‘Must just be my faith in humanity,’ he said. ‘On the blink again …’
Aneesa looked between us. ‘I was called out because the alarm was triggered and no one switched it off. Ali’s not at his post, so where is he?’
‘OK …’ Sutty went to the lifts and pressed the call button. ‘Let’s have a look around.’
‘They haven’t been signed off yet,’ said Aneesa. He shot her a look. ‘They don’t work, Inspector.’
‘Something in common with your security guard, then.’ He looked at the steps which led up to the palatial, famously grand staircase and shook his head. ‘I get nosebleeds above sea level anyway. Up you go, Aids. We’ll search the ground floor.’
I gave Aneesa a glance and went towards the staircase.
‘I’ll come with you,’ she said. Sutty snorted but didn’t comment.
Once we were out of earshot she turned to me. ‘Is he really your boss?’
‘Yeah, he can be quite nice when you get to know him.’
‘Really?’
I shook my head. ‘I was actually hoping he’d try the stairs. He might’ve been dead by the third floor.’
She smiled, but nervously. ‘I have a sudden urge to see your ID.’ We stopped. The staircase was dimly lit. ‘You don’t strike me as much of a policeman …’
‘Very perceptive.’ She raised an eyebrow and I searched my pockets. ‘I’m not much of one.’ I showed her my card and we began climbing the stairs again. They went endlessly up, with two large flights between each floor. ‘Tell me about your security guard.’
‘We have two, on alternating shifts. Ali’s our night man, a really good guy.’
‘How long’s he been with you?’
‘About as long as I’ve been involved with the Palace, which is as long as it’s been closed. Six months or so …’
‘One guard at a time isn’t much for all of this. There must be, what, two hundred rooms …?’
‘Closer to three hundred.’
‘And all of them locked?’ I asked, as we reached the first-floor landing.
‘That’s the idea …’
The corridors on each floor were linked, forming a circuit that would bring us back to the main stairwell. We went left, into a low, ambient buzz. The anti-noise of a cavernous, empty building. Lights, pipes and appliances in chorus. The air was thick and stale up here, having gone too long without human interruption, and I could hear the static carpet, lisping beneath our heels. I tried the handles on two or three rooms as we passed them. They were all locked, and I took it as read that the rest would be too.
‘Have you ever been here before?’ said Aneesa. ‘When it was open, I mean …’ There was a forced note of cheer in her voice and I thought she was probably nervous. It felt unusual to be walking through an empty hotel with a stranger in the early hours of the morning.
‘Once or twice,’ I said. ‘My main memory was getting lost in these corridors.’
‘It’s a bit of a maze.’
‘Maybe that’s what happened to Ali.’ I’d meant it to sound reassuring but it just brought her attention back to him.
‘You don’t think so, do you? You or your partner?’
‘In our experience, security guards aren’t usually that proactive. They tend to clock in and put their feet up for a few hours. The first and last patrol of the shift’s usually when they hand over to the next guy.’
‘Ali’s not like that. We even pay him extra to go room by room.’ We’d completed our circuit of the corridor and began climbing the stairs towards the second floor.
‘Why extra?’
‘To run the taps, flush the toilets – things can go stale in an empty hotel without some movement.’ She saw a look pass across my face. ‘What is it?’
‘Well, the doors are all locked.’ She frowned and I went on. ‘If he was doing his rounds, he’d have taken his key card with him.’ As she turned this thought over, the lights flickered and went out. There were no windows in the stairwell and we were suddenly in total darkness.
‘What’s happening?’ she said, reaching out for me. I found the torch in my pocket, clicked it on and held it in the space between us.
‘Probably the trip switch. Do you know where the fuse box is?’
‘Main one’s on the ground floor, I think.’
‘OK. Why don’t you head back downstairs and call my partner?’ I dug out my phone and gave her his number. ‘Tell him where I am. If you can get the lights back on, even better.’
‘Sure,’ she said, her voice faltering. I couldn’t tell if she was scared or disappointed. She started down the stairs anyway, holding her own phone up like a lantern. I reached the second floor by torchlight, cautiously moving its beam about the landing before I moved on. The corridor was so long that the thin spot of light didn’t even reach the other end. I started forwards, the closed doors either side of me igniting a peculiar kind of claustrophobia. I tried the handles of the first few. All of them were locked.
About halfway along the corridor I stopped. Absorbed a wave of paranoia. I clicked the torch off and stood still in the darkness, trying not to breathe. Feeling the blood beat through my ears. Then I turned the torch in the direction I’d come from and switched it back on.
Nothing.
I carried on, made a full circuit of the corridor and found myself back where I’d started. I climbed the stairs to the third floor and stopped on the landing. I could smell something now. Just the memory of a scent. I couldn’t tell if it was perfume or cologne but the edge of alcohol was unmistakable, standing out against the bland, heavy air. When I reached the mouth of the corridor and strafed the torch beam from side to side, I saw something and took a step back.
There was a man, a few feet away, lying face down on the carpet. I could see the blood on the back of his head, a fire extinguisher on the floor beside him.
‘Hello,’ I called out. He didn’t move. I shone the light above him, straight down the centre of the corridor and began walking. Reaching the man, I realized I’d been holding my breath. I exhaled, crouched beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He groaned.
‘Can you hear me?’ I said. My eyes fixed on the far wall. The thin spot of light from the torch. We were almost exactly halfway along the corridor and I felt exposed in the darkness.
‘What happened …?’ he said, reaching for my arm.
I helped him sit up.
‘Ali?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I think someone hit you. It’s OK, I’m a police officer. Did you see anything?’
‘I … I don’t know.’ As he spoke, a shape passed through the torchlight at the far end of the corridor, and he gripped my arm.
‘It’s all right,’ I said. ‘My partner should be here any minute. I have to follow them, OK?’ He nodded, forgetting his head, wincing in pain. I stood and walked in the direction of the movement, covering as much of the corridor as I could with the light. I dialled Sutty and spoke quietly when he answered. ‘I’ve found the security guard. Third floor. He’s got a head injury and needs medical assistance. I’m pursuing an intruder to the end of the corridor. Request back-up.’ I hung up as I reached the corner. Took a breath and then stepped around it.
Nothing.
As I came back to the staircase I heard a sound, like moths tapping at a window, and I realized the lights were dink-dink-ing back to life. I looked all around me, letting my eyes adjust, and saw that I was holding my torch with both hands. I clicked it off, pocketed it and started up the stairs to the fourth floor. Something felt different. It was even hotter up here and there was a subtle change in air pressure.
I thought I could hear a low, hissing sound.
I felt a draught against my skin and followed it down the left-hand corridor, to a fire exit, slightly ajar. I opened it all the way with my foot and looked down the staircase. Street sounds and a blast of cool air. If someone had just gone through it, they were outside by now. I let out a breath, more relieved than anything, and began retracing my steps. As I did, I saw there was a light coming from one of the rooms I’d passed.
The door was wide open.