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IT was a couple of weeks into the semester when she approached me. I had just given my Thursday morning lecture on Modern Irish History and the students were filing out, a buzz of conversation rising as they climbed the steps to the exit. I was closing my laptop and putting away my notes, silently calculating whether I had enough time to nip to the common room for a coffee, when I felt someone’s presence and looked up. She was standing across from me, holding her folder against her chest, her face half hidden behind the long golden strands of her hair.

“Dr Connolly,” she said, and immediately I caught the hint of a Belfast accent. “Yes?” “I was wondering if I could talk to you.”

I slid the laptop into my bag, fixed the strap over my shoulder, and noticed a kind of wariness hovering behind the big round eyes. She was fair-skinned, and had a scrubbed-clean look about her; many female students come to class in layers of make-up, a miasma of chemical smells surrounding them. This girl was different: a freshness and simplicity about her appearance set her apart, and made her appear terribly young.

“Of course,” I said briskly. ‘I have a meeting in a few minutes, but you can walk with me, if you like.” “Oh. No, that’s okay.” Disappointment, a faltering expression that piqued my interest.

“Perhaps some other time,” she said.

“My office hours are on Fridays between three and five. You’re welcome to drop in. If that doesn’t suit, you can always email to arrange an appointment.”

“Thank you,’ she said politely. “I’ll do that.”

We walked together up the steps to the exit, not speaking, an awkwardness between us.

“Well, goodbye then,” I said, checking my watch and ducking into the drift of students heading towards the stairs.

By the time I reached my meeting, I had forgotten her. Funny, recalling it now. Such a momentous thing, our first meeting. Since then, I’ve come to look at that moment as the point at which my life split — like a page folded over and creased down the middle so that everything fell into before or after.

Girl Unknown is published by Michael Joseph on the 16th June at €17.99

Karen Perry is the pen name of Irish crime writing duo Paul Perry and Karen Gillece