Peter Corris - O'Fear

‘I feel guilty about that, too.’

‘You shouldn’t. The man was a shit. I didn’t shed any bloody tears when they hosed him off the highway.’

I was almost shocked; it was the third bad opinion of Barnes Todd in a row after all the glowing tributes. Deborah’s viewpoint was necessarily slanted, but in the investigative business three sources amounts to confirmation. I tried to keep my voice neutral. ‘Why d’you say that?’

She pushed back some straggling dark hair. Hero, the dog, watched her every move and looked as if it would jump off the bluff into the sea if Deborah told it to. She smiled down at it and Hero curled into a big relaxed ball. Maybe that was what Deborah liked-attention and obedience. ‘Todd owned this place for years. It was pretty much of a ruin and he only got around to getting it fixed up after he married Fel. I did most of the work on it.’

Things weather fast on the coast, and I hadn’t noticed that the deck and the sliding doors and the landscaped garden were newish. ‘That’s when you met Fel?’

‘Yes. I knew Todd before that. He used to bring women down here.’ She laughed. ‘Well, why not? I would, too. It’s a great place.’

‘What’re you getting at, Deborah?’

‘He wasn’t faithful to her. He brought a woman down here after he was married. Twice at least. I didn’t give a shit at the time. No business of mine, and I’ve got no faith in heterosexual monogamy. I suppose she’d have done the same after a while. But it cuts me up that she regards him as a saint. She won’t hear a word against him. Started out the other night talking about how nice you were and ended up crying over Todd. Bloody madness. Still, I suppose you’re no prize either.’

‘Probably not,’ I said. ‘Look, this isn’t idle curiosity. It could be important. Can you describe the woman?’

‘Bottle blonde. Forty or more. A real bitch.’

‘Do you know her name?’

She shook her head. ‘Heard it, but I forget. Foreign.’ She heaved herself up from the deck chair, and the dog rose in a simultaneous motion. ‘Well, three’s a crowd. I’ll take off. Tell her to give me a ring.’

I stood and had an impulse to shake hands, which I suppressed. ‘Thanks for looking after her.’

She snapped her fingers, and the dog bounded down the steps. ‘You do the same,’ she said.

Inside, the house was dark and cool, I put my bag down and went through to the main bedroom. Felicia was lying on the bed in a huddle. She heard me and sat up.

‘God, you gave me a fright!’

‘Sorry. I should’ve rung but I wanted to see you, not talk to you on the phone.’

She held out her arms. ‘I’m glad.’

I went over to the bed and we reached for each other. She pulled me down and kissed me hard. She was wearing a long red T-shirt and skimpy underpants and her body felt comforting and exciting at the same time. She lifted the shirt and put my hands on her breasts.

‘I like that,’ she said. ‘Oh, I like that. I got drunk last night.’

‘So I hear.’

She jerked away. ‘Christ! Deborah!’

I kissed her. Her breath was a little winey but not unpleasant. I eased her pants down from her full, rounded hips. ‘Don’t worry. She’s gone.’

‘Let’s fuck,’ she said.

I came wide awake with Warren Bradley’s words sounding inside my skull:… Stuff flying everywhere — barrier posts, branches, you know? Door wide open… What sort of stuff? And why had the door been open?

Felicia sat up beside me ‘What is it?’

I didn’t answer. These sorts of insights are fragile things; they can disappear like dreams if you don’t consolidate them quickly. I put my arm around Felicia’s bare shoulders and held her. Our bodies were warm from the bed and the contact. She nuzzled into me, and I stroked her hair while I thought it out. No reason for a door to fly open. The Calais might have been rammed by a heavier vehicle travelling faster, but that wouldn’t do it. What if Barnes had opened the door? And thrown something out?

‘What time is it?’ I said.

Felicity checked her watch. ‘Nearly five-thirty.’

‘When does it get light?’

‘In about an hour. Why?’

‘I have to go looking for something.’

‘God, are you always like this in the morning? Up and running this early? I don’t think I could bear it.’

I laughed and kissed her, but I got out of bed too. ‘No. I can sleep in with the best of them. Want some coffee?’

‘Tea,’ she said.

I got dressed and made the drinks. She was only half awake when I brought it to her, but she made an effort to sit up and drink it. I reminded her about the evidence O’Fear had referred to- a heavy bag-and our search for it in Botany. Then I let her in on my inspiration.

‘I suppose it’s possible,’ she said. ‘What could be in the bag?’

I sipped my coffee. I was drinking it strong and black and it was a bit of a jolt to what had been a very relaxed system. Excitement over the chance of finding the bag made me incautious about the other matter. ‘No idea. Tell me, Fel, what do you know about Barnes and a woman named Eleni Marinos?’

She spilled half of her tea on the sheet. ‘Shit! Why do you ask me that?’

‘Is that a problem for you?’

‘Very much so. I don’t want to hear her bloody name, much less talk about her. Is she involved in this?’

‘Could be.’

Her face, which had been sleepy and relaxed, went tight. I could feel waves of hostility coming from her. She mopped vigorously at the wet sheet with her T-shirt which had been lying on the bed. ‘Christ, am I never going to get clear of that woman?’

Light was showing at the bottom of the half-drawn blind and the birds were starting up in the trees. It should have been a good day for us, but suddenly it wasn’t.

I touched her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, love. I should have felt around it a bit more first before opening my big mouth.’

‘Bullshit! That’s bullshit! I’m not a child. I can face facts. I bet you’ve been talking to Deborah.’

‘Yes, but the name came up in Sydney first.’

‘I bet. Her name comes up all the bloody time. Deborah thinks I don’t know about Barnes and… her, but I do. I did. Oh shit! Why did you have to…?’

‘That’s the nature of this business, Fel. It often comes down to this-the awkward question, the unwelcome name.’

‘I suppose you’re going to tell me they had a love nest in Elizabeth Bay or something?’

‘No. Nothing like that. I’m really interested in the business dealings-Barnes Enterprises and Athena Security.’

She shook her head miserably. ‘I don’t know about that.’

‘This isn’t really the time to talk about it, but I don’t think you need to suffer. I don’t know anything that suggests Barnes was seriously involved with Marinos after he met you. And some things point the other way.’

‘What do you mean, seriously?’

‘Can we leave it until I get back?’

‘Sure, sure. Let’s leave it, period.’

She flopped down on the bed and rolled over, burying her head in the pillow. I’m a combative person by nature and life and my trade have made me more so. I wanted to tell her that I knew about her deception with the photographs and paintings. If things had got sticky enough, I might even have said something about how Todd had saved his arse in Korea. But, painfully, I’ve learned to cut the connection between self-justification, my anger and my vocal cords. I tiptoed out of the bedroom, which was starting to fill with light.

I got the car as close as I could to the place where Todd’s Calais had gone off the road. I had to walk back through some lantana and scrub and scramble up a steepish slope to reach the actual spot. I was breathing heavily when I got there. The day was clearing fast; a little mist hung around the top of the scarp but, from this height, the ships on the horizon were sharp-etched and the headland to the south was like a giant knife blade thrusting into the sea.