The office of Thanet’s Voice was in Margate’s New Town, above a Chinese takeaway in the pedestrianised shopping area. The entrance was down an alley, a black door behind two large blue bins on wheels. A large extractor fan blew hot air. The alley reeked of stale food and piss.
The door yawned open. Immediately inside was dimness and a set of stairs. Gray fumbled around until he felt a light switch and flicked it on. Noble was lying face down at the top of the stairs, his head and one arm hanging over the uppermost step. It didn’t look good for him. Noble’s face was covered in blood, one eye swollen.
Gray ran up and knelt down beside him. He put his ear next to Noble’s mouth. His breath washed in and out. Gray was hugely relieved.
“Will, it’s me, Sol. I’m here.”
Noble’s only reply was a groan.
“I’ll call you an ambulance. Hang on.”
Gray picked up Noble’s phone from where it had fallen from his hand and dialled 999. He gave Noble’s torso a quick check over. Noble groaned when Gray felt his chest. Maybe a cracked rib? It looked like he’d taken a good kicking from someone. Gray decided it wasn’t wise to move Noble into the recovery position. Doing so might make things worse. Next, Gray called the station and asked for some uniforms to be sent down.
Satisfied he couldn’t do any more for Noble, Gray took a quick look around. There were three doorways off the landing. Directly behind Noble was the office. It was a mess. Paper strewn everywhere. Drawers dragged out, files all over the floor. An assault on Noble and a hasty search for something. But what?
When Gray went back onto the landing to check on Noble again he found him leaning upright against the wall, his eyes closed.
“Stay where you are,” said Gray. He crouched; put a hand on Noble’s shoulder. “The ambulance will be here in a few minutes.”
“I’m all right.” Noble pushed Gray weakly away. “I don’t need anyone.” Noble ruined his own diagnosis by leaning over and vomiting down the stairs. When there was no more to throw up, Noble sat back up again, wiped his mouth, and grinned weakly. “Okay, maybe I do. They didn’t find it, though.”
“Find what?”
“Hello?” A call from the bottom of the stairs. “Ambulance.” Two paramedics at the bottom of the stairs.
“Here,” said Gray, standing.
Gray moved out of the way to allow the paramedics access to Noble.
“Nothing major,” said one to Gray after they’d given Noble a quick check over, “but we’ll take him to the hospital, just to be sure.”
Noble crooked a finger at Gray. “We need to talk.”
“When you’re better.”
“Tomorrow,” said Noble. “I’ll call you.”
Uniform arrived then; two constables.
“You took your time,” said Gray.
“Sorry, sir, there’s an incident at the Lighthouse Project.”
The constables shifted to one side while the paramedics helped Noble to his feet and supported him during the descent. Gray followed. Then the medics put Noble on a stretcher and loaded him into the back of the ambulance. The doors closed and the ambulance drove away, watched by a couple of faces standing in the takeaway’s window.
“Come with me,” said Gray to the DCs. He entered the takeaway. The odour of Chinese food was much stronger inside, the smell always reminded Gray of sweet and sour sauce, the red stuff that quickly congealed on balls of an unidentified meat surrounded by a light golden batter. The crackle of hot oil in a pan and the scraping of metal on metal as an unseen chef in the back cooked was the only sound. Three men stood in the narrow space between the door and the metal-topped counter. They stared sullenly at Gray. A white carrier bag rested on the metal surface. From the shape of it there was clearly a takeaway within.
Behind the counter, a large, handwritten menu was nailed to the wall. Beneath it, a short Asian woman wearing an apron blinked at Gray through thick glasses. She’d been trying to disappear out the doorway into the kitchen but stopped now. As if Gray would only see her if she moved.
He showed his warrant card and said, “A man has just been assaulted. Did any of you see anything?” He received blank looks in return from all.
“Somebody must have seen something,” said Gray. Still nobody offered a response. “Right, I’ll be taking you all down the station for further questioning.” Gray turned his attention to the woman. “You’ll have to close down for the night.”
“Fuck’s sake, mate, what about my food?” The man who’d spoken appeared the youngest of the three. He wore black leather, and his bottom lip was pierced with a small silver ring. He pointed his thumb at the carrier bag. “It’ll go cold.”
“Tell me what you saw. Then you can go.”
“All I saw was you walk past, then the ambulance and cops arrive.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. None of us have been here long. It’s a takeaway. Fast food, you know? Maybe it was you who beat up that bloke?”
The man glared at Gray. “Give your name and contact details to my colleagues here; then you can be on your way, all of you.”
Gray turned to the Chinese woman. “Did you see anything?” She shook her head. “Do you know the man who lives above?”
“No.”
“Nobody walked past? You didn’t hear any noises from above.”
He got a shrug in reply then, “You all look same to me.”