Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
An hour later, Lily found herself perched on the edge of the couch with a black marker in her hand and a ream of copier paper on the table in front of her. She licked her finger and slid out a fresh piece, then leaned forwards to scribble down her latest thought.
Mrs Patel probably knew there wasn’t an issue with asbestos.
It was about the twentieth note she’d made.
Everything she could think of that could be relevant, she’d written on individual pieces of paper.
She ignored the niggling voice in her head which complained about all the waste paper and the complete mess she was making of the living room floor.
That was all irrelevant. Having everything laid out in front of her might help her figure out what she was missing.
Where did the screws go? she wrote, wincing at the screech of the marker on the page.
It was drying out, and she contemplated going in search of a fresh one as she placed the paper down on the floor.
She put it together with the others which pertained to the suspicious things in Mr Latham’s living room: the lack of marks on the furniture, the fact that nothing had broken when the bookcase fell.
She also had notes about each of the residents in the building, and about the paperwork she’d found in Mr Latham’s office.
With so many questions, she wasn’t sure what to focus on.
Something with an obvious next move would be good, but she couldn’t quite find that.
Everything left her puzzled. Sinking onto the couch, she threw the marker on the table and surveyed her handiwork.
Ten minutes later she felt a headache starting behind her eyes.
Maybe she’d lie down and have a nap. Except a gentle knock at the door scuppered that plan. As she went to answer it, she rubbed her temples in an attempt to tame the headache.
Through the peephole, she spotted Aiden pacing in front of the door.
“Hi,” she said, opening it hesitantly.
“I can prove I was at my mate’s house,” he said, holding his phone out.
“Excuse me?” she said, blinking the phone screen into focus.
“I was annoyed earlier, and I got defensive. But I was thinking about it and I can prove where I was on Friday night.”
“What is this?” she asked, staring at the phone.
“My Uber account. It records my trips.” He thrust it closer to her.
“It tells you right there. I got picked up from Danny’s place at 2:50 and got back here at eight minutes past three.
So you can see I wasn’t lying. If I didn’t mention the specifics earlier, it was only because I didn’t think it was relevant. ”
“It’s not,” Lily said. He wasn’t at home in the evening – that was all that mattered. Another note to add to the chaos in the living room.
“Sorry for getting all aggro on you earlier, but I didn’t like your implications.”
“No.” She stretched her spine. “I don’t suppose you would.”
“I also didn’t like you upsetting Caroline.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I spoke to her again. She reckons she did hear a big crash on Friday evening. Loud enough that it could have been the bookcase falling.”
“She didn’t say that earlier.”
“She said she told the police she heard something. I don’t know if anyone asked her specifics about how loud it was.”
Lily sighed. That could be true.
“Also, she’s been in touch with the police about the key to Jeremy’s place. They didn’t sound too concerned. Once they track down the next of kin, they’ll tell them she has it.”
Lily’s eyebrows lifted. “They haven’t contacted the next of kin?”
“Apparently not.” He shrugged. “That’s all I know. I only wanted to let you know about my Uber ride.” He leaned against the doorframe. “Why are you looking into this, anyway? Is it because your boyfriend’s a copper?”
“No.” She inhaled deeply. “To be honest, I’ve done some investigative work before.”
He nodded approvingly. “Sweet.”
“Unofficial stuff,” she added quickly. “But I think I have good instincts. I tend to spot things other people overlook.”
“That’s cool.” He lifted his hand and gestured over his shoulder. “The tenants in this building are good people, though. It doesn’t sit right with me to see you harassing them.”
“I genuinely didn’t mean to harass anyone,” she said. “And I am starting to wonder more about what Mr Latham was up to than what happened to him.”
“How do you mean?”
“I think he unlawfully evicted the previous tenants in the building.”
“Was he really going to evict me?” Aiden asked.
“I’m sure he wanted to. I get the feeling something was holding him back.”
“Something like me threatening to take him to court if he tried to get me out without doing everything according to the letter of the law?”
Lily opened her mouth, then closed it again and gave a questioning tilt of the head.
“When I got into an argument with him about the bins and calling the council, he said if I continued to interfere and cause trouble he’d be forced to evict me. I told him to make sure he did everything officially because I’d enjoy taking him to court if it wasn’t all done correctly.”
Lily’s brain went into overdrive. “When was this?”
“I couldn’t really say. A while back.”
“Approximately, though? Was it a year ago? Or a month?”
“A couple of months, I reckon.”
She’d have guessed as much. That would align with the time Mr Latham started writing Aiden’s eviction letters.
The door across the hall opened abruptly.
“Thought I heard voices,” Mrs Patel said.
“Sorry,” Lily said sheepishly. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“You didn’t.” She crossed the hallway. “I wanted to let you know that I’ve been on the phone to the woman who used to live in this building. The one who was evicted.”
Lily nodded her understanding.
“I don’t know her personally,” Mrs Patel went on. “Rita’s a friend of a friend, but I tracked down her number after Henry said you’d been asking about the previous building owner. I asked if she knew the name Silverton.”
“And?” Lily said, not holding out much hope.
Mrs Patel’s eyebrows lifted. “It turns out Mr and Mrs Silverton owned the building back when Rita used to live here. She knew Mr Latham too. Had a lot of good things to say about him, and she was sorry to hear about his passing, but that’s beside the point.”
“How did she know Mr Latham?” Lily asked.
“I was coming to that. Rita said Mr Latham lived in the building. He was the caretaker employed by the Silvertons. Or so she thought.” She paused for breath.
“When I told her he’d been our landlord here, she said that actually made sense.
She wasn’t sure of the relationship, but she thought he was related to the Silvertons and either bought the building or inherited it from them.
She says that with hindsight she feels very sorry for him.
When the building was found to have asbestos, the owners wanted nothing to do with it.
They left Mr Latham in the lurch as well as the tenants.
She said it was admirable how calmly he handled it all, given how upset some tenants were.
Understandably so,” she added as an afterthought.
Lily nodded.
“You would be upset, wouldn’t you?” Aiden put in. “If you had to leave your home. And not only that, but you’ve potentially been inhaling poison.” He looked thoughtful. “Do you inhale asbestos?”
“It’s not always as dangerous as you might think,” Mrs Patel said flippantly. “You only hear about the nasty cases.” Her eyes flicked to Lily. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know since Henry said you’ve been asking questions.”
“Thanks,” Lily said, just as barking started up from the direction of Gigi’s flat.
The three of them stared along the hall while the dog’s yapping became more insistent. Presumably, Aiden and Mrs Patel were thinking the same as Lily – that Gigi would appear any minute. Or at least her voice hushing the dog.
“I hope everything’s okay,” Mrs Patel said, as a sliver of unease coiled itself around Lily’s spine.