‘Yeah…not now, old man. I’m too busy to play.’ He looked up – Rizal had legged it. Shrimp went to go after him. ‘Leave him, Shrimp, we’ll find him when we want him. He has nowhere else to go.’

Chapter 45

Ruby was satisfied. She opened the vent above the cooker to let out the steam. She had an urge to clean. She had washed the white tiles, scrubbed the bed, she had cut up Steven Littlewood’s body, stripped the flesh from his bones and now they were sawn into manageable pieces and boiling on top of the stove.

Ruby pushed her hair back from her face, she was sweating. She was naked. She had such a lot of work to do. Why were men always so messy? Did he have to get his blood everywhere? Ruby had worked for hours, cutting up his body. When she was finished she placed her dolls back on the shelves in the lounge. Some of them still had bits of flesh stuck in their hair. They had drops of blood on their faces but Ruby had decided she had better things to do than keep cleaning. Some things just didn’t matter any more. She mustn’t waste her precious time now.

She was going down to the government hospital that morning. She had been there many times. Ruby walked along the corridors and no one noticed her. Sometimes she wore a nurse’s outfit. Sometimes she wore a white coat. Now she could give a decent injection. She could keep someone alive long after they wanted to die. Today she wanted to see if any of the babies there needed her.

The government hospital. There weren’t enough beds. There wasn’t enough staff. They always needed another pair of hands.

Ruby smiled at the good-looking young doctor as she made her way along the corridor. It was late afternoon. It was a good time for her to visit, between the doctor’s rounds. There were people asleep on the floor in the corridor. There weren’t enough beds. People lay on mattresses. Their relatives cared for them. Ruby stopped by a family: an old woman was being fed by her daughter. It was hospital congee; a watery rice soup. Ruby knelt down beside them.

‘You must be very tired,’ she said to the daughter. ‘Go home now and rest. I will look after your mother. Don’t worry.’ Ruby smiled.

The daughter hesitated but accepted gratefully. ‘Thank you, nurse.’

Ruby smiled reassuringly at her. ‘That’s what I’m here for.’

Ruby watched the daughter leave. She tied a tourniquet around the old woman’s arm and tapped the inside of her elbow to raise a vein. She slipped the needle beneath the woman’s papery skin and into the vein and then she depressed the plunger and emptied the syringe. She repeated the procedure again. Then she moved to the other arm and delivered two more ten ml doses of air.

She leaned in and whispered, ‘Thanks for letting me practise on you.’ Then she stood and went on down the corridor to the maternity unit.

As she was walking out she heard the old woman scream in agony.

Chapter 46

It was 2 p.m. when Nina knocked on Lilly’s door. Rizal answered. He looked at her, intrigue in his eyes.

‘Yes?’

‘Is Lilly in?’

He shook his head, pulled up his vest and scratched his stomach.

‘Do you know when Michelle will be back?’

He shook his head, his eyes glued to the flesh showing around her slim midriff.

‘Who’s going to make the curry for the stall? I have brought the meat, the spices.’ She lifted up her arm with the carrier bag in her hand.

Rizal shrugged and walked back into the flat. He sat down on the sofa and opened a beer, put his feet on the table and kicked off the newspapers. Rizal looked at her. She was still waiting in the doorway.

Nina looked at her watch. ‘Do you want me to do it? You will lose customers otherwise and Michelle will lose money. Plus I can’t get rid of this pork anywhere round here.’

Rizal waved the beer bottle at her. ‘Sure. That would be very nice. You’re a good girl, Nina. Come in, close the door.’

Nina glanced nervously backwards. She didn’t like being alone with any man, let alone Rizal, but Michelle was a good friend to her. If Ali caught her coming out, she would be punished. She was going to be married next month to a man old enough to be her father, but it wasn’t for her to choose. The one thing she had to be was pure. Any scandal and the man might call it off. She was already at the age when she should be married with three children. She had delayed whilst she was needed to run the restaurant but now she must bend to her father’s will. She must marry a man she didn’t love. She looked back at the landing. It wouldn’t take her long. She could have it done in half an hour and then it would slow cook for the next eight and that would be all she had to do. It was worth it to help Michelle. They relied on one another in the Mansions.

Nina placed the groceries on the kitchen surface. The kitchen and the lounge were all one room. Rizal rested his arm on the back of the sofa, turned to watch her over his shoulder. She worked with one eye on him and one eye on what she was doing. She chopped the meat and fried the spices and onions. The room filled with the familiar smell that the whole landing had come to know. She worked quickly, her hands flew around as she tried to finish the job and get out. She was so busy stirring she didn’t notice Rizal standing behind her until she turned. He was watching her bottom moving beneath the silk sari as she stirred vigorously. She turned and nearly fell into him as she went to put a pan in the sink. She jumped back.

He laughed. She stepped to the side and placed the pan in the sink.

‘It’s a joy to watch you work. You have really quick hands. You love to keep busy, don’t you? I see your whole body moving when you’re working like that. You have a nice figure. I hope you have someone to show it to, do you, Nina?’

Nina ignored him and began to tidy away the things she had used. She had finished. She could leave it now. He stepped forwards and pulled her to him from behind. His hands around her waist…

‘Please…no…’ She pushed down on his hands, she struggled to get away. He held her tighter. His rough hands slid up under her top. Nina screamed, struggled.

‘You’re strong.’

Nina was strong. She lifted her grandmother in and out of bed every day. She carried heavy groceries all day long. She pushed him off and lurched forward out of his grip, knocking the spoon out of the pot, showering Rizal in scalding curry.

He screamed in pain. ‘All right. All right.’ He lifted both his palms in the air as if he hadn’t meant to touch her and it was all a mistake.

There was a knock at the door. After much cursing Rizal answered it, still wiping the curry from his face. It was Shrimp and two other detectives..

‘Please…’ Nina stepped past Rizal. She kept her eyes locked on Shrimp’s, willing him to help her.

‘Are you all right, miss?’

She nodded and hurried past, disappearing down the stairs.

A dirty-faced, naked child came to cling to Rizal’s leg and there was the sound of another one crying somewhere in the flat.

‘What?’ He looked nervously at Shrimp. ‘What do you want?’ He shook the child away from his leg, irritably.

‘We just want a word. Can we come in?’

Rizal muttered under his beery breath as he turned and walked back into the flat and Shrimp and the detectives followed. Shrimp could see that it hadn’t taken long for the place to fall apart without Michelle.

‘When is she coming home? I can’t cook. My business is going down the pan. I’m lucky Nina helps.’ Rizal handed the crying child a piece of bread and pushed it protesting into another room. He threw off the papers from the couch and half fell, half lurched as he sat heavily down. He broke the top off a beer and drank it. He offered one to Shrimp. Shrimp declined.

‘Michelle’s still helping us with our enquiries. These gentlemen have come to tidy your flat for you and collect the samples that you forgot to give us downstairs. Is Lilly about?’