‘I don’t understand.’
‘Do you have a phone number for Samantha? A photo of her? We’ll need to take your phone, Tilly.’
‘Of course.’ She retrieves it from the pocket of her cardigan and hands it to me.
DS Davis is once again standing, pensive, in the doorway, and I momentarily leave Tilly’s side and go to her, half closing the door behind me.
‘What you got, Lucy?’
She’s shaking her head in a slow motion that instantly unsettles me.
‘This really doesn’t look right, boss. Reports are coming in from door-to-door. As it stands, it seems Milo Harrison lived alone. No one has seen him with a woman, any woman, since he’s lived here. And the guy next door claims to have heard acommotion around the time of the incident today. He says he heard raised voices, a male and female shouting.’
‘One male voice, one female?’
‘So he says,’ she nods. ‘There’s something odd about this set-up, gov. Take a look around you. There’s nothing to suggest anyone else but Milo Harrison lives here. Do you think she’s lying? I mean, she sounds genuine enough, but…’
I pause.
‘Let’s get her down the station, Davis. Get her looked over by medics. We’ll need a psychiatric assessment as well, make sure she’s fit for interview.’
‘Yes, gov.’
‘And just so you’re aware, Lucy, she’s hard of hearing – she’s wearing a hearing aid.’
‘Oh.’ Her voice drops in tandem with her expression. It’s a delicate subject.
‘I want her carefully looked after, everything by the book, OK?’
‘Yes, boss, of course.’
I drag my hands down my face.
Something tells me I won’t be getting to sample that pad thai this side of midnight after all. I suppose it’s just as well. Like our witness, it seems my appetite has completely vanished.
SEVEN
ERIN
Eight weeks ago
My name is Erin Santos. And here are a few honest, random and hopefully fun facts about me!
I’m forty years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall and my weight fluctuates somewhere between 110 and 120 lbs.
I was born in York, in the north of England, where I subsequently spent most of my youth, and where, to my knowledge, I still hold the record for winning the hundred metres hurdle race five years in succession while attending St Swythen’s Comprehensive School.
My hair is black and my eyes – inherited from my Venezuelan father – are a striking jade green in colour, and have even been remarked upon by total strangers!
