He opened the door and waited expectantly. Nancy had risen and stood behind him. There were footsteps and two people entered. One was Maud. With her was a younger man, tall, with pale red hair, a bony face, wide-apart, surprised eyes and an ill-fitting suit. He had the expectant look of a teenager arriving at his first job interview. Maud was wearing a distressed grey jacket over her jumpsuit, which made her look more like a builder than a detective. She nodded at Nancy, but spoke to Felix.
‘I’m Maud O’Connor.’ She held out her identification and gestured at her companion. ‘This is my colleague, Mark Forrester.’
‘I’m sorry if I look surprised,’ said Felix. ‘I hadn’t realised until a few moments ago that Nancy was going to go to the police.’
Maud looked puzzled. ‘Is that a problem?’
‘I’m worried that this might all be a waste of your time. I keep hearing that the police don’t have time to investigate crimes in London, and I’m a bit surprised to see you here about this.’
‘Why are you surprised?’
‘I thought it had all been settled. I thought the police had already investigated Kira’s tragic death.’
‘I’m not sure how much of an investigation there was,’ said Maud, looking around the flat, as if it interested her.
‘I think you may have misunderstood the situation here.’
‘Really? In what way?’
‘I hate having to say this, but I’m worried about my partner.’ He gave a meaningful glance towards Nancy, who scowled furiously. ‘She’s in a very vulnerable situation. She’s been having some severe mental disturbances and we’ve been trying to get through this together. She’s been having delusions. They became serious enough that she has spent some time in hospital. She’s only just been discharged, and I’m concerned that going to see you in the way that she has is a sign that the delusions are starting again.’
‘I am here, you know,’ said Nancy.
Maud smiled at her, then turned back to Felix.
‘I have talked to Nancy, and she seemed reliable to me.’
‘Reliable?’
‘Yes.’
‘With respect, you’re not a psychiatrist and you don’t know her the way I do.’
‘You’re right,’ said Maud. ‘I’m not a psychiatrist. For my sins I’m a police detective, and maybe I can just ask a few questions.’
‘You’re sure you’re not making things worse for a vulnerable person?’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Felix,’ said Nancy.
‘We’ll be as sensitive as we can. Is it all right if we talk here?’
‘Why do you want to talk to me?’
‘You both lived in the same house as Kira Mullan.’
‘It’s just routine,’ said Forrester.
They were the first words he had spoken. He blushed.
‘Sit anywhere,’ said Felix.
Forrester sat on the edge of a chair and took out his notebook. He poised his pen, at the ready. Felix took the sofa, sitting back and folding his arms.
‘I suppose you’d like me to leave,’ Nancy said to Maud.
‘I’d like you to stay.’
Nancy didn’t sit next to Felix. She took her wooden chair and moved it against one wall and sat there. Maud sat on the sofa and turned to Felix.
‘I just want to get the arrangement of this house clear in my mind. You and Nancy moved into this flat recently.’
‘Yes.’
‘How recently?’
‘A couple of months ago.’
‘We moved in on Saturday the twelfth of November,’ said Nancy.
‘Thank you. Did you know anyone in the house?’
‘Nancy didn’t, but I did. We got the flat because a friend of mine was moving out. And through him, I knew Seamus and Barney. They live in the basement.’
‘Did you know the victim?’
‘If she was a victim.’
‘You seem quite committed to the idea of her not being a victim.’
‘I just don’t like to see the police wasting their time.’
‘That’s very public-spirited of you, Mr Lindberg. Did you know Kira Mullan?’
‘I would have seen her around.’ Felix looked across at Nancy. ‘Nancy has been through a very traumatic time. It’s been bad for her, but it’s also been bad for those around her. She’s needed a lot of looking after. One day she might come to realise what people have done for her.’
There was a silence that Maud didn’t break for a long time. She simply looked at Nancy, who was gazing straight ahead, and then back at Felix.
‘Did you know Kira?’ she said finally.
‘No. But she lived downstairs. I’m sure I saw her coming and going.’
