her senses had been right: she’d felt uneasy and he was why. A puddle was forming around his feet.
‘Come on, you can dry off and I’ll feed you, though I don’t really have a lot of food in.’
He followed her inside.
‘Wait there while I grab some towels.’
She rushed into the bathroom, grabbing a couple of bath sheets, then passing them to him. He began to frantically rub his hair, not bothering with the rest of himself until it was towel dry.
‘I have a pair of joggers and a hoodie I can lend you, if you don’t mind wearing my clothes. I don’t have any men’s clothes here. I’m on my own.’
As she turned to go get them, a small smile played across his lips.
She took the clothes into the bathroom.
‘You can get changed, pass me your stuff and I’ll wash it. No dryer either; they will have to go on a radiator.’
‘Thank you so much, that’s great.’
As he went into the bathroom, she wondered why he hadn’t gone home or to one of his friends’; maybe he wanted to get it over and done with. Although there wasn’t much to ask him now Barker was in custody. They had their killer behind bars.
She put the kettle on and began opening the cupboards. There were two tins of tomatoes and the box of cornflakes; the fridge wasn’t much better. Opening the freezer, she took out the emergency bottle of vodka. Pouring two shot glasses, she placed them on the counter.
Harrison came out of the bathroom looking a little bit more human, and the clothes she’d given him were black, so they didn’t look too out of place.
‘You look a bit warmer now.’
‘Thank you so much, these are great.’
She pointed to the breakfast stool. ‘Have a seat, I can rustle you up some tinned tomatoes or a bowl of Crunchy Nut. Don’t take too long to decide.’
He laughed. ‘To be honest, I’m so hungry I’d eat the tomatoes on the cornflakes.’
‘Okay, you can have cornflakes. If you’re still hungry tomatoes can be your second course.’
She turned away, poured the remaining cornflakes into the large glass mixing bowl and poured what was left of her milk on top.
She passed it to him. ‘Voila, enjoy.’
‘Thanks, Morgan.’
‘Do you want a shot of vodka to warm you up?’
He nodded and she pointed to the one nearest to him. ‘Cheers.’
Picking hers up, she tipped her head back and downed it.
‘I’ll eat my cornflakes first, but you’re an expert; that was nicely done.’
‘Drinking shots is one of my specialities. I don’t have many but usually drink my friends under the table on the rare occasion I get to go out.
‘Oh, Harrison, did you know Bronte is awake?’
He looked up, surprise registering on his face. Chewing the mouthful of cereal, he swallowed. ‘Is she? No, I didn’t. That’s amazing. When?’
‘Last night or early this morning. I didn’t speak to her; my sergeant did when he went to visit her.’
‘Did she tell you what happened?’
‘Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember anything, but maybe in time it will start to all come back to her.’
‘I bet she couldn’t. How lucky for her. I wish I couldn’t and now that Greg is going to get all the glory for a crime he didn’t commit.’
Morgan stared at him, open-mouthed. ‘What do you mean?’
He gulped the mouthful of food down and stared at her. ‘I didn’t want to be the one to grass, that’s why I got scared and hid. But I don’t know what to do any more and as much as I hate Greg it isn’t fair.’
‘Harrison, three people are dead; you’re not grassing at all. What’s not fair?’
He lowered his face; when he lifted it again a single tear rolled down his cheek.
‘I was there that night, but I didn’t do it. I couldn’t stop her; she went berserk. I mean, she lost the plot completely. I’ve never seen anything like it, so much anger and rage.’
Morgan reached in her dressing gown pocket. Taking out her phone, but keeping it out of view, she pressed the record button and slipped it back inside.
‘Who went berserk, Harrison?’
‘Bronte, she killed them all.’
Morgan gasped. ‘What, why?’
He didn’t look at her. ‘She hated it here; they used to live in Manchester and she loved it there. She found out at school about the last murders and was furious her parents had bought that house. Then Olivia started having an affair with that prick Greg.
‘We used to follow them. One night we followed them to a pub. I