Page 55 of A Murder is Going Down

‘What did you see?’ Patrick asks.

‘I watched them go down the cliff towards the water. I thought it was weird, because why would Felix go down there? I saw them find something. I didn’t realise it was a body until Haruto started doing CPR. Even from far away I could recognise that that bright yellow Wilco t-shirt and I knew it was Felix.’

‘What happened next?’

‘I ran inside, but Elena was still in the lift. Sarah was on the phone to the lift guy, so I told Jade what was going on. She said we shouldn’t tell Elena until we knew what was happening, but she phoned emergency. As it turns out, Farnoosh or Haruto had called too, so that was a double-up. The ambulance took forever. Elena got out of the lift just as Haruto came in and we had to tell her that Felix was missing. When she asked,What do you mean missing?we said he’d been hurt. Elena couldn’t get down tothe water, so Sarah stayed with her while Haruto, Jade and I went down to help carry Felix up.’

‘You weren’t worried about moving the body?’ Patrick asks.

Adam looks shocked. ‘We couldn’t leave him there.’ He looks at me as though I should understand.

Having never discovered a dead body I give him a tight-lipped smile. ‘I get it,’ I say.

‘Then the ambulance arrived and the paramedics must have known right away that Felix was dead, because they didn’t even take him to hospital. We all had to stick around waiting for the police to get there while they took Elena to the hospital – for shock, they said. Jade and Haruto went with her, but the rest of us were stuck at the house and we didn’t know what to do.’

‘Whatdidyou do?’

‘Sarah started gathering dishes to do some washing-up until Farnoosh said something about it being a crime scene. That was shocking, because we thought it was an accident. At least I did. Isn’t it?’

‘We don’t know.’

‘That’s all I can tell you about that night,’ Adam says. ‘Felix was outside by himself, so I don’t see how it could have been anything but an accident.’

‘He could have jumped.’

‘I didn’t know the guy, but he seemed happy enough to me.’

‘Did Felix say anything else to you or Haruto when he walked in on you?’ Patrick asks, which seems like a non sequitur to me.

‘No. Why?’

‘Just curious.’ I try to catch Patrick’s eye for a clue as to what he’s thinking, but he’s staring at nothing.

Adam stands, scooping up his phone and keys. ‘I really need to go,’ he says, and we get up too. Behind Adam, Ben rises from his seat until Lilia pulls him back down by the hem of his t-shirt.

‘Be less obvious,’ I hear her hiss.

‘Thanks for talking to us,’ I say.

‘Sorry for your loss,’ Adam says to me. ‘I didn’t know your brother well, but he seemed like a nice guy. I was surprised.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Just … Sorry. I shouldn’t say.’

‘Please do.’

‘Felix was more charming than I’d expected. That’s all I meant. Elena didn’t talk about him much. I kind of assumed there must be a reason.’

‘Yeah,’ I say, thinking of my brother’s ability to turn his charm on and off as required. ‘He could be charming if he wanted to be.’ I don’t add that he rarely wanted to be with me.

‘He wanted to with us, then.’

‘Well, thanks.’

‘I’d even wondered … Uh, there’s no point in that now.’ Adam blushes.

‘What?’ I ask.