‘Actually, you did know Kira,’ said Nancy.
Her words were like a stone dropped into a well. The four people in the room seemed suspended for a few seconds in the silence that followed. Nancy looked at Maud, not Felix, but she could feel his gaze on her as if it was a tangible weight.
‘You knew her,’ she persisted, though it was hard to speak the words out loud.
‘Oh, Nancy!’ Felix put his hand up to his eyes. ‘My darling one.’
‘Why do you say that?’ asked Maud, ignoring him.
‘Because someone told me. He said that Felix and Kira were at a party together last Christmas, and that they left together.’
Maud turned to Felix.
‘Mr Lindberg?’
Felix leaned towards her. He looked handsome and sad.
‘The kindest thing I can say is that Nancy is misremembering or misinterpreting what this person may or may not have said. As I’ve explained, part of her illness manifests itself in paranoid suspicions about other people.’ He stared at Nancy and gave her a tender smile. ‘Even though you never have reason to be jealous of me. I’m loyal.’
‘It was Jonnie who told me,’ said Nancy, who felt giddy with the euphoria of not pretending. It was like a teetering edifice, held together by fear and lies, was falling down around her; even though she might get crushed, there was a thrill in its collapse. ‘From number 73.’
‘You’re doing it again,’ said Felix in a low but carrying tone.
‘I can see this is a difficult subject,’ said Maud, while Forrester wrote down the address in his notebook. ‘Let’s move on for the time being.’
‘Hang on,’ said Felix. ‘I just want to clear up this accusation my partner has made.’
‘You mean, it isn’t true?’
‘I mean, maybe I spoke to Kira at a party. It was a year ago. People were drinking. I could have spoken to any number of people. Maybe we happened to leave the party at the same time, but that’s all. I don’t want you to fall into the same trap that Nancy has fallen into, and make nasty inferences from an innocent meeting.’
He kept glancing at Nancy, his face gentle and his eyes cold. She held his gaze and wouldn’t look away. Something about the detective gave her a new confidence.
‘I’ll do my best not to fall into any trap,’ said Maud. ‘But to continue: Kira Mullan lived downstairs. Your two friends live in the basement. And a married couple live across the hall from you.’
‘Harry and Olga and their crying baby.’
‘On Saturday evening, there was a party in the basement flat that Kira went to. Did you also go?’
‘Briefly,’ said Felix. ‘But it was very crowded, and I didn’t really know anyone, so I didn’t stay long.’
‘What time?’
‘I don’t know. Around ten, I suppose, after we’d had the supper I’d made and then I’d cleared up. I only stayed an hour or so.’
‘Did you see Kira?’
‘No, or maybe I did without realising it. As I say, I barely knew her.’ He threw an angry glance at Nancy. ‘And it was rammed.’
‘That would mean you came home at about eleven?’
‘Yes. Nancy was fast asleep. I unpacked a few things and then went to bed. I was tired. It’s been a tiring time.’
‘Can you take me through your movements on the Sunday?’
‘I told the police all this before.’
‘Now I’d like you to tell me.’
He took a deep breath.
‘I was here all morning. Trying to get some kind of order into the place. I wanted to make everything nice for Nancy. I did almost all the packing myself and now I wanted to do most of the unpacking as well. I don’t think disorder is good for her. I’ve done my best to protect her from that.’
Nancy felt like a coiled spring. She forced herself to remain sitting in the wooden chair, her eyes fixed on him. Felix picked up his coffee, which was now cold, took a sip and grimaced. Maud didn’t react, simply waited for him to continue.
‘Then she left. I didn’t know where she was going. I see now I should have insisted I went with her, but…’ He shrugged. ‘Anyway, about ten minutes later, maybe a bit more, I went out myself.’
‘What time would this have been?’
‘About two forty-five, I guess. I can’t be sure. I went to the big DIY place about half a mile from here. Britten’s. I needed a few things – nails, some screws and wall plugs, Polyfilla, stuff like that.’
‘Britten’s, you say. Do you have a receipt?’
