the receptionist had clicked open the automatic lock that they could pass through.
The glass lift had mirrored panels and thick carpet.
‘This all smells of money to me,’ Paul said, brushing a hand through his hair, looking at himself in the mirror.
‘Well, he must have some if he drives a Lotus, but compared to all this Newton Court is a bit downmarket – and he’s only renting.’
They reached the fourth floor and as the glass door opened to allow them to step out, a pretty blonde girl was waiting.
‘Good morning. I am Sarah, Mr Phillips’s secretary. He’s just finishing a meeting – it shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. Please follow me.’
They were led through a thickly carpeted corridor with numerous closed doors on either side. She reached the end and opened a door to conference room three. This was a corner room with long windows reaching from the floor to the ceiling. The table filled almost the entire space, with tubular steel and leather chairs surrounding it.
‘May I offer coffee or tea?’
‘Yes, thank you,’ Anna said, crossing to look out of the window.
‘Help yourself. There’s also herbal and decaf coffee.’
Sarah walked out, closing the door silently behind her. Paul was making himself a coffee and stuffing his mouth with a fresh croissant.
‘This is all very swish, isn’t it? Do you want herbal or what?’
Anna joined him, looking over the neatly arrayed rows of all the various teas and coffees.
‘I’ll have a Columbia, black.’ She picked up a chocolate digestive biscuit and took another look around the room. There was a stack of notebooks with sharpened pencils beside them with the logo of the company, A & C, entwined in navy blue. She carried her coffee to the table pondering which chair she should take, and decided to sit in the end one facing the door.
‘That’s probably the chairman’s seat,’ Paul said, wading through his second croissant.
Anna sipped the piping hot thick black coffee; it tasted good. Paul drew out a chair midway along the table with his back to the tall windows. After ten minutes and no show of Michael Phillips, Anna was getting impatient. They’d helped themselves to more coffee and biscuits and Paul had also helped himself to a couple of notepads and pencils. Then the door swung open and in strode the over-confident and very handsome Michael Phillips. He first crossed to Anna to shake her hand and then went to Paul.
‘I’m not sure what this is about, but I apologise for keeping you waiting. Have you had coffee or—?’
Anna interrupted his flow, holding up her cup. ‘Yes, thank you.’
He spread his arms, smiling. ‘I sit down, do I?’
Anna was immediately on her guard, not liking his manner. ‘As you wish, Mr Phillips.’
She then introduced herself and Paul, even though it was obvious he knew who they were. He chose a seat almost opposite Paul, but he drew the chair out far enough to cross one leg over his knee.
‘How long have you lived at Newton Court?’ Anna asked.
‘Not that long, actually.’
‘How long?’
‘Eighteen months. It’s a rental property.’
‘Long way for you to come to work here, isn’t it?’
‘Not really. I have only been with this company four months and previously to that I worked in a Barclays Bank not far from Hounslow. I have no intention of staying there much longer, but I had renewed my one-year lease.’
He was very slender, wearing a good grey suit with a pristine white shirt and black tie. He was also, Anna reckoned, about six foot two. He had very piercing dark eyes in a chiselled face, with strong cheekbones. His mouth was thin-lipped, which slightly diminished his handsome appearance, but he had thick glossy black hair parted on one side and had a habit of running his slender fingers through it. As she hadn’t spoken for a while she watched him pat his hair, tossing his head back slightly.
‘What is this about?’
‘You are a tenant and live next door to a Tina Brooks and her partner Alan Rawlins?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are you aware that Mr Rawlins is missing?’
‘Sort of, yes.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Miss Brooks actually knocked on my door a while back asking if Mr Rawlins was with me, though why she would ask me didn’t really make any sense as I hardly knew him.’
‘But you did know him?’
‘I’d pass him going to work and sometimes when I returned. He once asked me about my car and we chatted a bit, but I wouldn’t say I knew him.’
‘What did you make of him?’
‘Make of him? I don’t understand. I’ve just said I hardly even spoke to him.’
‘When was the last time you did that?’
He lolled back in his chair. ‘Erm . . . a few months ago.’
‘What happened on that occasion?’
‘As far as I can recall, I was coming into the block and he was leaving. He said hi or something like that and that’s it.’
‘What about Tina Brooks?’
‘I know they lived together, but that’s all I knew about them.’
‘So you didn’t socialise with them?’
‘No. To be honest, I can’t wait to leave, but it was very useful for me when I was at my previous job in Hounslow. I was working not too far away, but with all the present banking fiasco I was one of the first they let go, so I applied for numerous positions and got lucky here.’
‘What exactly do you do?’
‘Investments.’
Anna tapped her notebook and then gave a smile. ‘You look fit, Mr Phillips. Do you work out?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you use the same gym as Tina and Alan?’
He nodded and then ran his hand through his hair.
‘I was a member at the local gym, but we have our own here in the basement so I didn’t renew my membership.’
‘So you must have met Tina there?’
‘Yes, she was there on a number of occasions, I think, but like I said I didn’t really know either of them and I used a personal trainer there so I didn’t really mix with anyone else.’
‘Did you ever hear any arguments between them?’
He sighed and shook his head. ‘No. I’m not wall to wall to them but opposite, so even if they had argued I doubt if I’d have heard them. They live in flat two and I am in flat one.’
‘Have you ever seen anything suspicious with regard to them?’
‘No. I leave early and I get back around seven. To be honest, the block is a bit of a dead zone apart from some tenants above; apparently their cooking smells drift upwards. I don’t think I’ve ever even met them. I know there’s a woman with a small yapping dog and a Mr and Mrs Maisell who I’ve bumped into a few times.’
‘But you didn’t know either Tina or Alan well?’
‘No. I’ve already said that I didn’t.’
‘Your flat is the same size as theirs?’
‘Yes.’
‘Quite large for a bachelor, isn’t it?’
‘Not at all. In fact, when I first looked over the place I was with a friend and it was sort of a maybe situation of us moving there together, but it didn’t work out.’
