loads. I knew that wherever I ended up, I’d be able to find work. Beauty of my job. Everyone needs IT experts nowadays. Anyway, then the really important bit. I made sure Gemma moved to Bristol a week before I did, told her I had a job to finish up here. That bit was crucial, you see – I needed the time to stage the scene in London.’
‘Stage the scene? Do you mean the blood, in the bedroom?’
Mike’s voice was cold as he asked the question, turning the tap on to refill the kettle as he spoke.
Danny nodded, not seeming to notice.
He’s enjoying telling his story, Devon thought.
‘Yes. You found that then? I wasn’t sure, but I hoped you would. OK, this sounds sick too, but I’ve started telling you now. No point in missing anything out. I bought this kit on the internet, needles and stuff. Started drawing off some of my blood a few times a week. A bit at a time, but it soon added up. I know, crazy right? Effective though. Quinn helped. Yes, he knew what was going on. He was the only one who did. He’s my best mate in the world, Quinn is. Well, that and the fact that he owed me a debt. Not a financial one – he owed me for something that happened years ago, when we were kids. Anyway, that’s not important. But he owed me, and so he agreed to help, with all of it.’
Another one who wasted our time, then, thought Devon coldly.
‘Anyway,’ continued Danny, ‘he helped me with the blood. We read online that blood is OK for up to about forty days in a fridge, you just need some specialist bits and pieces, but we got it all online and it was pretty easy. He stored it here in that fridge for me.’
Mike, who had just opened the fridge to find the milk, visibly recoiled.
‘Anyway, as soon as Gemma left for Bristol, Quinn drove the blood over and I splashed it all over the bedroom. Copied some scene of crime photos we found online. Made a pretty good job of it. And then I dropped off the keys to the landlord, making sure nobody saw me, and moved in here with Quinn for the week, laid low. When I headed for Bristol a week later I wore a disguise – a beard, a hat, glasses – and made sure I arrived after dark and used the back gate. I’d already contacted my new employers in Bristol to tell them I’d changed my mind about the job, so all I had to do then was find somewhere to hang out every day, making sure I came and went while it was dark to reduce the chance of the neighbours seeing me. I used a local gym in the end, went in disguise every day, no sweat. Used the name Patrick and paid for everything in cash. Easy.’
Gemma was right again, Devon thought, with a pang of guilt. She tried to tell us that, and yet again we didn’t listen. We thought she was lying, about everything.
Danny was still talking.
‘I stopped using my UK bank account too, used my foreign bank card if I needed to make a big purchase; I just had to make sure Gemma didn’t see it,’ he said. ‘Otherwise I just paid cash for things, made sure I had enough stashed in my backpack for those last few weeks. And I made sure I never answered the door in the house, stuff like that. I thought Gemma would start to notice, but she didn’t. I suppose we had plenty to do around the place, having just moved in. Easy to stay in instead of going out. It would have got harder as time went on, but I only ever intended to do it for a few weeks. I made sure I didn’t contact anyone either, for those weeks – got rid of my phone, made up a story about a delay in my work getting me a new one. It was like a game. And it worked. My only concern was that Evans, our landlord, would find the blood in the bedroom too soon, and then I’d have to move before I was ready. But I knew he was going away, and I figured I’d have a few weeks. It all worked perfectly.’
Mike was back at the table. He’d found a teapot somewhere, and was topping up their mugs with fresh tea, eyes