Soul Fire

reflected in it is unfamiliar, my eyes wide
and wired.
    And I look even more like Meggie.
    I open the cabinet. There’s a toothbrush and paste, sun cream, and several brown bottles and boxes labelled with Spanish text. Medicines. I grab them, and take them into Lewis. He’s
managed to get one of the laptops working, and has attached a memory stick. ‘What do you think these are?’ I ask.
    He examines the boxes, scans their barcodes with his phone camera. Then tuts. ‘Sleeping pills.’ He takes a second packet. ‘Sedatives. Blimey. This would knock out that mammoth
in the park.’
    ‘When did you go to the park?’
    He shakes his head. ‘Yesterday. I didn’t spend the whole day with my brother geeks. I did do some sightseeing. Anyway, let’s focus on what’s important. If Zoe was
taking even a quarter of this lot, I’m surprised she could remember her own name.’
    ‘Sahara said she couldn’t sleep properly; hadn’t since Meggie died.’
    ‘The date on these is really recent.’ Lewis has opened the packets; more than half the pills are missing from each foil strip. ‘You know, this could be another explanation for
what happened tonight. If her reactions were slower, she might just have fallen and not been able to get up.’
    ‘Are you saying you think it could have been an accident?’
    Lewis sighs. ‘No. It’s just so shocking: Meggie, Tim, now Zoe.’
    It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him upset. But before I can say something, he turns back to the laptop screen. ‘OK. Let’s focus. What was Tim’s second name
again?’
    ‘Ashley.’
    ‘I’m downloading Zoe’s emails onto the stick. And her internet activity too. But there’s so much of it, I want to try to prioritise.’ He types in Tim’s name.
Hundreds of emails pop up. None has a subject line but, as I lean forward, Lewis arranges them in date order. ‘The last one was sent on the afternoon of the day Tim died.’
    He opens it up.
    Hey Zo,
    How’s it going?
    Re. leaving, you should follow your heart, and if your heart says Spain, then go. Maybe you need sun, new horizons. Might help your hair, even. Though I love you
     just as much bald as hairy, you know that.
    ‘Love? Did he love Zoe?’
    Lewis shrugs. ‘They just sound like mates to me.’
    Don’t worry about me, please, Zo. I feel . . . Well, maybe you won’t believe me, but the last few days, things feel more under control. Not good. Not
     like they were when Meggie was alive, but, I dunno. Like there might still be something to life after all.
    Might be the daffodils coming out.
    Re. the site, maybe you should leave it for a bit. This is my thing. Mine to sort out. And I will sort it out. But it might be better to wait for things to settle.
     That’s when the Person will relax. Make mistakes.
    I read it again: it’s exactly what I thought would happen with the killer. Yet Tim is dead, and now Zoe’s unconscious. Maybe we were wrong.
    You sleeping any better? I’ve stopped drinking lately and it’s helped me loads. I’d say keep taking the tablets, but I hate you having to be on
     them. Maybe in Spain it’ll be better?
    Hasta la vista, Zo.
    Tim xx
    Lewis sighs. ‘Ade found him, what, six hours later?’
    ‘And he’d been drinking, but here he says he’d stopped. What would have made him start again that same day?’
    ‘Unless he was lying to Zoe,’ Lewis suggests.
    ‘Why would he—’ I stop. ‘Did you hear something? Outside.’
    ‘No,’ Lewis says, but then his face changes. ‘A siren?’
    ‘I think so.’
    ‘Ali, go and check while I finish this.’
    I tiptoe out of the flat, into the stairwell. There’s a window on the next half landing, facing the street. I have to crane my neck to look through it.
    ‘Shit.’ I backtrack, into the flat. ‘It’s the police. They must be coming here.’ My voice is squeaky with fear.
    Lewis blinks hard, but that’s as near as he comes to showing panic. ‘OK. We’ll just go to the top of the stairwell. Hide till they’re gone. They won’t be long.
They’ll probably be looking for something to help find her parents.’
    His hands don’t even tremble as he pulls out the memory stick and closes the laptop lid. Then he reaches for the second laptop, the one he couldn’t log into, and puts it and the
power cable into his backpack.
    ‘What are you doing, Lewis?’
    He holds his finger against his lips. ‘Shh.’
    I follow him out of the flat and up the stairs, my own footsteps sounding as