One by One - Ruth Ware Page 0,52

GPS doesn’t rely on phone reception,” I fumble, still desperately scanning the room for his face, willing him to step in and explain the technicalities of how Snoop gets its geolocation information. I am way out of my depth here. “I mean obviously you have to relay the positioning, you can’t do that without some kind of information exchange, but the GPS coordinates themselves don’t rely on mobile towers for accuracy, they’re… satellite, I think? Is that right, Elliot?” But I can’t see him. “Where is Elliot?”

Other people are looking around now, asking themselves the same question.

“He was up in his room when I last saw him,” Ani says, frowning. “He was working on something. He’s probably got his headphones on, didn’t hear the gong. I’ll go and get him.”

She turns and runs lightly up the spiral staircase and we hear her footsteps receding down the corridor towards Elliot’s room, and the rat-a-tat on his door.

No answer. She knocks again, more loudly, and then calls, “Elliot?” through the wood.

There is a pause. I imagine her cautiously opening the door, venturing forwards to tap Elliot on the shoulder… but my mental picture is broken into shards by a scream. And not just a little shriek of surprise either. This is a full-throated panic-cry.

With my injured ankle, I’m not first up the stairs. Topher, Rik, Danny, and Miranda are ahead of me, and Liz and Carl both jostle past me halfway up. By the time I reach the first floor I can hear Ani’s sobbing cries of “Oh God, he’s dead, he’s dead!” and Topher’s brusque, impatient, “Stop being hysterical.”

When I finally make it to the end of the corridor and push my way into Elliot’s room, everything looks completely normal, except for two things.

Elliot is lying slumped across the little desk by the window. He is facedown in a pool of black coffee, spilled from a cup tipped on its side.

Next to his desk, on a towel on the floor, is his computer, and it has been smashed to pieces.

LIZ

Snoop ID: ANON101

Listening to: Offline

Snoopers: 0

Snoopscribers: 1

Elliot is dead. You can tell that without even touching him. There is something about the unnatural way he is slumped, one arm hanging limp, the spilled coffee pooling around his face and in his eyes.

But it is not only that. It is what has happened to his computer that makes it clear. Elliot would have died before he let anyone touch that computer.

It has been—wrecked doesn’t seem the right word. It has been obliterated. The keyboard has been ripped off, revealing the inner workings of the device. The screen has cracked, and a dark stain is spreading across the LCD. And finally, the hard drive has been pulled out, cracked open, and bent and twisted beyond all recognition.

“What—” Topher’s face is white and stark. He looks more frightened than I have ever seen him. “What’s happened? Oh my God, oh God, oh Jesus—he wanted to tell me something and I didn’t—I wouldn’t let—oh God…”

He stumbles from the room. He looks like he might be sick.

Ani appears struck completely dumb by the discovery. She simply stands there, gaping, tears streaming silently down her face, until Tiger takes her arm and leads her away.

It is Erin who speaks.

“Everyone, out.”

“What?” Carl says it stupidly. He looks like a boxer who has taken too many blows to the head.

“Out. Out of the room. This is a crime scene.”

She goes across to Elliot, puts two fingers to his neck, pulls Elliot’s eyelids back, and then shakes her head very slightly at Danny.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Danny says to the rest of the room. He sounds almost angry. “Didn’t you hear what she said? Get out.”

We file out. Erin takes a staff key from her pocket and locks the door behind us. Her face is outwardly calm, but I think underneath it she is holding down panic.

“Inigo,” she says, “I know I don’t need to tell you this, but please keep checking for reception with your phone. It’s absolutely imperative that we get hold of the police, now.”

“Uh, yes, of course.” Inigo looks as stunned as Carl. “I’ll go now, and check. I left it downstairs.”

“What can we do?” Miranda says blankly to Erin. “What can we do?”

“Nothing,” Erin says. Her face is grim now. “There is nothing we can do. Try to keep it together until the search and rescue come.”

ERIN

Snoop ID: LITTLEMY

Listening to: Offline

Snoopers: 5

Snoopscribers: 10

In the kitchen, Danny stands with his back to the door as