Wait. There is something. A slip of paper folded tight. I pull it out, switch on my phone torch, and open it up.
BEHIND YOU.
A voice comes from the darkness over my shoulder. ‘Hi.’
I jump so high I graze the chandelier, and swivel as I land, almost exactly unlike a cat. ‘JesusChrist.’
The door of the sedan chair in the corner swings open, and Em clambers out, then puts a finger to her lips. She clearly hasn’t told the others she was waiting up. She’s wearing purple-and-white-striped pyjamas. In the light of my phone torch she looks like a wholesome version of the girl fromThe Ring.
‘Are you trying to give me a heart attack?’
‘I’m trying to stop you making a big mistake, Al. Don’t leave.’
‘Why not?’
‘It’s not the right thing to do.’
‘We’re professional intruders and someone’s been killed. It’s a bit late to start doing the right thing.’
‘Well, think about this instead: if you leave, I’ll go to the police in the morning and tell them all about you.’
‘You know nothing about me.’
‘I suppose I don’t know the inner you, not your secret heart. But here are a few things I do know about my new friend Al.’ She gets a little notebook from her pocket, licks a finger and finds the page.
‘You’re five foot ten. Light brown hair, grey eyes, birthmark on left temple halfway down ear. There’s more, obviously. Managed to get your prints the other day too – Jonny got me a kit – and I suspect those will come in handy. I mean, I don’t need any of these details, because I’ve got lots of photos of you. And even if I didn’t have the photos, I’ve got a list of places you’ve been recently. Let’s see …’ She turns the pages of hernotebook. ‘18 Pulborough Road, 15 Cavendish Square – Cavendish Square, really? I’m impressed …’
‘Shutup.’ I talk over her, a bit too loud. Never mind the sleepers upstairs. I feel light-headed. ‘How did you do that?’
She snaps the notebook shut and shrugs. ‘You give away more than you think. And I had a little look through your camera the other night, when you left it downstairs here. Then it was just a matter of working back from that. If I can do it, with a little help from Jonny, I think the police will be able to as well, don’t you? And if they ask me anything, I’ll sing like a fucking canary.’
I take a step or two towards her, trying to serve ‘menacing’, but to her I probably just look like a panicked man slightly closer up.
‘What are you going to do, hit me? That won’t do any good, Al. In fact, it’ll bolster our version of events. A violent housebreaker gets a lot more time in prison than … whatever you are. Also, if you lay a finger on me, Elle will break every bone in your body, and Jonny will then empty all your bank accounts and plant incriminating material on your phone.’
I feel very tired suddenly. ‘OK. Just tell me your mad idea again.’
‘It’s not mad. We’re just going to find out a little more about this dead man – maybe enough to keep ourselves ahead of the guy who’s so keen to find you, or to send the police in another direction. Nothing huge. We’re simply informing ourselves a bit better.’
I give up. ‘I give up.’
Em gives me the sweetest smile. ‘That’s the spirit.’ She approaches me, raises her arms as if she’s about to wrap them around my neck, and then … drops the notebook in my jacket pocket. ‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’
She stays close to me for a second. I can see a vein pulsing on her neck. Her heart’s beating faster than she lets on. So is mine.
‘What’s the story, Al? How did you get into all this?’
‘You tell me. You know everything.’
‘I don’t know you. What got you into it?’
In truth, I’m starting to wonder the same thing about her. She seems a lot more practised at all this than I am, even though she claims she’s only been doing it a few months. Eventually I manage to regain the initiative. I lean a little closer to her ear, and murmur:
‘That’s my business.’
She shrugs, steps backwards, and retreats up the stairs, with me watching her go.
I take my jacket back off, ditch my bag in the corner of the hall, and stand for a moment. Part of me wants to climb into the sedan box and stay there for ever. Most of me wants to run anyway, leave the country for good.
