Page 24 of The Impossible Fortune

‘Cold storage,’ says Elizabeth.

‘Like fridge-freezers?’

‘Of course not like fridge-freezers,’ says Elizabeth.

‘Then what?’

‘Storage,’ says Elizabeth. ‘A storage system but an unusual one. Non-traditional.’

‘Ah, you don’t know,’ says Donna. ‘You know it’s okay just to admit you don’t know sometimes?’

‘Donna,’ says Elizabeth, ‘I do know – I just don’t knowyet.’

‘Oh, that’s good,’ says Joyce.

Elizabeth regroups. ‘Joyce, we have to talk to Holly Lewis.’

‘As I say,’ says Joyce, ‘I haven’t met her, but –’

‘Where can we find her?’ Elizabeth asks.

‘I’ll ask Paul,’ says Joyce, then turns to Donna. ‘My son-in-law.’

‘Can I go now?’ Bogdan asks. ‘I left a Lithuanian to do the plastering.’

Elizabeth waves this away and turns back to Joyce. ‘Ask Paul if Holly might like to visit us for dinner this evening. And tell him to let you know if Nick Silver contacts him. If he does, we’ll know he’s gone into hiding, and if he doesn’t –’

‘Then he’s dead,’ says Joyce.

There is a beat.

‘You know,’ says Donna, ‘this reallydoesfeel like a police matter.’

‘It does a bit,’ agrees Bogdan. ‘Even I think.’

‘Donna, we don’t need you running around the county solving murders when you could be protecting PrinceEdward,’ says Elizabeth. ‘And, Bogdan, you have a roof to fix, so we all have jobs to do, don’t we? If someone has been murdered, I’ll be sure to let you know. Until then, we have a minibus to catch.’

Among the chaos of the room, Elizabeth sees a file tucked neatly behind a radiator. Lifting it out, she sees that it is not just a file: it is a file with her name written on the front of it. She slips it into her bag.

Elizabeth leads Joyce, Donna and Bogdan down the stairs. Is there any sign that someone has been dragged down here? Any blood on the banister? Handprints smeared on the wall? Nothing that Elizabeth can see at first glance.

Perhaps he was waiting in his office, heard noises on the roof and, spooked, ran for safety? That would explain his leaving the file. And, if so, surely he will contact Paul? Or perhaps even her?

Out of Donna’s line of sight, Elizabeth takes the file from her bag. Inside is a single Post-it note.

Help me, Elizabeth. You’ll work out how.

She flashes it to Joyce and places a finger to her lips.

Joyce whispers, ‘So he’s alive?’

Elizabeth whispers back, ‘Joyce, this doesn’t tell us he’s alive. Just that he was alive when he wrote it.’

‘Of course, sorry,’ says Joyce.

Elizabeth leads them back out onto Templar Street, and realizes, to her shock, that she is hungry. When was the last time she was hungry? These days she has to force herself to eat, and yet here she is, suddenly ravenous.

The return of her appetite. Who would have seen that coming?