Lil nodded to the red plastic swivel chair by her desk and the boy sat gingerly on the edge of it.
‘OK, pal, spill the beans.’ She turned her Anglepoise lamp on him and stood behind it, a silhouette behind the shade. ‘Who is missing you?’
He blinked at her. ‘I – I don’t know.’
Lil noticed that under the strong light the boy’s skin was so pale it was almost translucent. ‘You don’t remember?’
He shrugged.
‘Do you even know where you went missing from?’
He shook his head.
Lil sighed. She swung the lamplight out of his eyes and then sat on the edge of her bed facing him. ‘I have to be honest with you; this isn’t shaping up to be much of a story. It sounds to me like a bad case of amnesia. Maybe you should just hand yourself in at a police station or a hospital, see if anyone is looking for you?’
The boy looked down. ‘I tried that. No one took any notice.’ The shadows in the room lengthened around him. ‘I just need someone to help me find out what happened. I thought you seemed like the sort of person to help someone, if they could.’ He turned his bush-baby eyes on her, full beam, and then dropped his gaze to the floor. ‘Maybe I was wrong.’
He wasn’t wrong: Lil was that person, but an amnesia case wasn’t going to get her onto the pages of the Klaxon. That didn’t mean she felt good about it. She tried out a little white lie. ‘I have a lot on my plate at the moment; there’s this big case I’m working on –’
The boy interrupted, beaming, ‘Is it to do with that lost toy?’
‘Ha!’ Lil tried to humph it off. ‘What makes you think I’ve got time to go looking for toys?’
‘I saw you take the flyer.’
‘Well … Yeah,’ she admitted. ‘That is one of the cases I’m working on at the moment. But obviously it’s not the main one.’
‘Of course,’ he continued respectfully. ‘But, anyway, I was thinking, maybe I could help – with your case – in return for your help. Sort of like a payment.’
‘You want to be my sidekick?’
‘No,’ he said, faintly discouraged. ‘I was thinking more like a partner …’
Lil ignored him. She rubbed the sleep out of one eye thoughtfully. ‘I hadn’t thought about taking on a sidekick before, but maybe I could use one. Can you take photographs?’
‘Not really. I mean, no.’
‘Oh.’ Lil was disappointed. ‘So what can you do?’
He shrugged.
‘Are you any good at sneaking around?’
His face brightened. ‘I would say I’m pretty good actually. I got in here without anyone seeing me, didn’t I?’
‘OK,’ said Lil, her mind humming with the possibilities. ‘You might come in handy. Missing Peoples is not really my line of work but I’ll take your case and in return you can help me with mine. Deal?’ She spat on her hand and held it out to him. He didn’t take it. ‘It’s only a bit of spit.’ Lil rolled her eyes and wiped her hand on her dressing gown. ‘OK, I’ll just have to take your word for it. Deal?’
‘Deal,’ the boy said, and for the first time since they met Lil saw the flicker of a smile cross his face.
‘So, have you got a name, at least?
His gaze dropped to the floor. ‘I don’t remember that either.’
‘You’re a tough nut to crack but if you’re going to be my sidekick I’m going to have to call you something.’
He frowned, letting his eyes wander around the room as though he was trying to find his name hidden there amongst Lil’s things.
‘I thought maybe I might be called … something like …’ He lowered his voice. ‘I think I might be … Ned.’ His face drained of what little colour it had. ‘But that can’t be right, it sounds so …’
‘You think you’re Ned?’
His eyes grew wide, the pupils blooming into fathomless tunnels. Lil had to tear her gaze away from them, suddenly afraid of what she might see there. The boy shuddered and the bulb in the Anglepoise blew, leaving them in semi-darkness. Lil watched a thin curl of metallic smoke trickle out of the lamp and into the path of the moonlight. She shivered and then swallowed back the creeps.
When the boy finally spoke his voice was barely a whisper. ‘I don’t like the sound of that at all.’
‘Maybe that’s not your name then?’
‘I can’t remember. I thought it was Ned, but maybe it’s just something like that.’
‘Ted? Ed?’
He looked at her searchingly. ‘I don’t like the sound of any of those.’ He went paler still. ‘No, I don’t like the sound of them at all. It’s like N-Ned, but not as final.’
‘Nedward? Neddo? Nedly?’
‘Nedly,’ he said quickly. ‘That’s my name.’
Lil folded her arms. ‘I made that name up.’
‘Well, until I remember my real name I’ll stick with that one.’
Lil puckered her brow and tried to stop a yawn escaping. ‘Well, Nedly, someone must be missing you.’
‘I hope so,’ he said, unconvinced.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll find them. Tomorrow.’ This time she let the yawn out full force with an accompanying groan. Nedly didn’t seem to get the hint. He just sat there at Lil’s desk, his skin palest blue in the moonlight. ‘So … tomorrow then? Which means you should go now and come back tomorrow. We’ll start work on your case then.’
‘Oh, OK.’ Nedly said, but he still didn’t go anywhere.
‘Nedly, you can’t sleep here.’ He looked down. Lil sighed. ‘I suppose I could wake Mum up and ask her if you can kip on the settee.’
‘No,’ said Nedly. ‘Don’t wake anyone. I’ll go.’ He walked over to the door. ‘Can you see me out?’
Lil opened the door for him; as he passed her she shivered. ‘Did you leave a window open somewhere?’ He didn’t answer. She followed him down the stairs; Lil knew how to dodge the steps that creaked, but Nedly just seemed to avoid them. At the front door he waited again for her to open it. ‘You know, next time,’ she told him, ‘you should just knock like everyone else.’