The notification came through on the Airbnb app at around 8:30 pm. Someone wanted to rent the apartment, tonight. I swiped down the notification bar and read the first line.
Mike has made a reservation, please confirm the booking.
I was already in bed, but it wasn’t too late for a booking. I didn’t mind renting out my place, it helped pay the bills.
I clicked the notification to open the app.
My phone was slow and annoying so, I kept tapping the screen where the confirm button would be as I waited for it to load.
I must have tapped it on the right spot ‘cause as soon as the app opened it said I had accepted the booking.
I got up and took a shower then, changed into some old clothes before heading over to the apartment to clean it up.
Mike wanted to start the booking from 10:30 pm.
Again, a little late and didn’t give me much time but, it was easy money for little effort.
When I reached the front door, he was standing outside with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He had short black hair and wore thick glasses that gave him a nerdy look.
He looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. His face was pale and he seemed nervous.
“Are you Mike?” I asked as I approached the apartment building.
“uh, yeah!”
He stepped forward and shook my hand.
“I’m Sam,” I said
“Sam? Is that your first name or last?” he asked
“First,” I replied.
“Alright, well nice to meet you first name is Sam.”
What a weird thing to say I thought. But, he seemed like a quirky guy so I thought nothing more of it.
I opened the main door and motioned for Mike to come in.
“You’re not going to need anything else out here right?” I asked him
“No! I’ve got all I need now, thanks!” he replied.
Another odd thing to say but whatever, I thought and closed the door behind us. We headed down the corridor to my apartment.
“So what brings you here tonight?” I asked him.
“Tonight?” He seemed puzzled
“Yeah, I mean you booked quite late”
“I did, didn’t I? Yeah, I had another place booked but they cancelled last minute” he explained.
“Oh, ok then,” I said a little confused.
He seemed a bit spaced out but, he’d paid upfront so I figured he was legit.
I stopped outside my apartment.
“Well, this is the place if you still want to stay” I announced.
He didn’t respond.
I put my key in the lock and opened the door.
“Please take your shoes off and leave them by the front door”.
He didn’t say anything but, took his shoes like I asked while I slipped off my trainers and put on my slippers.
I couldn’t help but notice he was staring at my feet the whole time. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable but, as soon as he noticed I had noticed him staring, he looked away.
“Follow me,” I said once I had my slippers on.
We walked into the living room and he sat down on the sofa and immediately started fiddling with his phone.
“So you’re only staying for the night right?” I asked him trying to get him to engage with me
“Yup!” he said without looking away from his phone.
“What about food?”
“I’ll grab something later,” he replied again not taking his eyes off the screen.
“Ok, well let’s go ahead and get you set up with keys then,” I said.
I went over to the kitchen cupboard, grabbed a set of keys and handed it to Mike. He slipped it into his pocket and went back to tapping on his phone.
“So, you don’t have any luggage or anything?” I asked him.
“No, no baggage!” he replied with a grin on his face.
“Okay, well, let me give you the tour.”
I showed him around the apartment but he only seem interested in the kitchen. He was opening cupboards, and drawers and even wiped a small stain on the counter with the sponge.
He was a bit OCD I thought.
We headed back to the living room and he sat back on the sofa.
“So what do you think?” I asked him
“Uh, sure, all good, yeah!” he replied back staring at his phone.
“Okay then,” I said and forced a smile before turning to head back into the living room.
He was odd but, I didn’t have to stick around and look after him. I had done my bit so it was time to go.
“I’m gonna leave you to it, any problems my number is on the fridge,” I told him pointing towards the kitchen.
“Yeah, sure!” he replied still not taking his eyes off his phone.
I turned and walked out into the corridor and stopped by the front door to put my shoes back on.
I took off my slippers and started putting my trainers on. I about had one trainer on when I could have sworn I heard the sound of a camera shutter.
I looked towards the living room to see Mike look away and start tapping on his phone again.
I couldn’t be sure but, I felt like he was taking a picture of me. I decided not to make things awkward and accuse him of anything and left.
I felt a bit uncomfortable leaving him alone in the apartment but it was only one night after all.
I got home at about 11:30.
I put my letters down, made a cup of tea and curled up on the bed with my laptop.
I browsed the internet and checked my inboxes.
Airbnb had sent an email confirming Mike’s payment had cleared. I guess I was worried about nothing after all.
I fell asleep shortly after that.
The alarm on my phone went off at 6:43 am. Surprisingly, I felt well-rested and peaceful.
I unlocked my phone and looked at my notifications.
A few spammy emails, a WhatsApp message from my mum wishing me good morning (I swear that woman never sleeps!) and a DM on Airbnb from Mike received at 6:06.
The message read:
‘Hey, sorry I didn’t turn up last night, met up with a few mates and ended up crashing on the sofa at one of theirs. Don’t worry, I’ve still paid for the booking and will leave you a 5* review.
Cheers,
Mike.’
Wait, what? I was puzzled.
I reread the message several times before I replied.
‘Hey man, do you mean you went out with friends after I left and didn’t end up coming back? If so, that’s cool, as long as you locked up the apartment and left the key.’
My heart and my mind both were both starting to race. I had to tell myself to chill. Mike probably just got drunk and forgot about meeting me earlier at the apartment.
A few minutes later he replied.