‘Probably.’
‘If you could find it, that would be useful.’
‘Now?’
‘When we’ve finished talking. You can give it to Mark here.’
Forrester bobbed his head.
‘Why do you need all of this, anyway?’
‘I am trying to fill in all the gaps,’ said Maud. ‘Get a clear picture of the day.’
‘All right. I went from Britten’s to meet a mate for a beer. Gary Overton.’
‘Gary Overton,’ repeated Forrester, writing it down.
‘I can give you his details.’ Maud nodded. ‘We had a drink up the road from Britten’s, and then we came back here for a bit. Nancy was home by then, but she was in bed, and I didn’t want to disturb her. Sleep is an important part of her recovery,’ he added. ‘Then Nancy woke up, Gary left – I think he was a bit embarrassed because she was clearly in a bad way. Some people find mental health issues hard to deal with. Shortly after that, people came round for a drink.’
‘Who?’
‘Michelle and Dylan from next door. Seamus. Barney. And Harry. Not his wife. She was looking after the baby. When they left, we had supper, pottered around a bit, then went to bed.’
‘You were there when the body was discovered the following day, right?’
‘Not exactly. I came home from work, late afternoon I guess, I’m not sure of the exact time but that must be on the police records, and there was this commotion going on at the entrance of Kira’s flat.’
‘Who was there?’
‘Michelle, Seamus, Dylan, or maybe Dylan arrived when I did. It’s a bit of a blur. And then she arrived.’
‘She?’
‘Nancy.’ He stared at Nancy. She stared back. ‘Nancy arrived and went haywire.’
‘I did not go haywire. I wanted to see the body because I could see the boots, and they were the boots that the woman I’d met the day before was wearing. But you wouldn’t let me.’
‘Nancy, Nancy,’ Felix said helplessly.
‘You and Dylan hauled me upstairs like a sack of potatoes. I was angry. Being angry is not being haywire. Being suspicious is not being paranoid. Wanting answers is not a sign of paranoid delusion.’
‘When did you last see Kira?’ Maud asked Felix.
‘No idea.’ He gestured helplessly. ‘Maybe at the party the night before. I heard she was there but I don’t remember seeing her.’
‘And not that Sunday – the thirteenth of November?’
‘No.’
‘You’re quite sure?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you still say you didn’t really know her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you. If you could dig out that receipt, my colleague here will be back to collect it.’
She stood up and Forrester followed suit.
‘Nancy is not a reliable witness,’ said Felix, also getting to his feet. He looked very tall and solid next to Maud, who was slender though sturdy, with her pale nimbus of curls and her dark brows. ‘I want you to bear that in mind. She’s ill. I don’t like to think what this might do to her.’
Maud looked at him steadily, as if she was considering him. His cheeks gradually flushed.
‘Would you agree to a DNA test?’ she asked. ‘It’s a very simple swab.’
The muscles around his mouth tightened.
‘I assume you’re asking both of us.’
‘I’m asking everyone.’
‘Just a formality,’ said Forrester.
‘If it’s necessary.’
‘Good. A colleague will arrange it shortly.’
‘By the way, there was a used condom,’ said Nancy.
Her voice rang out. Everyone turned to look at her. Even Maud, whose face was usually composed, seemed momentarily startled.
‘In a bin bag full of Kira’s rubbish. I found it.’
‘For fuck’s sake,’ said Felix. ‘You see. You see what you’re dealing with here?’
Nancy continued talking in a slightly husky voice to Maud.
‘I took it because I thought it might be a clue.’
‘It might be,’ said Maud. ‘Where is it?’
‘I hid it in the drawer with the baking stuff. But Michelle took it.’
‘You know this how?’
‘She told me.’
‘This is unbelievable,’ said Felix. ‘You can’t be taking any of it seriously. It’s a farce.’
‘We can let ourselves out.’ Maud turned to Nancy, who still sat by the wall. ‘I’ll be in touch with you soon, she said, looking at her steadily. ‘Take care.’