Ash Dark as Night by Gary Phillips

Author:Gary Phillips
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Soho Press

LESS THAN two hours later, Ingram kept another appointment. He had been asked to take pictures of the body of Faraday Zinum being claimed by the independent medical examiner. The family’s lawyer Clyde Kennedy was also present. He would accompany the body to where it was to be autopsied. As the dead man hadn’t yet been embalmed to better preserve any type of evidence, the body had been kept in the Eternal Sands’ refrigeration unit to retard decomposition. Ingram took shots of Zinum as he was wheeled out of cooling and during the process of shrouding his body. The young man was carefully wrapped in three layers of cloth. There was a solemnity to how Faraday was being handled and Ingram sought to preserve that dignity in his pictures. Faraday was then loaded into the cargo area of a station wagon.

“Okay, I’m off,” Kennedy said to Ingram and Nakano. At the lawyer’s suggestion, Nakano had filed a police report about the attempted arson of his business.

“Really?” Ingram had joked, “like the fox is gonna find out who’s been eating those chickens. Fricasseeing them and whatnot.”

Kennedy had replied, smiling, “Gotta have it on the record, is all.” The three didn’t believe the police would do any investigating of the incident.

Now, Nakano and Ingram gave a quick wave as the lawyer drove off in his Avanti, the convertible top down, trailing behind the station wagon.

“It’s not sundown yet, but I could use a drink,” Nakano said.

“You buying?” Ingram said.

“Sure as hell am.”

They walked past several toadstool-shaped bonsai trees bordering part of the exterior. Back in his office, the funeral director opened a black lacquer cabinet with ornate images and Japanese lettering carved into its surface. He extracted a bottle of Crown Royal and two glasses and sat next to Ingram on the customer side, removing the whiskey from its distinctive purple with yellow piping drawstring cloth sack. He poured twin draughts a shade more than neat for both of them.

“Kenpai,” Ingram said as they clinked glasses.

“Kenpai,” Nakano said, returning the toast. He took a drink and leaned back, tension flowing from him visibly.

Ingram also enjoyed a taste. “How’s Chris?” There were several framed photos in here of his eleven-year-old son, who lived in Hawaii with the boy’s mother. He gestured the glass toward the son’s beaming face in the shot taken on the beach two years ago.

“Talked to him last Sunday.” Nakano swirled the contents of his glass about. “My plan is to get over there this winter. Apparently he’s taken up surfing and is getting to be quite good at it. A regular Duke Kahanamoku. Helen even sent me a film of him.” He adjusted the glasses bridging his nose. “I know I’m biased, but he looked impressive. ’Course I don’t know squat about the sport.”

Ingram only knew who Kahanamoku was because Nakano had previously told him about the Hawaiian surfing champ. “You worried he’s gonna become big time on the waves and won’t be following in the family business?”

Nakano was in the middle of a sip and choked a little, clearing his throat.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.