Nang Tani - Epub by Lee Franklin

Author:Lee Franklin [Franklin, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

The police station was packed full of people, and was a mayhem of people shouting, phones ringing and junior officers bustling backwards and forwards like ants in a nest. Aromdee hustled Shane through the rabbit warren of offices, pausing to collect some papers, and showed him into a cubicle which seemingly passed for an office.

“Do you want some coffee, Mr Manning?” he asked as he sat behind the tiny desk, indicating for Shane to pull over the chair from the neighbouring cubicle.

Shane didn’t react, it was as if his brain had exploded and his thoughts were in a thousand pieces. He didn’t notice Aromdee direct his staff on the coffee.

“So firstly, who do you believe this man is?” Aromdee started, pen poised, eager to begin.

“Umm, I think it's my mate, Paul.”

“Paul?”

“Yeah sorry, umm Paul Sleight. I mean, just because it looks like his belt, doesn’t mean it’s him, right?” Shane’s chest squeezed tight as he tried to keep the tremble out of his voice. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his damn arm was prickling as unshed tears burned his eyes.

Aromdee clicked his fingers, and a uniformed officer stepped forward and passed him a few sheets of paper and a zip-lock bag. Aromdee flicked through the records and took a look at what appeared to be a driver’s license. He breathed heavily through his teeth, before looking at Shane.

“Paul Sleight from Bakers Hill, Western Australia?” he asked as he spun the driver’s license around for Shane to see.

“Yeah,” Shane coughed as he saw his mate’s face looking back at him.

Shane remembered the day Paul got his license. He was the oldest and the first one out of the two of them to get it. He hadn’t kept it for long, what with the speeding and drinking, but still it had been their ticket to freedom.

The room spun in and out of focus as a punch of guilt and grief slammed into Shane, leaving a hollow ache.

“Of course we will still need you to identify the remains formally, once they are, umm, decent for viewing. But this license was found in in the victim’s pocket. Now, can you please tell me what happened last night?”

Shane’s mouth went dry. Not the whole truth, he thought as self-preservation kicked in. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak before taking a deep slurp of the bitter black coffee from the chipped cup he nursed in his hand.

Aromdee listened to Shane’s heavily edited story, furiously scribbling notes. Aromdee placed his note book to the side after Shane told him about the misunderstanding at the club.

Shane tweaked the truth and made it Paul who had made the mistake, and Shane who had pointed out the Adam’s apple just before Paul made any advances with the ladyboy.

Self-loathing reared its head, but Shane pushed it away. It’s about surviving now and Paul would’ve done the same. The woman got upset with Paul, didn’t like being rejected and threw herself at them in anger. That’s how Shane explained the marks on his face.

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