His groping fingers found the lighter and he snapped down the lever.
The flame made a tiny light but enough for him to see the room was empty.
Was it Fay who had just left the apartment or an intruder?
“Fay?”
The uncanny, frightening silence that greeted him stampeded him into a panic.
Shielding the flame of his lighter with his hand, he moved slowly across the room to the bedroom door.
“Are you there, Fay?”
He held the lighter high above his head. The flame was slowly diminishing. In another moment or so it would go out.
He moved forward, peering into the dark room. He looked towards the bed. What he saw there made him catch his breath.
Fay lay across the bed, her arms above her head. A narrow ribbon of blood ran between her breasts, crossing her arched ribs and making a puddle on the floor.