Page 29 of A Face in the Crowd
I want to ask where the money came from; if she somehow had it drop into her life in the way I did… but there’s no time for that because it’s one surprise after another.
Standing in the doorway are a pair of police officers.
Chapter Seventeen
The officers are both in uniform. The taller of the two is cradling his hat in his arm and stoops to look down at me. Jonathan must have changed his mind and they’re here to talk to me about what happened at the supermarket. If not that, they know about the money that was dropped into my bag. They want it back and I’m going to have to somehow explain why I’ve spent so much and why I never handed it in.
‘Miss Atkinson?’ he asks.
I turn towards the inside of the flat, where Karen is on her feet. ‘That’s me,’ she says.
‘Karen Atkinson?’ he presses.
‘Right.’
She moves across to me and opens the front door wider, but the four of us remain on the cusp; the officers a little outside, us a little in. The second of the two officers gives a weak smile but stays mute, standing rigidly with her arms at her side.
‘I’m Constable Beaman and this is Constable Grant,’ he says, indicating the woman at his side. ‘Do you know a Jade Johansson?’ he adds.
Karen looks to me and then nods. She points towards the door opposite mine. ‘She lived there,’ Karen replies, before touching my arm. ‘This is Lucy. She lives opposite.’
Beaman checks something on a notepad and flips a page before focusing back on me. ‘Miss Denman?’ he asks, with a nod.
‘Yes.’
‘Can we come in?’
Karen steps backwards to allow them in and then lowers her voice. ‘I’ve got two sons,’ she says. ‘They’re in the back room. Is that okay…?’
The officers exchange a glance and, in that moment, I know what’s coming. There’s a grim finality about it all.
‘Perhaps we’re better here,’ the officer says.
We step out and Karen pulls the door almost closed behind us. The hallway isn’t overly wide and the four of us huddle awkwardly as a breeze billows up from below. Someone’s left a door open.
Beaman turns between the two of us: ‘I’m sorry to inform you that we found the body of Jade Johansson forty-eight hours ago,’ he says.
Karen gasps and grips my arm. She’s so unsteady that she almost topples back into the door. There’s a moment, a fraction of a second, in which it feels like it’s too dramatic. Like someone in panto faking a heart attack.
‘She’s dead?’ Karen says.
‘I’m afraid so.’
When Karen turns to me, I’m ashamed at ever doubting her. Her eyes are wide with shock. I wonder what it says about me in that I thought her compassionate reaction was over the top, while my solemn acceptance was normal. I’ve been finding out a lot about myself in recent days and I’m not sure if much of it is good.
Beaman focuses on me. ‘We’re going to need time to sit with each of you at some point. That’s not necessarily today because this is all very recent.’
Karen and I nod along, but I can’t stop myself from looking past the police towards the door opposite mine. I can picture Jade on her way to classes with a tatty badge-covered bag over her back. She always seemed to be cold and would be layered up, regardless of the time of year. In the winter, she had a coat that was like a converted sleeping bag. She would sometimes buy doggy biscuits as a treat for Billy.
‘What happened?’ Karen asks.
The officers exchange another glance. ‘It’s early days,’ Grant replies. It’s the first thing she’s said. ‘But we’ve confirmed it’s definitely her.’
‘Where did you find her?’
Constable Grant shakes her head. ‘We’re not ready to confirm that for the moment, I’m afraid.’
She flips open the page of her notebook and then Karen interrupts by saying, ‘Perhaps we can go to Lucy’s?’
