TOYL

felt lonelier than he had ever felt in his entire life.
    But worst of all, he realised with disgust that he was beginning to empathise with the man who had caused all these problems.
    ‘Please,’ he said, looking up into the deep blue sky, ‘don’t let me become like him.’

    ***

    ‘Emma?’ the man at the door said.
    Emma nodded.
    ‘Detective Inspector Mark Gasnier,’ he continued, holding out a hand and flashing a surprisingly white, movie-star smile.
    ‘Hi.’ Emma took his hand and met his firm but fair grip. The guy certainly wasn’t what she had expected. He was a towering figure; his hair was gypsy black and his skin summer-tanned. She’d expected someone scruffy, even hangdog, but this guy was wearing a designer suit.
    ‘This is Detective Sergeant Christian Davies,’ added Gasnier, nodding towards his companion.
    ‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Davies, also shaking hands. He was at least a foot shorter than his partner; they looked like quite an odd pairing.
    Emma smiled and waited.
    ‘So can we come in?’ asked Gasnier, smiling again. This time it seemed more businesslike than friendly.
    ‘Oh, sure, yes, come on in,’ Emma said, forgetting herself.
    She led them into the lounge, where Lizzy was waiting nervously on the sofa.
    ‘Hi,’ Lizzy said, getting up to welcome them. ‘Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee?’
    ‘It’s okay,’ Gasnier replied, sitting down without invitation. ‘We’ve just had one back at the station. And we won’t be here for long, you’ll be glad to hear.’
    Lizzy smiled nervously. She’d never been involved with the police before; she’d never even as much as spoken to a policeman in her life. But now she had two detectives from the Met sitting in her apartment. It was just too crazy.
    Emma joined Lizzy on the sofa, facing the two officers. Gasnier, with his ample frame, made the sofa look as if it was toy-size.
    ‘This must be a really difficult time,’ began Gasnier, looking across at Emma. She stared straight back at him, noticing that his eyes were an unusually pale blue, as if someone had inserted two marbles into the place where his eyes should have been. ‘I hear that you’re due to be married in a week or so.’
    She was surprised by the start of the discussion, and could only manage a nod.
    Gasnier looked down at his notebook.
    ‘We’ve got a lot of details here from the preliminary questioning. I hope the Police Constable treated you well?’
    ‘Yes, he was very nice,’ Emma replied.
    ‘Good to hear it,’ he quipped, ‘because that was my nephew.’
    ‘Oh, right.’
    ‘I tried to persuade him not to go into the force, but he wouldn’t listen. He’ll learn, though.’
    Davies bit back a smile, but Gasnier’s comment seemed more like an accidentally voiced internal thought than a genuine attempt at humour.
    ‘You said that you last saw Dan when?’ asked Gasnier, getting back to the questioning.
    ‘It was about seven. Seven o’clock on Friday, just before I went out.’
    ‘To –?’
    ‘To my hen party. Well, we were going to have a night out in London – me and some friends.’
    ‘And when did you notice that something was wrong?’
    ‘I got a call from my brother, Will. He said that Dan hadn’t turned up for the stag party. So we all went back to the flat to see if we could find him.’
    ‘All?’ Gasnier said, raising an eyebrow.
    ‘Lizzy and me.’ Emma gestured to the silent Lizzy. ‘Will was already there, waiting for us.’
    ‘Your brother was already at the flat?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Talk me through what happened next.’ Gasnier sat back and folded his arms.
    ‘Well,’ began Emma. ‘We went into the apartments and we could hear music playing from upstairs. When we got to the top we realised it was coming from my flat, so we went in looking for Dan. And that’s when we found Richard, in the bathroom. We thought he was dead at first, but Will did some first aid on him until the ambulance arrived.’
    Gasnier paused, looking unblinkingly at Emma. It was as if he was trying to read her, deciding whether she was telling the truth.
    ‘How was Dan in the days, weeks before he disappeared?’
    ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘A bit on edge really, but we both were, what with the wedding coming up.’
    ‘Does Dan have any enemies that you know of?’
    ‘No. At least I don’t think so.’
    ‘No one with a grudge – an ex-girlfriend, someone who he owed money to?’
    ‘Not that I know of.’
    ‘Have you ever suspected