“The gentleman we spoke to down by the river said that you told him Johnny had disappeared,” PC Morgan reminded her. “He said that you seemed distressed and confused.”

“I don’t remember talking to him at all,” Lizzie said. “I suspect he was making it up.”

The officers exchanged a look before PC Morgan nodded and they both stood up. “That’ll be all for now, Ms Kingdom,” PC Morgan said. “Thank you. Please don’t go anywhere without informing your local police station. We may have some more questions for you, given that the investigation into Mrs Lester’s death is still ongoing and Mr Robsart’s whereabouts are currently unknown.”

“Of course,” Lizzie said numbly. “I understand. Please do let me know if there is any news of Johnny,” she added, and saw suspicion deepen in PC Morgan’s eyes. She wondered why on earth she felt so guilty when she hadn’t done anything wrong. It didn’t help that she felt so oddly out of it, so disconnected. The whole experience of reading the history of the old palace had been weird. She hadn’t thought twice about touching the plaque because it had looked modern but perhaps it had been mounted on one of the old stones that had made up the Tudor walls. Even if she had known that, though, she wouldn’t have hesitated because she had never had a vision involving a place before rather than a person. But then she had never connected directly to a person before she had met Arthur again... She frowned. It seemed her gift was a great deal more complex than she had thought and she didn’t really like that. Regardless of what Johnny had said about not being afraid of her paranormal abilities she still felt spooked by them.

She watched the police head off down the road towards Blackfriars then pushed the button for the lift. It purred up to the penthouse. Lizzie’s steps made no sound on the thick carpet of the corridor. It felt almost as though she was not there. The flat was equally quiet, as though Johnny’s presence had left an indelible imprint and now there was a vacuum where he had been. She took out her phone and automatically checked for calls. There was nothing from Johnny so she texted him:

Good to see you this evening. Hope you are OK. Let me know when you’re home.

She hoped she didn’t come across like a fussy older sister. Johnny had given the impression he had enough of those. Perhaps that was why he dropped out of his life every so often; she could imagine the pressure he must feel with Arthur and Anna and the others trying to look after him. It would be their anxiety and their attention that would push him further away. Yet they had every reason to worry. Hell, in their place she would have worried too. She was worried anyway; everything seemed so bizarre, and Johnny wasn’t the sort of person she could imagine walking out on someone who was ill or in trouble. He seemed too responsible for that. She rubbed her forehead again. If only she could remember what had happened but there was nothing; the vision of the palace, the sensations of sound, smell and touch so vivid and real, and then the fall into darkness, just like when she had touched the stone angel...