Page 113 of The Girl in Room 12

Even though his voice is soft, gentle even, there’s something about him that isn’t right. There’s a blankness in his eyes. Something she’s never seen in anyone.

And then she has a flash of recognition. And knows where she’s seen him before. He works in the bookshop Max’s wife owns. Alice has been in there several times, browsing the bookshelves, checking out the woman who Max says he will never leave. Alice had been curious to know what had made Max fall in love with her, and want to stay with her. She knows she went a bit too far taking photos of the woman, but she couldn’t help herself. She needed to study her in her own time, without fear of being caught by Max.

‘You’re here because of Max’s wife,’ Alice says. She can’t bring herself to say her name.

‘You’ve hurt my friend,’ he says. ‘And anyone who hurts Hannah needs to be punished.’

A nervous laugh escapes her mouth. Any second now, this man will smile and tell her it’s all been a joke. But his eyes remain blank.

‘You and Max,’ he says. ‘You both need to pay.’ He looks around the room. ‘And do you know what? I feel very lucky today. I would never have found you here if I hadn’t been closing up the shop and seen Sarah.’

‘What?’

‘Yep, I followed her here and she led me right to you. She didn’t even see me standing at the end of the corridor. Too busy running from what she’d done. At least she had the sense to slow down and walk when she got downstairs. Not that anyone was paying attention.’ He pauses. ‘That’s the thing with these soulless places. No one pays any attention. So that’s the first bit of luck. The second is that you opened the door and let me in. I wasn’t expecting that. I was ready to tell you it was housekeeping behind the door.’

Alice looks down at his hands and sees he has thick leather gloves on.

‘And looking at the state of your neck, it’s not too much of a wild guess to say that Sarah tried to strangle you. I told Hannah she was no good. But still, even more luck for me.’

Alice whimpers. Then hates herself for it. She needs to outsmart this man, find a way to get out of this room alive. She needs to stay strong. She’s been given a second chance. She’s not about to die now. ‘I was leaving Max tonight,’ she says, trying to keep her voice from breaking. ‘I swear. It’s over. I’m telling his wife everything?—’

‘Hannah!’ he shouts. ‘Her name is Hannah. Say it!’

This man is clearly disturbed. ‘Hannah,’ Alice says. ‘I was telling Hannah everything.’

‘No.’ He says this quietly, but there’s still force behind his words. ‘That would destroy her. I can’t let you do that.’

‘Why? What is she to you? If she’s your friend, why wouldn’t you want the best for her?’

‘Because I don’t want to see her in pain. Not for one second. I just want all the toxic people out of her life. Max. You. I’ll deal with Max later. And here we are.’

‘You’re sick. You’re obsessed with her. What makes you think you’d ever stand a chance?—?’

‘Don’t you talk about her. A piece of trash like you doesn’t deserve to even know her.’

Of anything this man could say to her, Alice won’t stand for being called trash. ‘I know my worth,’ she says, rushing towards him and thrusting her knee between his legs.

He manages to grab hold of her wrists, even though she must have caused some damage to his groin. Alice has a lot of strength in her legs, but he’s much larger than her, and now she can’t extract herself from his tight grip.

And even though she fights with everything she’s got, when his hands reach for her neck, and grip it far tighter than Sarah had, Alice knows that this stranger’s face will be the last one she ever sees.

THIRTY-FIVE

Extract from theWandsworth Timesonline:

Metropolitan Police have arrested a forty-year-old man for the murder of Katy Mitchell from Wandsworth.

Cole Potts, from Putney, has admitted killing twenty-four-year-old Katy, and hiding her body in a garage at the back of his block of flats. He then used her phone to send messages to her family and friends, which explains why nobody reported her missing.

While being interviewed by police, Cole Potts also admitted to murdering Alice Hughes, whose body was found at the River Walk Hotel in Putney in November.

AUGUST

Poppy and I sit on the pebble beach, both of us mesmerised by the sea. It’s almost thirty degrees this morning, and it’s not even ten a.m. Other than a man walking his dog, we have the beach to ourselves. I take a deep breath, and slowly exhale, releasing all my tension and pain.

‘I wish I could swim in the sea,’ Poppy says.

‘When you’re a bit older you might be able to a little bit. But not too far out.’

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