Page 66 of Gone in the Night
She pointed upstairs. ‘First floor, lift’s broken, you’ll have to walk up those stairs at the end of the corridor.’
Morgan asked, ‘Did you know Lydia?’
‘Not really, I mean I know her face, but I didn’t speak to her or anything. There’s a lot of people work in this building. I haven’t got the time to talk to them all.’
Morgan nodded, turned and followed Ben to the stairs, where she whispered, ‘What a charming woman.’
Ben stifled the laughter, cupping a hand over his mouth. They reached the first floor to an open-plan office filled with desks and lots of people. Nobody looked as if they were devastated at the news one of their colleagues had been murdered. They were all typing furiously on computer keyboards or were on the phone, except for one woman who was staring into space, her eyes a little red.
Morgan walked over to her and introduced herself.
‘Did you know that Lydia Williams has been killed?’
The woman nodded. ‘Justin announced it at the team briefing this morning then carried on talking about what we needed to do as if it was a minor inconvenience and she’d just called in sick. Everyone was so shocked. He didn’t give us time to talk about it or ask questions, which just proves what a crap place this is to work. I’m out of here as soon as I find something else.’
‘Were you friends with Lydia?’
‘Kind of, we weren’t best friends, but we chatted to each other about stuff and took our breaks at the same time.’
Morgan looked around at everyone. The noise was deafening. ‘Did she have any good friends here?’
‘No, we all get paid to work not to socialise.’
‘Who says that?’ asked Ben.
The woman whose lanyard readKarenpointed to an office on the other side of the room.
‘Justin, our boss and fearless leader.’
‘You don’t like Justin?’
Karen looked around before lowering her voice. ‘Nobody likes Justin.’
‘Ah, I see, how was he with Lydia? Did she get on okay with her work or was she having any problems with anyone?’
‘The only problems she had was with him, he’s a creep. Married and always trying it on with every woman or teenager that comes to work here.’
‘What kind of problems was Lydia having?’
‘He always got her to stay behind on a Friday when everyone else was rushing to get home; he would call her into his office.’
‘Did Lydia ever tell you why?’
Karen shook her head. ‘No, well, she insinuated he was hitting on her like the creep he is.’
‘Did he ask her to stay behind last Friday?’
Karen nodded. ‘She texted me to say she’d quit and would see me around, that he is a total loser and to keep out of his way.’ Then she lowered her head as a guy came out of the office door and headed straight towards them.
‘Can I help you?’
‘Detectives Matthews and Brookes, can we speak to you about Lydia Williams?’
He glared at Karen who still hadn’t lifted her gaze in his direction. His shoulders stiffening, he nodded, then pointed in the direction of his office. ‘Of course, officers.’
They followed him into the large room that overlooked the city square. He pointed to chairs.
‘What can I do for you?’
