On the fourth floor, when the sound of the footsteps faded, Victor ran to catch up. He pushed open the heavy fire door and peered around the edge, swearing softly to see the corridor in each direction empty. He waited a second, then, convinced he heard the rattle of keys, he let the door swing shut and walked towards the sound, reaching the corner in time to look around the edge and see the man disappear inside one of the apartments.

Victor strolled casually down the corridor, noted the number on the door, then retraced his steps downstairs.

In the small entrance lobby, postboxes were set into the wall on one side. All neatly numbered. He located the box allocated to apartment 426 and with a glance around to ensure nobody was entering, slid his fingers inside and fished out the post. Letters to two different people, both men. Mark Tallon and Flynn Douglas.

One of them was the man he followed. Victor memorised the names, shoved the post back into the letterbox and left, humming under his breath.

Back in his bedsit, he pulled out his laptop. Persistence was his biggest strength. He started with Facebook, quickly dismissing the thirty Mark Tallons and the twenty Flynn Douglases. There were, of course, some who didn’t include photos but Victor, remembering the smug arrogance of the man, knew he was the type who’d want to show off his handsome face. Victor persevered and an hour later he’d found him.

Victor zoomed in on the photograph. Younger, but there was no doubt. Flynn Douglas. He’d obviously tried his hand at modelling – unsuccessfully – the last photo was dated three years before. A failed model. Victor smirked and sat back. A failure: no wonder Jodie had dumped him.

Victor’s curiosity was satisfied. He shut the laptop and lay back to think.

28

On Friday morning, after a night haunted by headless mice chasing her around Cliffe Fort, a red-eyed Jodie didn’t bother to get dressed. She pulled on a robe instead and went downstairs to wait for Rivka to arrive. Her friend, as was her custom, was a little late, and as was also her way, rang the doorbell several times, the sound ricocheting in Jodie’s skull as she hurried to open the door before the bell was rung again.

Rivka bustled through the open door with a wide smile. ‘Sorry I’m late, the phone rang as I was heading out. My mother!’

‘Come on, I’ll make you some coffee,’ Jodie said heading back to the kitchen.

Rivka flopped onto a chair and leaned her elbows on the table. ‘She’s almost impossible to get away from, I kept telling her I had an appointment.’

‘She loves you.’

‘Yes, I know.’

There was silence for a few seconds. Jodie kept her attention on what she was doing but she could feel her friend’s eyes assessing her.