The Shadow by Melanie Raabe & Imogen Taylor

Author:Melanie Raabe & Imogen Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2020-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

35

Norah sat at her desk for a long time, trying to put her thoughts in order; she was still sitting there when the sun rose. As soon as it was late enough for her to get hold of someone at the office, she rang her boss and told him she had the flu and thought she’d better work from home, so as not to pass it onto anyone. Then—presumably some form of displacement activity—she really did get on with some work, typing up and going through the previous day’s interview with the local politician. It was only when she stopped for a break that the thought hit her and she saw clearly the shape of the suspicion that had wormed its way under her skin and into her organs.

A woman, whom Norah now knew to be an actor, had told her that she would kill a man named Arthur Grimm on the anniversary of Valerie’s death. Soon afterwards, that woman had died. And now Norah had discovered a link between herself and Arthur Grimm.

Valerie.

Always Valerie.

Norah shivered and reached automatically for her cigarettes, amazed at how quickly she’d fallen back into old habits since leaving Alex. Even after all those years of not smoking, every bad feeling had her groping for the fags. But the packet was empty.

She leant back in her chair. Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. Try to think rationally.

Was it possible?

Norah’s hand jerked towards the cigarette packet again, as if it might have miraculously refilled itself in the intervening seconds. As she pulled her hand back, she felt the new knowledge take possession of her like a virus.

She got up and had a shower. Then she scrubbed the bitter taste from her teeth, tied up her hair and slipped into jeans and a jumper. That was better. She made the bed and flung open all the windows in the flat, leaving them open until she began to feel the cold. Much better. She sat back down at her desk, found an online delivery service and ordered some Vietnamese food. She smoked too much and ate too little, she knew she did. But she mustn’t let herself go just because Alex and Sandra were no longer there to stop her. She must keep her strength up.

A ring at the door made her jump. She looked through the spyhole, almost expecting to see Theresa, but there was nobody there. She picked up the intercom receiver and pressed it to her ear.

‘Hello?’

‘Delivery for Norah Richter,’ said a young male voice.

It couldn’t be the food; they weren’t that fast. More furniture? But that wasn’t supposed to come until next week.

‘Hello?’ the voice said again, sounding impatient.

‘Hang on, please.’

Norah ran to the window and looked down onto the street. A UPS van was parked outside the building. Back in the hall, she buzzed open the door. Footsteps clattered up the stairs and a shock of reddish-brown hair appeared behind a huge gift basket wrapped in rustling cellophane.

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