Peter Corris - O'Fear

‘It takes one battler to understand another,’ Hickie said,

‘Took a chance, didn’t you, Michael? What if Felicia and I had stuck?’

Hickie laughed. ‘I didn’t take much of a chance. I checked on you first-you and women and your impossible way of life. I knew you’d screw it up. You always have.’

‘You and Todd were a good pair,’ I said.

‘That’s another thing-Felicia needs someone who thinks Barnes Todd was a saint on wheels, and I fill the bill. I knew it’d all come right. Just happened a bit quicker than I expected.’

‘I wonder why you didn’t try to con me out of the ten thousand?’

‘I thought about it, but I couldn’t figure a way. No hard feelings, eh, Cliff?’

I think we hung up at the same time.

O’Fear’s hiding place had been pretty smart- who looks in the walls of bathrooms for anything but white ants? I took the photos and put them down beside the phone. You can never tell the whole story; the thing is to tell the parts that matter. I thought about Danny O’Fearna and his sorry, bewildered face. I took the. 45 from the cupboard and put it on top of the photos. I thought about Riley and Athena and about bugs and scanners. To hell with it, they think they’re in the clear. I dialled Frank Parker’s number.

‘Parker.’

‘This is Hardy, Frank. What about a game of squash when you knock off?’

‘You hate squash.’

‘I’ve learned a few shots I’d like to show you.’