Page 24 of A Murder is Going Down

‘The old one, the one with Keanu Reeves.’

‘The Matrix?’

‘Speed,’ I say quietly. Aunty Sam’s Keanu Reeves obsession meant I saw it for the first time when I was nine, and I’ve seen every awful movie Keanu Reeves ever made.

‘Is there a lift scene inThe Matrix?’ Patrick asks.

‘Speed,’ I say again.

‘It’s notThe Matrix,’ Adam says.

‘Speed,’ I say, less quietly.

Adam looks surprised to notice me. ‘That’s right.’ He still doesn’t ask who I am.

‘The lift?’ Patrick prompts gently.

‘Elena had her phone with her, so we could still talk to her,’ Adam says. ‘She told us to call the number on the lift control panel. I’m not sure what was wrong with it, but they had to reset … something? I don’t know. Jade seemed to think it wasn’t a big deal.’

‘Jade’s one of your work colleagues?’

‘No, she’s married to Haruto – he’s the one who works with us.’ Adam smiles in a way that makes me curious about what Jade looks like.

‘When did you realise Felix wasn’t there?’ Patrick asks.

‘Pretty quickly. We were looking for him to help withthe lift. Someone went outside to find him. I think it was Farnoosh – she’s Sarah’s wife.’

I hope Patrick is keeping track of all these names, because I’m already lost and Adam is still speaking.

‘When Farnoosh came back and said she couldn’t find Felix, that’s when we started to freak out. Haruto went outside with her and they, you know, found him.’

‘That must have been horrible.’

Patrick touches Adam’s shoulder and rather than it being weird and creepy, which it definitely would be if I started randomly pawing strangers, Adam reacts the way a cat does when its head gets scratched. Ugh, I hate how good Patrick is at this.

‘It was pretty awful,’ Adam says. ‘We didn’t tell Elena how serious it was until she was out of the lift.’

Patrick nods. ‘You and Elena seem close.’

Adam shrugs. ‘Sure.’ His eyes find Elena on the other side of the room, now in conversation with two women with wet eyes and empty glasses.

‘Do you hang out much outside work?’

‘Elena and me? A bit. She’s great.’

Adam’s phone goes off and, intentionally or not, he cradles it in a way that stops me from seeing the name on display. ‘Sorry,’ he says, ‘I should take this.’

He steps away and Patrick and I stay where we are. Patrick’s frowning at the drinks table.

‘Have you seenmyphone?’ he asks.

‘No. Why?’

‘I put it down there to pour the wine.’ He looks up and down the table, then pats his pockets. ‘Now it’s gone. You sure you didn’t pick it up?’

‘Forget about your phone for one second. Can we talk about Adam?’

‘He was there the night Felix died, so that’s an opportunity,’ Patrick says. ‘If he was having an affair with Elena, that’s a motive.’