The Shadow

Part 4

"Welcome to the detective agency!" Will smirked, gesturing to the rest of the group gathered around the small table in the pub.

"Hey, Elizabeth is it? I'm Janet," a plump, blonde woman stood up and handed me a beer. "I'm a friend of Sally's. I couldn't believe it when I heard about her girlfriend. What a way to go..." I downed the beer in two gulps, not wanting to remember that awful night or the sight of her decomposing corpse. Before I could dwell on that image, I spotted Sally coming out of the toilets, looking lost and already quite tipsy, so I rushed over and walked her back to the table. She was trying to smile but I could see her eyes were red, which meant she'd either been crying or I underestimated how much she had had to drink. Either way Sally was not in a good place.

However as soon as we rejoined the group she lunged into the middle of the table and squealed "Omigod! This is gonna be incredible. Thank you so much all of you - we are gonna catch the guy who did this. And we are gonna make him pay." Her face seemed to darken but a minute later she was smiling again. "Now without further ado, let me introduce you to Mr Samuel Harrison." Suddenly I noticed the eyes, watching us all, in the shadowy corner of the booth, and then the small man they belonged to. Jesus, had he been there the whole time? He was sneakier than a ghost. He leaned forward to shake everyone's hands and I finally caught a glimpse of his face. A heart-shaped jawline shaped his green eyes, button nose and cherry lips. He had brown hair styled in a hawk haircut. Quite handsome, really.

"Technically I am the professional here," he said, "but for the next few weeks I want you to think of me as your friend. If you think of any useful information come to me straight away, but in the meantime let's get to know each other a bit better. What d'you say to a game of truth or dare?" Everyone seemed up for it, so we began.

"Me first!" Yelped Dmitri, or Dima as he told us to call him. "Give me a dare."

"Hmm," said Janet. "I dare you to get us some free drinks. That bartender's been checking you out for at least 10 minutes!"

"Easy" he said, as he walked over to the bar. I couldn't tell what he was saying but the body language was clear. He kept sighing and leaning in towards the tall brunette behind the bar, before pointing over at us and whispering in his ear. The man chuckled and handed Dima a large bottle of vodka. I couldn't believe he'd pulled it off! He returned to the table grinning like he'd just won an Oscar. "Thanks for that easy warm-up, Janet," he chuckled, opening the huge bottle. "Now let's get this party started, bitches!"

"My turn" Janet announced. "I'll have a truth. Do your worst."

"You shouldn't have said that!" Patrick said. "What's the worst thing you ever did as a teenager? And I mean the worst."

She thought for a moment then said "I don't think my parents know about this even now, but when I was 16 I snuck out at night when we were on holiday in Spain to go skinny-dipping with this guy, Fred. Madeleine McCaan was all over the headlines at that time so my parents freaked out when they realised I wasn't there. In the morning I told them I'd been sleepwalking and I had to take these red pills for a year afterwards! I regret the pills but, man, I do not regret that night. Things got pretty steamy, let me tell you."

"Ooh la la!" Dima pretended to swoon. "Good one, Patrick. Who wants to go next?"

"Let's give Elizabeth a go," Sam interjected. "Truth or dare?"

I told him to call me Liz and decided on a truth.

He looked me dead in the eyes and asked "Did you see anyone nearby when you found Nina's body?"

"What?"
"You heard me."

"I...I don't think so... There was an old lady but I don't remember anyone else being around"

His lips curled into a smile. "Perfect. Sorry, my mind's always on work - just figured I'd check. Now, do you want an actual truth?"

"I think we've played enough for now," I said. "We've almost finished the vodka already. I know a nightclub that's around the corner. How about we go round there and show them what's what?" The others agreed enthusiastically so we took off.

I don't remember much of that night. Once we arrived at the club it didn't take long for us to get blackout drunk. The next morning I woke to a tick-tick-ticking sound as loud as a bomb, then the clock beeped loudly. I covered my ears because my head was throbbing from a hangover, before I thrashed one arm around blindly in an attempt to turn the alarm off. Instead, my hand hit the other person in the room. I opened my eyes and was shocked to see a snoring Patrick lying next to me.