EQMM 2009-01 by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

Author:Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine [Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Roly Poly Paul had turned around and was ponging between the walls and the gates, first just fretting and then trying to dodge. He took a shot at blowing past me on my left, and I 360ed to my right with both hands on the board and smacked him right across the chops. He reeled into a corner and I whacked him again, knocking him toward the center of the gates, blood from his nose all over, his eyes welling, not words but sounds somewhere between moaning and pleading I heard flying by me and I cracked him once more. He went to one knee and I flung the board two-handed up and back over my head, then moved in and drove my knee hard and deep into his ribs, and again and again until I knew I felt damage. I grabbed him by his arm and yanked him up and felt something give in the shoulder, maybe the elbow too. I grabbed his coat and banged his head back against the gates and spun him around and banged his face against the gates and felt how, yes, this was still about Paul and Sally but as I kept banging his face against the gates it was now more about me and a big, overwhelming feeling of rightness and satisfaction and comfort, like truly great music you heard and understood better than anyone else. It was operatic, my head back with eyes open to that deep-blue-sea sky growing darker as night kept falling, admiring the moon as I kept rolling my shoulders and arms forward, stroke after stroke, until it felt so good I stopped.

I left him in a heap, surprisingly not too much mess on my jacket. As I walked back to the sidewalk the crowd of locals that had gathered was attentive but silent, with a few single nods in my direction. And across the street were two little girls and Sally. I looked, and she looked back, and I craned my neck to keep on her, but then I had to watch where I was going. At the bottom of the hill I turned onto Highwood to go home and heard the cop cars screaming to the scene.

The story was in the Journal the next day. It mentioned “critical condition” and “rumors of drug use” and “domestic disturbance complaints” and “no eyewitnesses” and “no suspects.” And so that was that.

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