Gina bit her bottom lip. ‘It could be Kapoor. Tyrone seems to be the outsider here. The kind of resident that people barely notice. The one who comes and goes quietly and he’s also a link between the two victims, Amber and Madison.’
Wyre stood back. ‘What do we do? Go in?’
‘Make a call to the station.’
As Wyre pulled her phone out and waited for an answer Tyrone came into sight behind them on the stairs and he stared directly into Gina’s eyes. She could see his panic and the tremor in his hands made his keys jangle. Whatever was behind his door, he didn’t want anyone to see.
53
Tyrone Heard pushed past and stood outside his front door, holding his keys out. ‘Can I help you?’ The angry scratch mark on his chin looked to be seeping a little.
‘I’m DI Harte and this is DC Wyre. We just want to speak to you about Amber Slater. May we come in?’
Without speaking, Tyrone stared between the two women – a wide-eyed stare that was filled with dread. ‘Err, it’s a bit of a mess. Can we talk here or maybe I can come to the station?’
Nothing sounded odder. It was rare that people volunteered to come down to the station. ‘There’s no need for that but we would like to come in.’ The sound of pans clattering to the floor came from behind the door. ‘Is there someone else living with you?’
‘No.’ Tyrone swallowed.
‘Mr Heard. As you know, Amber Slater was murdered and another young woman, Madison Randle, was attacked last night and we know her to be one of your best friends. What you don’t know is that another woman has since gone missing. We really need you to open the door.’ Gina felt her hands trembling. Maybe they should have called for backup but she wasn’t stopping to do that now, not when he was about to let them in. Someone was in his apartment and those pans clattering may have been a sign from PC Kapoor, hearing them talking outside the door and hoping to be rescued.
He placed the key in the lock and led the way into the dingy attic hallway. ‘I’m in big trouble.’
Gina kept back a little, holding her arm out to keep Wyre behind her. Standing at the top of a staircase made her feel particularly vulnerable. If Tyrone wanted to make a run for it, all he had to do was push her hard and she’d tumble to the landing, taking Wyre with her. The sound of the thud that Terry made as he hit the bottom of their stairs all those years ago made her legs feel slightly jellified. ‘Please step away from the door. Back a bit.’
The young man scratched the dark hair on his head and stepped backwards into the bathroom. A tapping noise came from the living room. Gina could see Tyrone Heard shaking under his black skinny jeans as she passed him and headed to the living room. Wyre remained in place at the front door, keeping an eye on Tyrone’s movements.
Gina placed her shaky hand on the door handle and pressed down. As she entered, she heard a scurrying noise heading to the kitchen. All the curtains were shut and the room was in pitch darkness. A stale smell made her stomach churn, that of rotten meat. She felt acid beginning to burn her throat and her mouth began to water, not in a good way. The last thing she could think about was food. She reached for the light switch and the whole messy room was illuminated by a single bulb in the centre of the studio apartment. She glanced around but all she could see was clutter everywhere and a desk by the window with a pile of paper next to it. ‘It’s okay, Wyre, come through.’
‘Please don’t tell my landlord.’
A meow sound came from the worktop and next to the microwave sat a scrawny black kitten.
‘Having a pet is a breach of my tenancy. I’m sorry I looked cagey. You won’t tell him, will you? I won’t be here long. Alice messaged me, someone is leaving her block and she said they’re allowed pets. It’ll only be for a few more weeks.’ Tyrone stepped into his living space and grabbed a pile of clothing, throwing them on the single bed that had been pushed into a corner of the sloping attic space.
The cause of the smell was now apparent, cat food in a bowl on the floor. ‘No, I won’t say anything. Why didn’t you just say that you had a cat when we were outside?’ All that anxiety that Gina had just felt had been for nothing. She was slightly angry with Tyrone. The cat meowed again and her heart rate slowed down a little.
‘Sorry. I guess I’m an idiot. With all that’s going on and all. That’s Clover. I found her in the bins outside on New Year’s Eve. I know she still looks a little sad and sick but she’s in much better shape than she was a couple of weeks ago. I have to keep popping out of lessons to see to her though. She’s already clawed my bed base and all my furniture. Oh well, at least it belongs to me and not Vincent.’ He paused. ‘I couldn’t leave her there, in the bin, and I didn’t want to take her to a cats’ home just in case no one wanted her. Do you want to sit?’ He grabbed more clothes off his wooden chairs and threw them into the growing pile on the bed. ‘I know I live in a mess and I know the place stinks…’
‘That’s okay.’ Gina and Wyre sat and Tyrone wedged his bottom on the edge of the bed.
Wyre flipped out her pad and leaned it on the desk that looked like it doubled up as a dinner table given the dirty plate that had been left there to rot.
‘I know you have already made an initial statement which I have read but I just want to follow up. How well did you know Amber Slater?’
He shook his head, the black fluff on his chin catching the light as he shifted to get comfortable. ‘I don’t know her that well. I’ve borrowed things off her but we all do that here. You know, bread and sometimes coffee, things like that?’
‘So you’ve been in her apartment?’
‘Yes, but ages ago. We’ve all been in each other’s apartment.’ His gaze shifted to the floor, then back up. ‘We don’t always lock our doors, it feels more like a house share here than apartment living. Some nights the others have a drink together, then everything is open.’
Gina paused for a moment, trying to listen for anything that suggested that he was nervous, a crackle in his voice, hesitancy in answering, any display of nerves, but she couldn’t see anything that alarmed her. ‘The others say that you aren’t always a part of their social gatherings.’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t always want to sit around drinking. Besides, my best friends live in another block. I spend more time hanging out with them. Me and Madison are on the same nursing course so we hang out at uni too. Alice is studying social work. I don’t have as much in common with the guys in this block.’
‘Where were you on Tuesday evening?’
‘I was with a guy I met on AppyDater, at his bedsit.’
