Human Remains

work.’
    ‘Oh, sorry,’ he said, looking genuinely apologetic. ‘I thought I’d be able to catch you before you left.’
    She hesitated, one hand on the door, looking from Sam to me and back again. ‘Well, you’re here now. I can spare five minutes. You want to come in?’
    The living room was neat, all the furniture old and mismatched but cosy nonetheless, the kitchen through a big arch. Last night’s washing-up in the sink. ‘Do you want a drink?’ she asked. ‘Tea, or something?’
    ‘That would be wonderful, thank you. Do you mind if I use your loo?’
    ‘At the back,’ she said, filling the kettle, and Sam scuttled off down the corridor. I sat awkwardly perched on the edge of a sunken sofa. ‘You go around in pairs, do you?’ she asked me, over the noise of the water boiling.
    ‘Oh, um – no. I’m just – er – shadowing him.’
    She looked baffled. ‘What – like work experience?’
    ‘Kind of.’
    Clearly I looked far too old to be doing work experience on a newspaper, but to tell her the truth would take far too long.
    By the time Sam came back Lindsay had placed three mugs of tea on the table, along with a bowl of sugar and some spoons. I was ravenous all of a sudden and was on the verge of asking if she had any biscuits.
    ‘Do you mind if I…?’ As well as the notebook and pen he’d fished out from his canvas bag, Sam waved his phone at Lindsay. ‘I’m just really bad at taking notes, I always miss things…’
    ‘Go ahead.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    He found the voice recorder function on the phone and put it on the coffee table in front of her.
    ‘Have you and Audrey shared the flat for long?’
    She cradled her mug of tea and, looking at how relaxed she was, I could have easily predicted her answer.
    ‘No, just a few months. My last flatmate went travelling. Audrey answered an ad – in the
Chronicle
, in fact. Must have been… erm… February? March?’
    ‘Did you get on well?’
    ‘Yeah, I guess. I didn’t see much of her, to be honest.’
    ‘She went out a lot?’
    ‘She was round at her boyfriend’s, most of the time. She didn’t sleep over there that often, but I was usually in bed by the time she got in.’
    ‘That would be Vaughn Bradstock?’
    ‘Yes. Funny old thing, he was. But they seemed to get on, until last week, that is.’
    ‘They had a row?’ Sam shifted in his seat, took a gulp of tea.
    ‘They split up. I think it was all her idea.’
    ‘Do you know why she finished it?’ I asked.
    Sam shot me a look of surprise – it was his interview, after all – but I felt like a spare part and, besides, I was curious.
    ‘She said he was just a bit dull. She liked him a lot, but I think she was looking for a bit more – excitement? He collects stamps, for God’s sake. Who collects stamps in this day and age?’
    ‘Was she really upset by it all?’ I asked. ‘I mean – do you think she was depressed?’
    ‘I wouldn’t go that far. She had a bit of a cry and then started planning a night out with her friends.’
    I frowned at this.
    ‘So when did you last see her?’ Sam said then, getting back to his list of questions.
    ‘Friday. She was going out after work – someone’s birthday, I think. She was quite excited about it. She wanted to go out on the pull.’
    ‘You saw her go?’
    ‘Yeah. She was all dressed up; she looked gorgeous. I remember thinking she was quite likely to pull looking like that.’
    ‘But she didn’t come home?’
    ‘I went away for the weekend, to see some friends in York. When I came back on Sunday evening I knew straight away she hadn’t been back. The clothes she’d tried on before going out on Friday were all over the bed still.’
    ‘And you rang the police?’
    ‘I sent her a text and tried to call her, but her phone was switched off. I thought about ringing Vaughn but then I thought, maybe she was with some other bloke. I didn’t want to involve him.’ Lindsay put her empty mug down on the table and looked pointedly at her watch.
    ‘Sorry,’ Sam said. ‘Just one more question – so when did you report her missing?’
    ‘I rang her at work first thing this morning. At Arnold’s – that’s where she works. I wanted to just check she was OK; after all, she hadn’t taken any clothes with her… or anything like that. And they said she hadn’t come in – she’s always very punctual. The girl I spoke to was really worried when I said I hadn’t seen her. So after that I phoned the police.’
    ‘Do you