Billy, dear Billy, picks his moment; trotting across the floor and settling next to Faith. He looks over to me with his endless dark eyes, as if he wants permission, and then he turns back to Faith. She rubs his head and he lets out a low, appreciative moan before lying on her feet.
‘She was living somewhere else around here at first,’ Faith says. ‘I’m not sure where. It was too expensive for her, though – so she was happy when she found this place.’ She gulps and then adds: ‘Do you think she was happy here?’
It feels as if there’s a spotlight on me. The truth is that I have no idea. Not really. What I do know is that, sometimes, telling a white lie is the right thing to do.
‘I think so,’ I say. ‘She always stopped to say hello to me – and she loved Billy.’
That last bit is true and Faith bites her lip and glances away to the corner of the room as she rubs Billy’s back.
‘Have the police been around?’
‘Yes,’ I reply.
‘Did they ask you about whether Jade was ever in trouble? Or if she was in a bad relationship? Anything like that?’
I nod. ‘There wasn’t much I could tell them. I’m not sure I ever saw Jade with anyone here. If she had a boyfriend, she never told me. If she was in trouble, I never saw it. She got in late a few times – but that’s something we’ve all done. She was really quiet. The perfect neighbour, really.’
Faith nods again and gulps. It takes her a good minute to reply.
‘I just wish we had a reason. I don’t understand any of it. She’d call us once or twice a week – and would probably text most days. Sometimes it was just to say she had a lot of work on. We contacted the police after we’d not heard from her in over a weekend. They didn’t do much at first. Our force said they’d contact the officers down here, but I don’t know if that happened. By the time we finally got to speak to someone who understood, six more days had gone. It all got really dragged out. They were saying she was an adult, then I’d say, “Adults can still go missing.” We talked to that Lauren, but she seemed more concerned that Jade had taken off without paying rent. We’d have come down, but the police talked us out of it. I don’t know why we listened…’ She tails off. It sounds like someone made a mistake somewhere, but it’s all a bit late now.
Faith downs the rest of her tea in one.
‘This has been very kind of you,’ she says. ‘I’ve imposed enough, though – and Doug will be wanting to get back.’
She stands and so do I. Billy follows us to the door and then, in the corridor, Faith stops to press a hand to the door opposite. I watch but say nothing. She stands with her hand on the wood for thirty seconds or so and, when she turns, there are tears streaming over her cheeks.
‘I’ve gotta go,’ she says quickly. Before I can reply, she hurries for the stairs and then I hear her running all the way down until the main door clangs open and closed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Karen opens her door before I can knock. She winces dramatically as she holds it open.
‘Sorry,’ she says. ‘I was on my way in and they were outside. We got talking and, before I knew it, I was blabbing about how I live on the same floor as Jade; that you live opposite and all that. After that, I could hardly wave them goodbye and nick off. Then you appeared and, er…’
‘You dumped them on me…’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s fine,’ I say. ‘I think Jade’s mum needed someone to talk to.’
‘I couldn’t face it. When they were talking about Jade, I was thinking about Ty and Quinn. Sorry to pull the mother card.’ She frowns slightly and then adds: ‘Are you all right? You’re white.’
I press a hand to my forehead but can’t feel anything untoward. ‘I think I might have a cold coming on,’ I say. ‘Billy was a bit poorly and Nick said Judge wasn’t feeling well, either. Perhaps there’s something going around and the dogs caught it first?’
Karen shrugs as if to say she doesn’t have a clue.
‘What did you want a word about?’ I ask.
Her eyes widen as if she’d completely forgotten. ‘It’s a weird one,’ she replies. ‘I found some random chunks of meat in the hall.’
‘What do you mean?’
She waves me across to the kitchenette and opens the cupboard under the sink before pulling out the bin. I suppose this is what friendship really is – showing each other the contents of your bin. If strangers did such a thing, there’d be police involved.
Sitting on the top are four chunks of what looks like beef or lamb. They’ve been cooked until they’re a grey-brown colour.
‘Where did you find these?’ I ask.
‘I’ll show you.’
Karen takes me back out into the hallway, to the corner, where the light was out the other day.
‘Lauren never got back to me,’ Karen says, holding up the flashlight on her phone as if to emphasise the point. ‘I texted her to say the light was out.’
I remember how odd it looked against the background of the other dim orange bulbs that line the hallway. I should have contacted Lauren myself. She’s never that great at getting onto things if only one person calls or messages. It takes a degree of coordinated harassment to get anything done.
‘Where was the meat?’ I ask.
Karen takes a step towards the shadows and points at the ground. ‘Down there. I’m not even sure why I saw it. It was in the dark, but I guess it caught my eye, or something.’
I step into the shadows, but there’s nothing to see except the floorboards. There’s no particular smell; nothing odd at all… until I look up. We’d assumed the light was out because the bulb had blown. It’s not uncommon in the hallways – except that’s not what’s occurred here.
‘What’s wrong?’ Karen asks.
‘Someone’s taken away the bulb,’ I reply, pointing upwards.
Karen gets closer to me and, together, we both stare at the hanging light fitting. The lack of a bulb is something that, ironically, is hidden by the darkness.
‘You found the meat here?’ I ask, pointing to the floor.
‘Right there,’ Karen replies, indicating the spot on which we’re standing.
She lives in the final flat at the end of our floor. There’s nobody else who has any legitimate reason to be at this end other than her.
‘I thought you should know,’ she adds, ‘in case Billy eats it. I know he wanders around the corridors. Wouldn’t want him to eat anything that’s gone off.’
She seems oblivious to what she’s said. As if someone has accidentally left a bit of their dinner in the hallway. My thoughts are racing.
‘I’ve got to get back,’ she says quickly. ‘I have things to do. Are you still coming tomorrow night?’
It takes me a few seconds to remember she means her birthday party. ‘Of course,’ I reply. ‘Wouldn’t miss it for anything.’
Karen heads back into her apartment, but I feel lost. The vet said Billy might have eaten something that poisoned his stomach. Judge was similarly poorly, too – and the pair of them have been allowed to roam the hall. That’s what happens when dogs are kept in small spaces like this: there’s nowhere else for them to walk.
Did someone poison Billy? On purpose?
I head along the corridor until I’m outside Nick’s door. I assume he’ll be at work, but it’s hard to know in this building – everyone seems to keep different hours. Until recently I’d have been out during the day.