Page 76 of M for Murder

He watched them walk from the building where they’d just had their last class, heading for the cafeteria, probably to grab a quick drink before their next lecture began, and wondered if he dare chance going inside himself. Maybe buy a coffee, sit in the corner, try not to stand out, and watch.

He had watched all three of them now for the last couple of weeks. The brunette, Alison McClaine and the redhead, Donna Randall, had been a pleasant way to pass the time. Alison was tall and curvy, Donna, petite, but nicely packaged. Both wore their hair long and he liked how when they walked it bounced from side to side, just like they were in a shampoo commercial.

The blonde though was the reason for his watching them in the first place and, now that Justine Orton was dead, it was important that he keep track of her every movement. Alison and Donna were just extra perks of the job.

He watched them disappear inside the block that housed the cafeteria and debated. The way he figured it he had two choices. One, he could sit in his car and wait until they came out, probably only to watch them disappear into some other building; or two, he could go inside, but risk being seen. Definitely a risk, but a worthwhile one at that. He debated for a short moment then, snatching the keys from the ignition, he opened the car door and stepped out.

Kylan had the feeling that she was being watched.

Ever since the guy from the grocery store had appeared at her kitchen window, she had been spooked and, at regular intervals over the past week she had looked over her shoulder, half expecting to see him standing there watching her. He hadn’t been there though, and she wondered how come this time she was so certain she was right.

Sixth sense maybe, but grocery store guy or not, someone was definitely watching her.

Feeling self-conscious, she flicked a strand of hair away from her eyes and glanced cautiously around the cafeteria. She saw a lot of students she recognised. A couple of professors were deep in discussion on the far side of the room. No one was looking at her and there was nothing that should have alerted her suspicion. Still, she felt uneasy.

‘Hey, Kylan, what do you think?’

Interrupted from her thoughts, Kylan was aware of Ally waving a hand in front of her face.

‘Huh, what?’ she asked. ‘What do I think about what?’

Ally glanced at Donna and gave a playful smile. ‘Looks like someone’s been on vacation.’

Donna nodded and then looked at Kylan, her brows knitting together in concern.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t I be?’

‘I dunno. You looked kind of out of it.’

‘Did I?’ Kylan screwed up her nose, deciding to come clean. ‘I thought someone was watching me.’

‘Who?’ Ally and Donna both asked in unison, turning to look over their shoulders.

‘Stop it!’ Kylan hissed. ‘I was wrong, okay? There’s nobody there.’

She hoped she was right.

Ally looked back at her. ‘You have been really jumpy recently. What makes you think someone is watching you?’

Kylan shrugged, feeling a little stupid. ‘I don’t know. I guess I must be getting paranoid.’

‘Just a little.’

‘Must be the stress of married life,’ Ally teased, a wide grin spreading across her face.

Kylan played along. ‘Yeah, I guess that’s what it is.’

‘I reckon you’re probably on edge because of the murders,’ Donna told her. ‘Everyone’s a little freaked by what’s going on. It’s only natural to get paranoid. Especially after what happened with Catherine.’

‘You’re probably right,’ Kylan agreed, eager to drop the subject.

The murders were something that she really didn’t feel comfortable discussing. All three of them had shared classes with Catherine Maloney and they’d often socialised with her on nights out. Kylan was surprised at how well Donna and Ally were taking the news of her death.

They had only found out late Friday afternoon when Donna had bumped into Catherine’s roommate, Beth, as she was coming out of the Dean’s office, tears streaming down her face. As soon as she learned the news, she had immediately called both Ally and Kylan. All of them knew that Catherine had met a guy called Aidan a couple of weeks back and Kylan had listened to the news, her heart pounding in her chest, as Donna told her how the last time Beth had seen her roommate, she was supposed to have been going on a date with him. It seemed that Catherine had told her not to expect her back in a hurry, but while Beth had thought she was off having a good time with Aidan, her friend’s body was lying in the sewer.

Apparently, the police had already established that Aidan hadn’t killed Catherine Maloney. The intern had been working a late shift and had dozens of witnesses who could verify his whereabouts. While at the moment nobody was sure what had happened, they all knew it was because of her rashness and ill-judgement that Catherine Maloney had ended up dead.