Alex Barclay - The Drowning Child

Or maybe I could tidy my stuff away...

‘Yes, ma’am,’ said the receptionist. ‘I apologize for any inconvenience.’

Inconvenience... a great sweeping fuck of a word.

‘Could I get the name of the plumber?’ said Ren. Just in case...

Pause. ‘Sure... it’s J. J.’s Plumbing Services – J. J. Nash.’

‘Thank you,’ said Ren. She googled J. J. Nash on her phone. His company was five years old, based in Tate. His testimonials all ended with four and five stars. The photo was of a smiling but slightly sad-eyed man in his mid-twenties.

Move along, nothing to see here.

Ren still hadn’t turned on the lights in the bedroom. She stood up, made her way over to the window. The rain was relentless. She stood in the darkness, separated from the night by the icy glass. She started to unbutton her shirt.

Ben ripping my shirt off... losing my buttons.

Ben.

Ben.

Ben.

Tonight, it is just you.

I want you. I want your arms, your beautiful face. I want every part of you.

And I can’t have it. I can’t have it ever again.

She took off her shirt, threw it on the back of the chair. She unhooked her bra, threw it on top. She went to her bag and took out a faded black Dropkick Murphys T-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the front. She held it up to her face, breathed in.

Loser.

Don’t.

She put it on, looked at her reflection in the glass. She finished undressing, then pulled on a pair of loose black shorts that were shorter than the T-shirt. She tied her hair in a ponytail, grabbed her laptop, went over to the bed, lay down and curled toward the window to lose herself in the drenched and clouded world outside.

Her phone beeped with a text.

Go away.

She reached out, took the phone from the nightstand and pulled it toward her. She held it above her face, squinted at the screen. The text was from Paul Louderback.

Are you OK? Missed you at dinner.

She replied.

Just shy. ;-)

He replied:

One of my favorite things about you.

Then:

Want company?

Ren punched in:

Are you fucking high?

She deleted it. And replied:

Working...

He typed back.

Sure you’re OK?

Sure you’re not just looking to get laid?

She sent:

Yes, honestly. Sleep well. And thanks. XX

I should just send him a text:

I am wearing my dead boyfriend’s T-shirt.

She touched her hand to her heart.

Ben Rader, I miss you so much.

Work. Forget.

She sat up, propped against the pillows and opened a photo of Caleb Veir.

Where are you? Did your daddy kill you? Did your mommy? Did you run from a home you didn’t love? Why did you fall out with your mother? Did she do something to you? Did your daddy come home after work, bitching about the inmates at BRCI, calling them psychos, or did he make sure they were humanized? You knew Seth Fuller had been at BRCI... did you allow him to befriend you to provoke your father? Did it provoke your father?

Were you a trusting kind of kid? Would an adult buying you comics and candy just seem like kindness to you, seem unthreatening? Or what if a man like Franklin J. Merrifield approached you? Would you have been afraid of him? Could he have mentioned your father to earn your trust? What made you afraid? Who made you afraid?

Ren opened a new document and started typing.

John Veir lost his temper and killed Caleb accidentally...

John Veir killed Aaron and Caleb because he is a pedophile and was abusing them.

Teddy Veir lost her temper and killed Caleb accidentally...

Teddy Veir killed both boys to get back at John and Shannon for having an affair.

Teddy Veir killed her son to get the same attention her husband gave his mistress when her son died.

Franklin J. Merrifield killed Caleb Veir.

Franklin J. Merrifield abducted Caleb Veir, but has not killed him.

Another former inmate from BRCI abducted/killed Caleb to get back at John Veir for something.

Seth Fuller killed Aaron Fuller and/or Caleb Veir because he is a pedophile.

Aaron’s death and Caleb’s disappearance are not connected.

Caleb Veir ran away to see if his parents really cared about him, to give them a fright.

Caleb Veir ran away to bring his parents closer together, because he knew his father had been having an affair.

Caleb Veir ran away because he was disgusted about his father’s affair and thought his mother was weak.

Caleb Veir is still alive, being held by person(s) unknown.

Ren’s eyes started to close.

It’s all too depressing.

Make it go away.

Ren woke up with a start at midnight. Her laptop had slid on to the bed beside her. She sat up, pulled it on to her lap and re-read her list. She added Alice Veir’s name at the bottom with a string of question marks. She re-read everything again. She stopped at Merrifield.

Hold on... Merrifield... claims he was wrongfully convicted. Alice Veir... is on a wrongful conviction case. Caleb’s last phone call was to ... Alice Veir. Alice Veir has no children. Caleb is the only child in her life. Could he have been seen as a weak spot? Could Merrifield have wanted Alice Veir’s help on his case? Would he have gone to any lengths to get it?

Ren went to YouTube and searched for the TV show that Alice Veir had appeared on. She pressed Play.

‘Ahead of next month’s International Innocence Program Conference in Portland, Oregon, tonight our panel consists of four lawyers working in the field of wrongful conviction. It’s a hot topic right now, following the recent success of Netflix documentary, Making a Murderer, which seems to have gotten the entire world talking...’

The presenter introduced the guests. Alice Veir was striking in her sternness, stiff posture, and conservative dress. Her deep brown hair was wavy, cut in a short, unflattering style. She had the same broad lower jaw as her brother, the same dark, steely eyes.

You are the kind of lawyer who is hired to be unleashed.

The presenter turned to Alice: ‘Let me start with you, Alice Veir. You are the odd one out here tonight, in that you are not affiliated with the Innocence Project, and this is, in fact, your first wrongful conviction case. Why don’t you talk to us about your client, Anthony Boyd Lorden? He was jailed for life back in 1995 for the murder of sixteen-year-old high school student, Kevin Dunne, who he had picked up hitch-hiking...’

‘If I may,’ said Alice, ‘I’d like to begin by saying that Anthony Boyd Lorden is an innocent man, who has spent twenty-one years in prison for a crime he did not commit. There was not one piece of evidence that linked my client to the body of Kevin Dunne.’

‘But what you haven’t mentioned is that your client confessed,’ said the presenter.

Alice nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘and I know this is one of the toughest things for people to wrap their brain around – why someone would confess to a crime they didn’t commit. Let me try to explain: there’s a type of false confession called coercion-compliant. It’s when people confess because they are so broken down, so desperate, so exhausted, so lied to, that they will say anything to get out of an interview room. Sometimes, it can be as simple as that. Many suspects – or witnesses – believe that because they didn’t commit the crime, there will be no evidence to back up their confession, therefore they couldn’t possibly be convicted. But, of course, sadly, as everyone on this panel knows, that’s not how it works.’