“Aye, bad business this. This is the second dead body found in this building in the last six months. Some are beginning to believe the area is dangerous. I say keep an eye on your children and make sure they stay off the drugs. It’s all drugs, you know. That’s ninety percent of the problem, drugs and drink.”

“Do you know if Sharon Yoder had a problem with drugs or alcohol?” Theo asked him.

“Sharon? Not that I know of. But that’s just it, you see, you never can tell. The ones who seem put together, they’re an almighty mess. There are many tenants who live in this complex, and I handle the needs of all of them. If anyone needs work done such as plumbing or electrical or if an appliance needs fixing, I’m their go-to man. Anyway, the few times I spoke with her, she did not say much. She was quiet, worked a lot, not around. I don’t know much else about her. Had a bloke come round once or twice a fortnight but for this block, it’s considered rare. And could’ve been her father or brother, who really knows.”

“So you don’t know the man’s name?”

“No, not even sure of the car, just remember him coming and going a few times from the building and once with her. They were walking side-by-side, not holding hands or anything of the sort. Hard to say if they were a couple or like brother and sister. Now days, it’s hard to say. A woman could visit another woman and they could be a couple, if you know what I mean. We have to be politically correct.”

“All right then, were there any women who visited the flat?”

“Not that I noticed.”

“And the man, was he tall, short, white, black, Chinese? Anything you can tell us would be appreciated.”

“He was white and average height, wore glasses, I think. Dressed normally.”

“What about cameras, any CCTV around the building that we can have?”

The man nodded. “We have nineteen cameras in and around the complex. There’s one in the foyer of each building, for the security of the tenants. And they work. If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would’ve had only six. However, we’ve had a string of robberies and the tenants were beginning to complain, so I had all of them serviced.”

“How secure is the building? Can people just come and go as they please?”

“Not really, no. We have intercoms where the visitors have to ring the tenants, and the tenants let them in using their phone system. The killer, unless they had a key or knew the code to open the door, would have to ring up to the flat.”

“Is there a way we can check to see if someone has buzzed up to Sharon’s flat?”

The landlord placed his hands in his pockets. “The number is not recorded in any way.”

The man had nothing more to say, so Theo dismissed him and they headed on to the victim’s flat. Sharon Yoder lay prone. Her silk robe had fallen open to reveal her bra and knickers. Her eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. She didn’t look like she suffered pain, just shock. Her arms were by her sides and her legs were almost straight out in front of her. And sticking out of her chest was a large black-handled knife.

Waynton huffed and puffed over the body. “Poor, poor girl. She looks so innocent laying here.”

“How could one walk out of the building after stabbing her?” Dorland asked. “Wouldn’t the killer be covered in blood?”

“It looks like our killer is right handed from the angle of the weapon,” Waynton said. “Can’t confirm until I do the autopsy, but it looks like the knife passed between two ribs and punctured her lungs or heart.”

Dorland took a step out into the hall and leaned against the far wall. “This gets to me after a while. She looks a bit like my sister.”

“She does,” replied Theo. “But don’t let that eat at you. And it’s an odd murder, so impersonal. The killer didn’t invite themselves in, didn’t move the body into the flat or shut the door to hide her. It looks like they were trying to do the deed as fast as they could and escape. It all seems random, but it’s not random now is it? I mean, no one randomly picks this flat to stab someone. It’s nowhere near an exit. There’s a greater chance of getting noticed if you walk up three flights of stairs and pick the last door down the hall.”

“I agree. Also, she wouldn’t let someone into the building she felt would do her harm. Most likely the victim knew her killer. Why else would they just walk up to her door and kill her? Or if the victim did not know her killer, the perpetrator probably used the excuse that they had a parcel or a gift and she let them in. SOCO is trying to get fingerprints. Whoever it was probably wore gloves.”

“Well, I hope we catch this bastard.” Dorland adjusted his shoe protectors under his soles and entered the flat

Theo followed his partner inside. The flat was exactly what Theo imagined a young woman’s flat to be: pink and white and full of flower prints. He walked over to a white desk in the corner of her living room and peered into the fish bowl on top. Something would have to be done about the fish. The flat was clean other than the fingerprint dust that now covered various items. The built in shelves held various photos—pictures of people at various weddings and other sunshine-filled events. Theo examined each one.

“Dorland, find me Sharon Yoder’s next of kin, they should be told straight away.” He ran his gloved hand over one of the shelves.

“Yes, sir.”

“She must have cleaned the house lately. Not a speck of dust.”

One of the SOC officers who stood nearby, nodded. “We haven’t found many fingerprints. She must have dusted these within the last day or two.”

“Have any items from these shelves been collected?”

“Not as far as I know. Why?”

Theo stepped back. “So then, what was here?”

SOCO gathered where Theo had pointed. “What was here? You can see the square mark in the wood from something that has been here, and now it’s empty. So what happened to the square item?” He went from shelf to shelf. “And here . . .” Theo pointed to another space. “What was here? I think we’re looking at a robbery.”

Waynton asked, “You think this is a home invasion? Someone murdered her for her knick knacks?”

“The landlord did say many flats had been burgled. Dorland . . .” Theo turned around and searched for his partner.

Dorland exited Sharon’s bedroom. He held his mobile to his ear and was writing in his notebook. “Thank you.” He looked at Theo and held up his book. “I have the address of Sharon’s parents.”

“Great. We’ll go there shortly. In the meantime, I want you to find the landlord and bring him here.”

Theo walked toward a life-sized panther statue sitting beside the desk. The fingerprint dust revealed SOCO had lifted a clear set of prints around the base of the neck. He tried to lift the statue off the floor. “Shit. This thing is heavy. I’ll bet this is expensive. I want the results of the fingerprints from here, ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.” a SOC officer replied.

Theo stepped back out into the hall as Dorland and the landlord rounded the corner. “I want you to tell me about these home invasions.”

“Is that what you think this is? She was murdered as part of a home invasion?”

“I just want to know about the other robberies.”

“They never happened when the home owners were there. No one has been hurt before. Only a few pieces of jewelry and some cash. Nothing more.”

“Where did they happen? Are they limited to this building or have they happened in the other two as well?”

“Oh no, in the other two as well.” The landlord went over to the window in the hall that had a view to the communal gardens below. “There, in the building across on the sixth floor, and in the other building there, on the third floor and the second.”

Theo looked where he was pointing but it had become dark outside.

“What did the police say?”

“We didn’t call the police.”

“Why not?”

“Well, there were only a few things stolen and really, it wasn’t of any value.”