Truly Madly Guilty

'Well, you need to put a stop to it! Are you stupid? It's not my responsibility!'

'Okay, Harry,' said Tiffany.

'Harry, mate!' Vid strolled out into the hallway, stuffing a handful of purple grapes into his mouth. 'You want to come to a barbeque later? We're having Erika and Oliver over! You know, from number seven.'

Harry blinked at Vid. He put his hand inside his shirtfront and scratched. 'What? No, I don't want to come to a barbeque.'

'Ah, that's a pity,' said Vid. He put his arm around Tiffany. 'Maybe another time, but Harry, you know, I don't want to hear you calling my wife "stupid". Okay, Harry? That's not nice. That's not neighbourly.'

Harry looked at them with his rheumy brown eyes.

'I don't want any more of your letters,' he muttered. 'Not my responsibility. You've got to take responsibility.'

'We take responsibility,' said Vid. 'Don't you worry about that.'

'Get that dog away from me!' said Harry as Barney sniffed his shoe with fascination. Barney lifted his bearded little face, as if his feelings were hurt.

'Come on, Barney.' Vid clicked his fingers at the dog.

'You know we're always here if you need us, Harry,' said Tiffany. He suddenly seemed so heartbreaking, like a confused child.

'What?' Harry looked appalled. 'Why would I need you? Just keep your damned letters out of my letterbox.'

He shuffled off, shoulders bowed, shaking his head and muttering.

Vid shut the door. Harry was already forgotten. 'Right,' he said. 'Do I feel like baking? Yes, I feel like baking! Will I make strudel? What do you think? Strudel? Yes. I think most definitely strudel.'

chapter ten

Erika was back in the dry comfort of her office. The return cab fare from the library where Clementine had given her talk had been even more than the one out there. She'd just wasted one hundred and thirty-four non-claimable dollars. She couldn't understand her own decision-making process. Listening to Clementine had certainly not filled in any gaps in her memory. All it had done was to stir up all sorts of uncomfortable feelings, and then she'd had to deal with the phone calls from both her husband and her mother on the way back in the taxi. She couldn't wait to throw herself into some complex work. It would clear her mind almost as well as going for a good hard run with multiple hill sprints. Thank goodness she didn't have a job like Clementine's, where you needed to constantly draw upon the well of your own emotions. Work should be devoid of emotion. That was the joy of work.

She listened to her voicemail messages while she watched the rain falling outside the thick glass of her window. The weather had no relevance when you were safely ensconced in a high-rise office block. It was like it was happening in another dimension.

As she scrolled through her email inbox, her phone rang and she saw it was Oliver again. She'd spoken to him less than half an hour ago. Surely he wasn't ringing to ask her again about talking to Clementine? He must have a good reason to call.

'Sorry to disturb you again,' he said quickly. 'I'll be fast. I just wondered if you'd seen Harry around lately?'

'Harry?' said Erika as she opened an email. 'Who is Harry?'

'Harry!' said Oliver impatiently. 'Our next-door neighbour!'

For heaven's sake. Harry was hardly a good friend. They barely knew the old man, and in point of fact, he wasn't their next-door neighbour, he lived on the other side of Vid and Tiffany.

'I don't know,' said Erika. 'I don't think so. Why?'

'I was talking to Tiffany when I took out the bins,' said Oliver. He stopped to blow his nose, and Erika stiffened at the mention of Tiffany, her hand on her computer mouse. She hadn't wanted anything to do with Tiffany and Vid since the barbeque. They'd never had a real friendship anyway. It was proximity. Tiffany and Vid liked Clementine and Sam much more than them. If Erika hadn't mentioned Clementine that day, if she'd said they had the day free, would Vid still have asked them over for a barbeque? Unlikely.

'Anyway, I mentioned to her that I hadn't seen Harry in a while,' said Oliver. 'We decided to go over together and looked at his letterbox, and it was pretty full. So, we took his mail up and knocked on his door but there was no answer. I tried to look in a window, but I don't know, I just have this feeling that something isn't right. Tiffany's calling Vid now to ask if he knows anything.'

'Okay,' said Erika. She had no interest in any of this. 'Maybe he's gone away.'

'I don't think Harry goes on holiday,' said Oliver. 'When was the last time you saw him?'

'I have no idea,' said Erika. She was wasting time on this. 'Not for a while.'

'I'm wondering if I should call the police,' fretted Oliver. 'I mean, I don't want to embarrass him if he's fine, or waste police resources, but -'

'He'll have a spare key,' said Erika. 'There'll be one under a garden pot or something near the front door.'