Harlan Coben - Play Dead

‘ – and I’ll be right there to help you tear away at your skin, Stan. Your old buddy B Man will be waiting with open arms and sharp claws.’

Stan’s upper lip quivered. ‘Just shut up!’

‘I don’t like being yelled at,’ B Man warned, his voice low. ‘I don’t like it at all. Maybe I’ll have to teach you a little lesson, Stan.’

‘No, B – ’

‘Maybe I should pull your broken finger right out of the socket,’ B Man continued. ‘Or maybe I’ll just grab your little blonde girlfriend, tie her down to a bed, and let Bart and a few of his buddies take turns on her. How does that sound?’

Stan’s eyes flew open. ‘I… I’m sorry, B Man. I didn’t mean any disrespect.’

B Man’s laugh chilled him. ‘I know, Stan, I know. Give me a call when you feel the urge. In the meantime, enjoy your brief moments of joy. People like you don’t get to experience this very often. When you’re ready to go back to your home in the gutter, we’ll be waiting to assist you.’

The phone went dead. Stan turned. Gloria was standing in the doorway. ‘Is everything okay?’ she asked.

He went to her and held her closely. ‘Everything is fine,’ he said.

She looked up at him. ‘You’ve really given up gambling, haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Stan said, and though it was the truth, he knew that B Man was right, that eventually it would be a lie.

It had been the Garden of Eden. Then it became Hell. The transformation had been sudden. One moment, the Reef Resort Hotel was an idyllic honeymoon hideaway; the next, it was death. Staring at it now, the Reef Resort Hotel became hazy and unreal to Laura, as though she was seeing it in a dream. The building and grounds were all so familiar. She saw the bush, the gardens, the lobby – even the sunburned receptionist behind the desk. Laura remembered him well. He had handed her the last note David had ever written.

‘Mrs Baskin!’ the sunburned man cried out when he saw her. ‘How nice to see you again!’

Laura smiled through her daze and shook the man’s hand. ‘Nice to see you.’

‘Will you be staying long?’

Graham stepped between them. ‘Only a few minutes.’

‘How you doin’, Sheriff?’

‘Very well, Monty. You?’

‘Can’t complain,’ he replied. ‘Something I can do for you?’

Graham must have been a foot taller than Monty. He stared down at the smaller man. ‘Do you remember the day David Baskin disappeared?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ the receptionist answered. ‘What about it?’

‘He handed you a note before he left, right?’

‘Sure did,’ Monty confirmed. ‘Christ, that note was a regular riot. You remember it, Mrs Baskin? I read it to you over the phone when you called in. I was never so embarrassed in my life.’

‘Then what happened?’ Graham asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Did David return to the hotel?’

Monty nodded. ‘Yeah, like I told Mrs Baskin. He came back for a little.’

‘And then he left again?’

‘Right.’ Monty said.

‘How long was he back?’ Graham asked.

‘Oh, I don’t know. About an hour.’

‘What time did Mr Baskin leave the hotel the second time?’

Monty thought a moment. ‘Can’t say for sure. Mr Baskin took off right after he got a phone call.’

Graham and Laura exchanged glances. ‘What phone call?’ Graham asked.

Monty shrugged. ‘Don’t rightly know really. I was doing the switchboard when a call came in for him. I just transferred the call to his room. Mr Baskin came down and rushed out of here a few minutes later.’

Graham wetted his lips. ‘Can you tell me about the voice of the caller?’

‘About the voice?’

‘Sex, accent, anything.’

Monty thought a minute. ‘Well, I don’t remember the voice all that well. It was a long time ago. The only reason I remember it at all is because Mr Baskin was a celebrity and after I let the call go through, I kicked myself for not screening it for him. I mean, it could have been some reporter or obnoxious fan. But anyway, all the person said was “Mr Baskin’s room, please.” But I kinda remember the voice was hushed. Was it a man or a woman? Can’t say for sure. But it was a Yankee accent all right. You can’t hide that, no matter how hard you try.’

‘Anything else?’

Monty shook his head. ‘Oh, wait. One more thing. The call was local.’

‘How could you tell?’

‘The lines in this hotel are terrible when a call comes from overseas. But there was no static on the line. The call had to have been made from right around here.’

Graham thanked Monty and then he steered Laura toward a bamboo chair in the corner of the lobby. She sat silently, her bleak eyes staring out toward the pool and beach.

‘Laura?’

Her head slowly swerved toward his voice. ‘Yes?’

‘You okay?’

She ignored the question. ‘Somebody called him.’

‘Seems that way,’ Graham agreed. ‘Let’s try to put this little puzzle together and see what we come up with, okay?’

She nodded.

Graham began pacing in a tight circle. ‘First step: you go to your meeting at the Peterson Building in Cairns. David gets dressed and goes outside for a little swim and basketball. Step two: you call the hotel. David is still out. He has left you an amusing little note. Step three: David comes back to the hotel. He goes up to his room. He receives a phone call from an American who was staying in the area – ’

‘That rules out T.C.,’ Laura interrupted. ‘There is no way he could have made that call locally and gotten back to Boston in time for my phone call.’

Graham pondered that for awhile. ‘Seems logical to me. But that doesn’t really tell us much. Just because he didn’t place the call doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved in Mr Baskin’s drowning. Now where was I?’

‘David received a phone call.’

‘Right. David receives a local phone call from an American. Then he quickly writes you a rather cryptic note and leaves the hotel. We can probably assume that he went out to meet the caller. That takes us to step four: David went to the Pacific International Hotel in Cairns.’

‘Maybe a taxi driver remembers taking him,’ Laura said.

‘A long shot, but I’ll check it out. Anyway, we have a witness who placed David at the hotel at about the right time so let’s pick it up from there. Step five: David arrives at the hotel. He’s a little distracted, probably from something the mystery caller said to him. He goes upstairs for about an hour, presumably to meet the caller. When David comes down, he’s disoriented. Something happened upstairs that has upset him.’

‘But what?’ Laura asked, speaking more to herself than Graham.

‘No idea,’ the big man replied. ‘David then takes a walk around the block. He may have even gone into the Peterson Building where you were having your meeting. Then he comes back to the hotel and places a couple of calls to the United States. Who did he call? I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t get through and decided to call later. He takes another walk around for a couple of hours. We have a witness who saw him standing by the beach at the Marlin Jetty at approximately eleven thirty at night. From here, we have a blank space. The next time anyone saw him, he was dead. Your banker friend Corsel claims to have heard from him at midnight. Could be. Or could be David was already dead by then and the caller disguised his voice.’

Laura fidgeted in her seat. ‘That no longer seems very likely, does it, Graham?’

Graham shook his head. ‘Possible, yes. Likely, no. I think David came back to the hotel and placed a call to the bank. Why? I don’t know. I think it had something to do with whomever he met in the Pacific International. Anyway, we’ll know where David placed his calls for sure once Gina finds those phone bills. Also, we’ll have to question the night porter and maybe the receptionist at the Peterson Building. They may also have seen David. This is just the beginning, Laura. A full investigation is not made in a single day.’