“Do you really think I have no way of checking how long your shift really was?” Brendan raised a voice recorder, playing an audio clip of one of the restaurant workers speaking. “Deirdre McKinnon? She left at around nine,” they said. “I don’t have the deets, but if you’re looking for a pianist for your dining experience, I’m afraid you’ll have to come again tomorrow!”

Deirdre’s face turned white as a sheet. She had not expected Brendan to come up with a counter-strategy.

The fury in his eyes