TOYL

me do it.’
    Emma stepped back, surprised to find that she was crying.
    Lizzy hugged her. ‘Everything’s going to be all right,’ she said, but she didn’t sound convinced anymore.
    Will unlocked the door and a crescendo of guitars and drums swept out onto the landing.
    ‘Danny, you in here?’ he shouted, moving into the apartment. He turned left towards the lounge, from where the music was coming from, while Emma and Lizzy headed for the kitchen.
    ‘Dan?’ Emma neared the kitchen. ‘Where are… oh my God!’
    ‘What is it?’ Will shouted.
    ‘Something’s wrong,’ Lizzy replied, as Emma stood in stunned silence, taking in the scene. Her worst fears were realised. Blood rushed to her head, sending her reeling, and she placed a steadying hand against the fridge-freezer.
    The kitchen was smashed up: broken plates and dishes littered the floor, the bin had been overturned and emptied, the blinds were half torn down, and the water was running in the sink.
    ‘My God,’ Will said, as he appeared breathlessly at their shoulders and surveyed the damage.
    ‘What the hell’s happened?’ Lizzy asked, of no one in particular.
    ‘The other rooms,’ Emma said, pulling herself out of her shock.
    She turned and headed for the bedroom, flinging open the door, expecting to find something horrible inside. But there was nothing. The bed was immaculately made, just as she had left it. Everything was in its right place. A faint hint of Dan’s favourite aftershave hung in the air. Emma turned to head for the bathroom, the last remaining room of the apartment.
    ‘Oh, shit!’ she heard Will shout from behind her. ‘Shit! Call an ambulance! Somebody get an ambulance!’
    ‘What’s wrong?’ Emma rushed out into the hallway. Will appeared from the bathroom, his hands covered in blood. ‘Oh no,’ she said, covering her mouth and shaking her head. She backed against the wall. ‘Please say he’s okay.’
    ‘It’s not Dan.’ Will’s face was pained as he held blood-soaked hands out in front of him. ‘It’s Richard. I think he’s dead.’

3

    ‘Do you think Dan did that to Richard?’ Emma asked, as the three of them sat in the hospital waiting area.
    Ever since they had found Dan’s brother Richard unconscious on the bathroom floor, with what was undoubtedly a life-threatening head injury, Emma had been desperate to ask that question. But she was afraid of what her brother and best friend might say. Lizzy hadn’t said anything, either in the apartment waiting for the paramedics to arrive, or in the taxi on the way to the hospital. But although Will hadn’t commented either, Emma knew him well enough to sense that something deeper was troubling him about the situation.
    ‘No, no, of course not,’ Lizzy said, snapping out of her daydream. ‘Dan couldn’t have done something like that.’
    Will sat with his head resting in his hands, staring blankly into space.
    ‘Will,’ Emma said, noticing his silence. ‘You don’t think he did it?’
    ‘I don’t know what to think,’ admitted Will, rubbing his eyes.
    ‘Dan would never hurt Richard!’ Emma said, turning on him. ‘Dan said they’ve never fought in their lives. They couldn’t be closer.’
    ‘Could you try and keep the noise down, please,’ said a passing nurse. ‘We’ve got patients who are trying to sleep.’
    Emma apologised, feeling suitably chastised.
    ‘I’m sorry, Em,’ Will said. ‘But it doesn’t look good, that’s all.’
    As much as Emma hated to admit it, Will was right – it didn’t look good. The paramedics made it pretty clear to the arriving police that they believed Richard had been attacked, rather than just falling and hitting his head. The injuries indicated that someone had used a blunt instrument, and had smashed it into his head more than once. It was no accident. And Dan had now disappeared. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. It was little wonder that most of the police questioning at the scene had centred on Dan’s likely whereabouts and the relationship between him and his brother.
    ‘He couldn’t have done it.’ Emma refused to believe that the man she had fallen in love with would be capable of carrying out such a violent attack. ‘I can’t believe you’d ever think he could.’
    ‘I hope you’re right,’ Will said. ‘I really do.’
    ‘I am right. I believe in him.’
    A tense silence descended for a few seconds.
    ‘Do you think the police will want to talk to us