Page 60 of A Face in the Crowd
‘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.’
