Page 36 of The Perfect Guests
Sadie doesn’t need to guess at Nazleen’s room; she taps sharply on the door.
“Nazleen? I’m sorry.” Slowly, Sadie turns the handle. “But it’s important. I’m coming in.”
Nazleen, looking frightened, is already swinging her legs out of bed and fumbling with her dressing gown.
“Listen,” Sadie says. “Genevieve went out for a cigarette, and she—we can’t find her. We’ve looked for her outside, and we’re hoping she came back in again, but—”
Nazleen stares at her, wide-eyed. “Well, where is she?”
“That’s what I’m saying. We don’t know.”
“Shit.” Nazleen stumbles to the dressing table and jabs at buttons on her phone. “Still no signal. This bloody house...” She turns to Sadie with a hopeful expression. “Maybe she’s with one of the others?”
“Zach and his dad are downstairs, and so is Joe. They’ve no idea. It’s only Mrs. Shrew we haven’t asked...” Sadie swings around. “Come on.”
Nazleen hangs back in the corridor as Sadie raps loudly on Mrs. Shrew’s door, and if Nazleen wonders how Sadie knows which room to try, she doesn’t show it.
“It’s me,” Sadie calls out, her knuckles still resting on the painted wood. “Sadie. Or Miss Lamb, whatever. I need to talk to you.” She turns the door handle slowly. “I’m coming in.”
“What onearthdo you think you’re doing?”
Mrs. Shrew is still fully dressed. She stands in the center of the room, and her expression is furious.
“Mrs.—uh.” Sadie remembers it isn’t the woman’s real name, and she feels unbalanced. “Um, the young woman in red—Miss Mouse, you know—we can’t find her. She went outside for a cigarette and—”
Mrs. Shrew’s shoulders relax a fraction. “Oh, is that all? There’s no need to panic. She told me she was thinking of walking into the village and spending the night there. I suppose that’s what she’s done.”
“But”—Sadie stares at her—“when did she say that?”
“When we were leaving the dining room. We spoke in the hall for a moment.”
“But why would she? It’s freezing out there. And she won’t—” Just in time, Sadie stops herself from saying,She won’t get paid.Mrs. Shrew would no doubt find that terribly vulgar.
“Who knows what goes on in the minds of young people these days?” Mrs. Shrew says primly. “Perhaps she wasn’t enjoying the company. I can’t say I blame her.”
Sadie frowns. “Okay, well. I think—we might just check around the place anyway, just in case...”
“Very wise, I’m sure.” Mrs. Shrew turns away dismissively.
Back out in the corridor, Nazleen huddles deeper into her dressing gown, gazing at Sadie with wide brown eyes.
“Do you think that’s what she did?” Nazleen whispers.
“Walked to the village?” Sadie considers the idea. “I suppose it’s possible. There’s a B and B, isn’t there?” She remembers the way Genevieve hovered at the entrance to the drawing room, clutching her coat against her chest. The young woman certainly had her phone and cigarettes with her by then, and she was the last guest to enter the drawing room by several minutes. What else might she have been hiding under that coat—a night bag, perhaps? A pair of trainers, for the walk into the village? Sadie sighs. “Maybe she did get fed up with us. She felt a bit out of place, I think.”
Nazleen nods, as if trying to convince herself. “Or maybe she just thought the house was too spooky...”
Sadie gives her a sharp look. “Or she realized she had a lower-grade bedroom than the rest of us.”
Nazleen looks surprised. “Does she? That’s nothing to do with me.”
Footsteps thump up the stairs, and Zach appears. He looks hopefully at Sadie.
“Any sign?”
Sadie shakes her head. “Mrs. Shrew thinks she might have walked into the village.”
Zach raises his eyebrows. “Seriously? That’s a good half-hour walk.”
