As Penny moved away from the body, she saw an out-of-breath Krish hurry down the last few stairs.
“He’s dead,” she said to him in a strange, disconnected voice. “He died.”
“How did he fall?” Krish asked.
“I don’t know,” Penny said. “I didn’t see. Did either of you see?”
Helen shook her head.
Krish shook his head.
32
7:10 p.m
Penny called the emergency services, and an operator talked them through CPR, mostly with chest compressions, until it was clear Martin was definitely dead and there was nothing they could do. It took ten minutes to establish it.
“We’ll do our best to get to you,” said the operator. “But you’re right by the river. It’s going to be tricky, and it’s going to take time.”
Penny only remembered Sue locked in Martin’s office when she hung up and reminded Krish.
“Martin locked Sue in his office?” Helen said. “Someone locked me in the ladies toilet.”
“What?” Krish said. “When?”
“I don’t know, about thirty minutes ago,” she said. “The light went out. I thought there’d been a power cut.”
“How did you get out?” Penny asked.
“Someone unlocked the door,” she said.
Krish frowned. “Are you sure the door was locked?”
Helen flashed him the stoniest expression Penny had ever seen. “Yes. I heard it unlock. That’s why I tried the door again.”
“So maybe Martin locked you in the toilet, then waited and locked Sue in his office. Though he didn’t know Sue was going to go in his office unless he put the screw sticking out of your desk.” Krish turned to Penny. “Then he unlocked the toilet door and threw himself over the handrail? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe he was up to something else,” Helen said. “Maybe he was rushing down the stairs to do some other horrible thing and he tripped, plummeted through the gap between the stairs and… well…”
“We should check his pockets,” Krish said. “See if he has the spare set of keys for the office.”
“We don’t need to,” Helen replied. “Martin keeps keys for every door in the building. He’s the manager. The only other person who keeps a set of keys is the security guard.”
“Wait, the security guard’s still here, right?”
“No,” Helen said. “He leaves at five. He probably went early along with the receptionist and IT.”
“We need to go there anyway,” Penny reminded them. “We need a key to Martin’s office to get Sue out.”
“Can’t we just get Martin’s key?” Krish said, gesturing to the body.
The three of them stared at it. Him. His blood was no longer seeping from the wound. It sat there in a smooth puddle around Martin’s smashed skull. Penny did not want to touch his body another time.
“What about fingerprints?” Helen said. “There might be an investigation. If our fingerprints are… on his body…”
“Fuck,” Krish said. Then he sighed and swore again. “We were fighting right before he died.”
“You had sex with his wife,” Helen said.
“Yes, all right, I am aware.” Krish ran his fingers through his hair. There were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was messy. He seemed pulled tight, his entire body tensed. He came across as a man running on empty. “We all know you and he were… you know.”
Helen folded her arms tightly across her chest. “That’s malicious gossip.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Krish said.
At that moment, Helen glanced sideways at Penny. Her lips twitched slightly. Penny avoided Helen’s gaze, hoping she wouldn’t bring up the thing she thought Helen might bring up.
“Let’s just go to the security office and find the extra keys,” Penny said, hoping to distract Helen from whatever thoughts she might be having.
“Finally a sensible suggestion,” Krish said.
Unfortunately, they had to step around Martin’s body to reach the stairs. Penny thought, as they were on their way up, that they shouldn’t be using these stairs because they could be trampling over evidence. But it was too late by that point.
The reception desk was empty, as they thought it would be. Ginny’s office was behind reception, now closed. Next to the reception was another small office for their security guard, along with a second door for storage. Most of the other buildings used the general security team who acted for the entire university, but because they were in a separate area, they had someone who split his time between the department building and their office. He had his own space with a computer, a desk, and a cabinet of keys. Penny knew his name was Bill, but that was about it.
“It’ll be locked,” Helen said. “Won’t it? Did we think this through?”
“Try it,” Krish suggested.
“Okay, if it’s locked, we go back to Martin and take his keys. When the police come, we just have to explain about Sue being trapped. We’re all innocent, right? Martin tripped and fell.” Helen’s breath was coming out in short, sharp gasps. She seemed close to having an anxiety attack. “Perhaps we could… you know… corroborate that we’re all innocent? Together? Maybe we all knew where we were. Or were together.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Krish frowned. He leaned one elbow on the reception desk. “Wow.”
“It’s not so crazy. We know what happened. We know he died accidentally. All we’d be doing is making sure none of us got wrongfully accused.”
“Why would that happen?” Krish challenged.
“Because…” Helen’s mouth opened and closed. “Because the law isn’t always fair. Listen, Krish, you’ve got the most to lose.”
“Shut up, Helen.”
While they continued to fight, Penny stepped around them and pressed the door handle to the guard’s office. It opened.
“Look,” she said.
Helen and Krish stared at the open door. Both were silent.
“Let’s get the keys and go,” Penny said. She stepped into the office and searched for the cabinet. It didn’t take long to find. The shallow cabinet—like a shrunken version of a school locker—was on the wall next to Bill’s desk. The metal door was hanging open to reveal the carefully filed keys hanging on their hooks inside.
“Why is it open?” Krish said. “Why is the little cabinet open? What the fuck is happening? Did someone come in here on purpose and steal keys?”
“None of them are missing,” Penny pointed out. She found the key for Martin’s office and took it from the hook. “Come on, let’s get Sue.”
“Wait,” Helen said. She held her hands out, blocking Penny’s way. “Krish is right. This door shouldn’t be open, should it? Maybe there’s someone else in the building. Didn’t you see the IT guy? Keith?”
“Kevin,” Krish corrected.
“Did he have a falling-out with Martin?” Helen said. “Would he have a motive for… for murder.”