash little hotel not too far from here. Said you threw a woman off a balcony. Is it true?’ said Zain.
    ‘No, that’s typical of them, fucking liars. You think I’d be sitting here if I did that? What the fuck! Those bastard parents are just . . . aaargh. They’d say anything, just to get rid of me.’
    ‘You’re saying they made it up?’ said Zain.
    ‘Too right. I’m going to sue them, spreading shit like that. Fucked up.’
    ‘Why would they invent something so . . . graphic?’ said Kate.
    ‘I told you, they want to get rid of me, split me and Rubes up. They’re sick, like real-life trolls.’
    ‘So it’s a lie? The Days lied to the police? The police looking for their missing daughter?’ said Harris.
    ‘You think because they have nice middle-class accents, live in a posh flat and dress in M&S, that they’re decent? They’re scum. And they’re liars.’
    Zain moved away, looking at Kate. His blue eyes were bright against his olive skin, and he was smiling behind Dan’s head. The boyfriend that had just lied blatantly to the police.
    ‘You have no idea who might have wanted to harm Ruby?’ Kate said.
    ‘No,’ said