Exit .45 by Ben Sanders

Author:Ben Sanders
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

Marshall saw Jordan’s eyes cut across to him, but neither of them spoke. After a moment, Martin Boyne shook his head.

‘Look, I’m sorry. I wish I had something more to tell you. Like I say, the car was moving before I got to them.’ He shrugged. ‘It was just an impression, really, as they went by. And the guy with the smile, he was turning to look at me as they passed. He was driving, so he was on the side nearest to me, and all I can really picture …’ He shut his eyes, furrowed his brow. ‘All I can see is his face in the window.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t even see it now, but I remember … I remember thinking at the time, it looked like a woman beside him.’

No one answered. The wind chime on the front eave touched out a few careful notes. Marshall saw Jordan glance at him again: a silent query as to who would do the prompting.

Marshall said, ‘Can you remember what gave you that impression? What made you think it was a woman in the car?’

Silence in the room. Boyne was still looking out at the street, a gleam to his eyes from the window light. Or maybe something else: bright with memory, or a wish he could change things.

Marshall said, ‘There must have been something you noticed at the time.’

Silence again.

Ginny Boyne took her husband’s hand, shook it gently. The whole limb wobbled, as if boneless. ‘Try to remember, darling. It could be helpful.’

Marshall said, ‘Maybe hair? Body shape? Size?’

But Martin Boyne was shaking his head. He said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t remember. It was weeks ago. It was a glimpse in the dark, weeks ago.’

He came away from the window and went back over to his workbench, started moving things around: nothing productive, just idle, awkward motion to get him through the moment.

He stopped and said, ‘It’s like when you wake up and you know you had a dream, but you can’t remember the dream. That’s what it’s like.’

No one answered.

Martin said, ‘I’m sorry, there’s just been too much on my mind. I can’t think about anything else.’

Marshall said, ‘It’s OK. We understand.’

Martin shook his head. He braced himself on the edge of the bench. ‘We had to move my landscape down here. It used to be upstairs, in the spare room, but it was too close to where she was. I couldn’t get anything done. I’d just stand there, thinking she used to be on the other side of the wall.’

He shook his head. All kinds of anguish and misery in that single gesture. A kind of dismal finality to it. He said, ‘I’m sorry. I don’t think I can help you.’

They sat in the Tahoe to debrief. Marshall had the wind chime framed by chance in his side mirror. Oddly compelling to watch the subtle motion.

He said, ‘This changes things slightly. Lydia’s neighbor – Mrs Lopez – she had the impression there were two men in the house.

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