Night Corridor Read Online Free PDF Page A

thought of meeting yet another stranger.
     
    The landlady shrugged. "Sure, honey. Whatever you like. I keep forgetting what a change this must be for you. By the way, in case I forget, there's a phone out in the hallway if you need to make a call. I don't suppose you'll get too many will you? With this hip, you understand, it's a hassle for me to call people to the phone. Though I don't mind if it's important. Of course, you can always get your own private phone installed in your room if you want to pay the extra."
     
    "No, it's okay. I wouldn't know anyone to call."
     
    The landlady smiled at her, then got a bowl down from the cupboard and set it in front of her. "You'll have some of my delicious soup before I show you your room." The simmering meaty smell rendered Caroline helpless to refuse.
     
    "Nothing like a hot bowl of soup to keep body and spirit together," the woman said as she ladled out the soup, thick with chunky vegetables, into Caroline's bowl. "This is Harold's favorite."
     
    Caroline noticed how the landlady beamed whenever she mentioned her nephew, and thought how lucky he was to have someone who cared so much about him.
     
    "It's very good," she said of the soup, consciously trying not to eat too fast despite her enormous hunger. "I don't blame him...Harold."
     
    "Harold works at Big Bakery ," she said, returning the pot to the stove, her face flushed from the heat. She set out two shamrock rolls and butter on a plate, then sat back down slowly, as if the effort caused her pain. "That's the name of it, but it really is pretty big, supplies the entire city with its bread and sweets. It's right across the street from Frank's Restaurant where you'll be working a week from today. Don't look so surprised, dear. I know everything about you, you see. It's going to be a whole new life for you here, Caroline. I think we're all going to get along just fine. I supply all linens and towels, fresh clean every Tuesday. For everything else, tenants are on their own. There's a Laundromat just up the street. But I do know this is all new to you, dear, so if there's anything you need, or you have any questions, you just knock on my door. Not too early, though, mind you." She laughed. "You want some jelly for that roll?"
     
    "No, thank you. It's very good with the butter." Finishing the soup down to the last spoonful of broth, the roll to the last crumb, a grateful Caroline dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, and thanked the landlady. She couldn't remember when she'd eaten anything so good.
     
    She suddenly remembered the rent cheque in her bag, already made out. Nurse Addison had shown her how.
     
    Barely glancing at it, the landlady nodded and set it on the refrigerator. Then she got two brass keys from atop the counter and placed them in Caroline's hand. "This is the one for the front door," she said of the longer key. "The other one is the key to your room. You might want to put them on a key-ring so you don't lose them. We wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands, especially with a killer on the loose."
     
    At the note of warning, Caroline heard the cab driver's ominous words: "…they both had dark hair and blue eyes. Like you, Miss."
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    The man walked past the alley again. At the corner, he turned and came back, like a moth to the flame. There was little to see in the aftermath of his handiwork, but the jackals were still hanging around, hungry for scraps of whatever juicy information they could get.
     
    No one paid him any mind. Not even the woman clutching a camera who had pushed past him, muttering 'scuse me' on her way to the front of the dwindling crowd, leaving a flowery scent in her wake. What would she say if she knew he was the one the cops were looking for? He smiled inwardly.
     
    Not that he had meant for things to turn out the way they did. He'd just wanted to talk to her, that was all. He wasn't the monster the papers said he was. He was a good person, a victim