The four of them shared a house in one of the newer estates that had sprung up on the edge of the city during the boom. A three-bedroom semi with all mod cons, the online ad had said. Kate Berry and Tom Finn, a couple of two years standing, along with Ruby Mee and Breffni Ashton, singletons who—though not averse to one another’s charms—were content to keep things platonic. Simply put: the randomness of a lettings website was what brought these four together. On the surface at least the living arrangements were working reasonably well. Everybody got along okay even if the others found Breffni’s behaviour a tad odd. Notwithstanding this fact, the cooking, cleaning, shopping and watching of TV in the evening, all ran to a smooth order. However, the awkward matter remained: none of the other three knew the full extent of Breffni’s drug problem. Although he masked it superbly, he was a man in the throes of a chronic cocaine addiction. Colombian marching powder, Florida snow, pri...