The stairs

Chapter 2

Cassie recognised the form at the landing. It was, undoubtedly, Lorna. She gasped, and let the security guard push her back. He was yelling at her and the crowd, but she heard none of it. Then, quite suddenly, her brain unfroze. She realised what was happening - Lorna had to be identified, at the very least. She couldn't be allowed to lie there.

"That's my friend!" she yelled without thinking, "let me through, I know her!"

"What? Cassie, what are you saying?" yelled Lex. 

"It's Lorna, she's at the bottom of the stairs!"

"What? She fell down the stairs?" asked Lex.

Idiot, thought Cassie, he ruined what would have been the perfect opportunity for a perfect slip of the tongue. There was no blood visible, it was likely either strangulation or poison of some sort. The person who did this got quite close to her. Given Lorna's idea of personal space, it was definitely someone she knew.

"Come this way," said another security guard, a woman, "how many of you are here?"

"Five, there's five of us," said Phillip, "what's going on? Tell us..."

The crowd had parted in the meantime, allowing the other four to make their way towards the landing as well. Phillip had stopped when he saw Lorna on the landing below. Rosa drew a sharp breath and covered her mouth with her hands. Robin went pale almost instantly. Lex's expression hardened.

"How is she?"

"She looks dead, sir," said the woman, "the police and ambulance should be here shortly, but I thought it's better to not move her for now."

"Good call," said Lex, "and don't let anyone near her, us included. Was she hurt?"

"No, not visibly."

"It could still be some sort of disease, or her injuries could be internal," said Cassie, "don't jump to conclusions, Lex..."

"Look at her fingernails. She was definitely poisoned."

"You couldn't possibly know that from here. It could just be the lighting, so don't jump to conclusions. There could be lots of others from the university. She could have known people from around here..."

"What are you two muttering about?" asked Robin.

"If she was killed, it was definitely someone she knew," replied Lex, "and that, almost certainly, is one of us. Rosa, stop crying. Robin, glaring at me won't solve anything."

"The police is here," said someone. 

Cassie turned. There were quite a few of them. Cassie judged two of them to be detectives - a stern, middle aged, rather shabby looking man, and a relatively young woman dressed in what was probably menswear. The crowd parted to allow them through. The older man checked her pulse, but apparently, there was no pulse. Then the ambulance and the forensics team arrived almost simultaneously. Several other policemen arrived as well, and the staircase was corded off. 

One of the guards apparently indicated Cassie, Lex, and others to the other detective. Cassie caught her eye. Talking to her would be the best way to figure out what was going on. She walked towards the five of them.

"Detective Leslie Clark," she said, "Could you tell me who you are?"

This was pretty much what Cassie expected - they were suspects.

"We're all students from __________ university. We came here to practice cold reading," said Lex, "and the woman at the bottom of those stairs was supposed to meet us here. Wait, let me find a photo of her."