Scarred for Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

it was custom-built flats and studio apartments, with free WiFi and coffee shops on the ground floor. Archie’s ‘tsk’ as they rang the buzzer made his feelings clear too.
    Damon’s roommate, Alistair, buzzed the door open and then met both officers on the stairs. He took two or three steps at a time, his gangly legs getting him to the third floor just as Jessica was rounding the corner from the second. As he waited in the doorway of a flat, she could see the blankness in his face. He was tall and thin but appeared cowed, having discovered Damon’s fate. He pushed open the unlocked front door and let both officers in without a word, leading them into a living room that had two leather sofas, a large flatscreen television fixed to the wall, a games console on the floor and any number of other expensive-looking electrical devices at intervals around the room.
    Jessica and Archie sat next to each other, with Alistair slumped on the other sofa, elbows on knees, staring at the floor. ‘When the police came round last night, I thought they were joking,’ he said. ‘Well, not joking, but you know what I mean. I couldn’t take it in.’
    ‘When did you first meet Damon?’ Jessica asked.
    ‘September. These are private halls – they do anywhere between two and five people per flat, then you share a kitchen, living room and bathroom.’
    ‘But this flat was just you and Damon?’
    ‘Yes, you pay an extra tenner a week but you get more space, so it’s worth it. The company who owns this place puts lads with lads and girls with girls, unless you’re moving in with people you know. There’s this complicated form. I ended up with Damon but we didn’t know each other before that.’
    ‘Did you get on?’
    Alistair looked up from the floor, glancing between Jessica and Archie. ‘Pretty much from the moment we met. Do you know his dad?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘So you know he’s got a few quid, then – except you’d never know by being around him. I didn’t find out until we’d been hanging out for a couple of weeks, then we were at a pub and a girl from his course was there. She made some remark about it and he ended up telling me that his dad ran a company and so on. Apparently he was ready to go away and start a business when his course was over.’
    ‘Was he happy about that?’
    Alistair seemed surprised: ‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
    ‘Some people don’t like the feeling that their life is already mapped out. They want the freedom to make their own choices.’
    ‘If he was unhappy then he never said. He was only in year one but was already talking about how the final project for year three was to create a viable business plan. He had a few ideas because that’s what he wanted to go and do afterwards.’
    ‘Were you his best friend at university?’
    Alistair shrugged. ‘Dunno. He hung around with a few lads from his course, and liked going rowing, of course.’
    Jessica had been waiting for Alistair to steer the conversation round to the rowing club so that it felt more like a natural topic of conversation. ‘How often did he go?’
    ‘Three or four times a week, depending on the weather. He tried to get me into it but it’s not my thing.’ He sighed, pursing his lips. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure it was his either. He liked the competitive thing and said he was decent at it – but he would never have put it before his course.’
    ‘Do you know any of the people at the club he was friends with?’
    ‘No, I think it was more of a social thing for some of them but he actually wanted to race. That was pretty much the only thing he ever said about it. He was always exhausted when he got back from practice – we’d sit in front of the TV and have a drink.’
    ‘Was he a big beer drinker?’
    Alistair shook his head. ‘Not really.’ Jessica raised her eyebrows but he didn’t wilt. ‘Well, sometimes we’d go out and have a few but it was never ridiculous. Beer wasn’t his thing anyway. He might have