‘No, I never even ended up coming to your town. I missed my train and by coincidence bumped into a few friends at the station and we went for a few drinks. Not sure what you mean by ‘after I left”? Anyway, all the best mate.’
Now my heart was racing! If this guy hadn’t stayed in my apartment last night then who the hell had!?
Then as I stood there staring at the screen I noticed Mike’s profile picture. I clicked on it to enlarge it.
It was not the guy from. last night! This guy was blonde and built like an NFL player.
I grabbed my keys and ran out to my car to drive over to the apartment.
My heart and mind were racing now, what if he’d robbed the place, or even worse what if he’d robbed and wrecked the place? I couldn’t stop thinking how stupid I was to not check his photo or ask him for his ID!
When I got to my apartment there were crowds of people outside, police and an ambulance.
I could feel it had something to do with my apartment.
I parked my car, jumped out and pushed my way to the building entrance where police were blocking the door.
“Excuse me!” I shouted trying to push through them.
One of the officers put his hand on my chest to stop me and said “Can’t let anyone in madame.”
“But I own one of the apartments”!
“We’re conducting an investigation madame,” he replied.
“Investigation?” I asked confused.
“Yes, someone attacked a young woman inside one of the apartments last night.”
I froze.
“What happened?” I gasped.
“Sorry, I can’t tell you anything more”
I felt sick, what if it was that guy!?.
“Do you have any idea who was involved?” I asked praying it wasn’t the guy I let in last night.
“Look, if you wanna help, keep your eyes open for a nerdy-looking, pale-skinned guy with thick glasses. A few residents say they saw him hanging around outside and one other said they saw him leaving around 1 am”
My heart stopped and sank.
“Oh my god, it’s him” I blurted out.
“Where!?” the policeman spluttered looking around.
“No, I mean that’s the man I let stay in my apartment last night, the same man you just described! I thought he was here to rent my Airbnb but I didn’t check his picture or ID before letting him. I just assumed he was the guy”
“What apartment is yours?” the officer asked.
“6…66” I stuttered.
“Look, I shouldn’t be telling you this but, that’s the apartment the young woman was killed in”
“Killed!?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Did you speak to him at all” The police officer pulled out his notepad and began to scribble things down.
‘Yes, I introduced myself to him and he said his name was Mike”.
“Mike you say?” Repeated the officer.
“Yes”.
“And your name is madame?” He asked.
“Sam” I answered.
“But Mike was the name of the guy who had actually made the booking and didn’t turn up.”
“Okay, you’re gonna have to start from the beginning Sam ‘cause I’m a little confused”. Said the officer.
I told him about my Airbnb and how the real Mike had messaged me that morning apologising for not turning up.
“Right, that is quite the mix-up Sam! If you ask me you’re lucky to be alive!”
At that moment the building doors swung open and the paramedics wheeled out a body covered by a white sheet.
Seeing it triggered the realisation that could be me under there and I burst into tears.
“I’m so sorry” I sobbed.
The officer patted me on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s not your fault Sam, you couldn’t have known this would happen.”
Another officer came over. They exchanged a few hushed words until finally, the second officer left with the rest of the police.
“Okay Sam, you’ll have to stay elsewhere for a few nights but, you can get anything you need from the apartment now”
“Okay, I have another house where I live, this is my Airbnb apartment but, there are a few bits I’d like to grab”
“Let’s head up” The officer motioned for me to lead the way and we went into the building and up to my apartment.
When I opened the apartment door I expected to see a bloodbath but, no, everything looked, normal. I went into the living room and it was immaculate.
“You got lucky, the victim was attacked in the kitchen so the cleanup team was able to erase pretty much all traces of the incident. If it had been in here on your carpet it would have been a different matter” The officer explained.
“Yeah, that is… lucky, I guess” I tried to see the positive side of all this but was still shaken up about the whole thing.
“What exactly did he do to her?”
“The girl was visiting another resident and had left the apartment to go home when the killer dragged her into your apartment and choked her to death.”
“Oh my God, that’s awful!” I exclaimed.
“That’s not even the worst bit. The sicko cut all her toes off and they weren’t able to find them anywhere. Forensics reckon he took them with him, some kinda trophy”
The officer had a sickened look on his face like he had a bad smell under his nose.
“You’re right, that is sick. Is it okay if I look around to see if anything is missing?”
“Sure, go ahead, try not to touch or move things in the kitchen”.
I nodded and began looking around the apartment.
I didn’t have many things there. A few spare clothes, some old photos, a toothbrush and some letters I’d forgotten to take with me from the last time I was there.
I picked up the letters and went back to the living room.
“Well, everything looks pretty normal. Nothing seems to be missing.”
“Okay, well if you’re about done I’m gonna have to ask you to lock up and head out. Here are the station details and my name, I’m officer Doyle. You can ask for me if you have any questions. We’ll be in contact again when we’ve finished our full investigation.”
“Okay, thank you, that’s great. Do you have any idea how long it might be til I can have the apartment back again”? I asked.
“It’s likely to be about a week. That said, I’ve got a feeling nobody is gonna be rushing to book your apartment anytime soon!” The officer chuckled.
He was way too upbeat for my liking and a little insensitive, to be honest.
I guess he’s used to this sort of thing, or maybe that’s just how he dealt with things.
I turned around and made my way back to the front door, with the officer behind me. I was about to reach for the door handle when I noticed it, “Oh my God, He stole my slippers”!