Read Online Dying to Write by Judith Cutler - Free Book Online Page B

said Matt.
    I tried to imagine myself acting as night nurse, doling out a pill at a time. And failed. I tried to imagine Nyree being sober enough to shake just one tablet out of a bottle. And failed. She’d have dropped them all over the floor and had to scrabble for them. There might even be a couple under the bed for the police to pick up.
    â€˜Are you all right?’ asked Shazia.
    â€˜Yes. No. I was just wondering what would have happened to Sidney if he’d chanced on one.’ And I remembered with a flush of guilt I’d told no one about the rat’s recent adventures. Now was certainly not the time. I’d waylay Chris later.
    â€˜They’d come in a bubble pack,’ said Chris, dismissively. So I caught his eye, to be rewarded with a long, slow flush. His expression changed from complacency to pure panic, taking in horror on the way. Chris had not yet seen the tablets, had he?
    Which meant, of course, they hadn’t been in Nyree’s room.
    I let him talk on: he had no objection on the course continuing –
    â€˜Well, I bloody have,’ said Matt. ‘How can the course bloody continue when one of the tutors has gone missing and you lot aren’t even interested?’
    Chris’s expression was opaque. So they were interested, but he wasn’t admitting how. I would probe a little.
    But Matt pre-empted me.
    â€˜She leaves her room without telling anyone, is missing all day – bugger it, it’s time we had a search party out for her. She may be lying out there sick or injured, and all we do is talk about Nyree and her angst. And whether the course will go on. Do something about Kate and then I’ll talk about the course!’
    He pushed away from the table. We heard him slam out of the flat and could follow his footfall until the sound insulation mopped it up.
    It was better not to remark on it. We smiled our thanks to Shazia and left.
    â€˜We have to talk, Chris,’ I said, as we reached my corridor.
    â€˜Later.’
    â€˜Now. There are things you need to know to help you make your decisions. Apart from finding those tablets you assumed were hers – you could get one of your underlings to check for that, surely?’
    He flushed. ‘I’ve had the room sealed to preserve the scene. Anything in there will turn up.’
    We walked past my room to Nyree’s. Beyond the police tape, the door was open. Someone had put boards down on the floor. I pointed at them. ‘What on earth?’
    â€˜So people don’t have to walk on the carpet, of course. With modern technology we can actually lift footprints off carpets. If,’ he added, grinning like a naughty schoolboy, ‘they haven’t been hoovered off first.’
    It was the nearest he’d get to thanking me.
    He spoke to a plain-clothes officer with a video camera; she nodded – she’d look for the tablets at once, she said, beaming winsomely. Chris rewarded her with a very warm smile. She blushed.
    We went back towards my room.
    â€˜OK, what do you want to talk about?’
    I opened the bedroom door and pointed at Sidney.
    â€˜That, for starters,’ I said.

Chapter Six
    I settled Chris in the only chair. I sat on a pillow on the floor. I didn’t like having to look up at him, but preferred it to the alternative – sitting on the bed. Before we could began talking, Sidney started to pound up and down his cage, which I took – rightly – as demand for his litter tray. He then settled down to consume with rather unpleasant enthusiasm another bit of bread.
    Chris watched the whole procedure with distaste. ‘How long have you had that?’ he asked, getting up and ostentatiously opening the window.
    â€˜Since four this afternoon. Chris: this is Sidney. Sidney: Chris.’
    â€˜What on earth possessed you –?’
    â€˜He did. He possessed me. He’s Kate’s. He went missing and came and found me. Since there’s