Page 117 of We Chase Shadows

‘The note from Eriksson?’ says Amy. ‘You were working for him?’

Lee shakes his head. ‘Course not. That wouldn’t be the easy life.’

The first murder. The first link in the chain that has since spiralled out of control. They haven’t been able to make sense of it this whole time.

‘Then why write the note?’ says Amy.

‘The cleaner,’ says Lee.

‘The cleaner?’

‘The girl Vern fired,’ says Lee. ‘Maria.’

‘The one Esteban marched out at gunpoint?’ says Amy. ‘The one who’d been stealing?’

‘That’s her,’ says Lee. ‘Well, she was marched out at gunpoint, anyway. She hadn’t stolen anything.’

‘She hadn’t stolen anything?’ says Amy. ‘She was caught red-handed?’

‘She was caught red-handed,’ says Lee. ‘By Esteban.’

‘Oh,’ says Amy.

‘She was swearing blind she’d done nothing,’ says Lee. ‘I mean, in Italian, but you got the idea. Vern believed Esteban and told him to get her out of the house.’

‘Why would Esteban lie?’ Amy asks.

‘They’d just broken up,’ says Lee. ‘Esteban and Maria. Couldn’t both stay. She’d been working there a lot longer than him, but Esteban liked his job, and this was his solution. Thought it was foolproof. Vern had only hired Maria because her brother’s the local coke dealer, so he could trust her to keep quiet about anything she saw. But it meant he believed she was a thief.’

‘And she came back?’ says Amy.

‘She came back,’ says Lee.

‘I would have come back,’ says Amy.

‘Me too,’ says Lee.

Amy nods. ‘But she came back with a gun?’

‘Her brother’s gun is my guess,’ says Lee. ‘Esteban was on patrol. But I was watching the security monitors.’

‘I thought you were watching Rampage 8?’ says Amy.

‘Nah, I was working,’ says Lee. ‘I was always working.’

‘And you saw something?’

‘I saw Maria,’ says Lee. ‘She was coming through the gate.’

‘Without setting off any alarms?’

‘She knew every code in the place,’ says Lee. ‘She was the cleaner.’

‘It’s a good job for a murderer,’ says Amy.

‘As I get out, she has a gun raised, Esteban kneeling in front of her,’ says Lee. ‘And so I raise my gun, and I tell her we can sort the whole thing out. Esteban is telling me to shoot her. And she laughed.’

‘She laughed?’