I Confess by Alex Barclay

Author:Alex Barclay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2019-07-17T17:00:00+00:00

26

Everyone stared at Johnny.

‘What the fuck is this?’ said Murph.

‘This …’ said Johnny. ‘This is … hear me out, OK? Hear me out. I didn’t do anything. But … whatever happened … if someone did … if someone else did … whatever it is, I’m fucked.’

‘What are you on about?’ said Laura. ‘Why would you be fucked if you did nothing?’

‘Just – can everyone listen, OK?’ said Johnny. ‘Thats all.’

‘Well, we’re not going anywhere, are we?’ said Laura. She leaned out and looked at Edie, who was sitting utterly still, blank-faced.

Johnny was staring at the floor, running his hand over his head, over and over. ‘It’s … I’m not sure you’re getting what I’m trying to say.’

Laura stood up, knocking the legs of the chair and table together. Patrick spun around and gave her a warning look. As she was about to walk past him, he lowered his arm in front of her to stop her. She glared at him. ‘Get your—’

Patrick cut her off. ‘Why don’t we all sit down, and hear the man out, at least?’

Johnny was directly in Laura’s eyeline. ‘Please,’ he mouthed.

Laura let out a breath and went back to her seat. ‘Would you just tell us why exactly you think you’re fucked?’ she said.

‘Jesus Christ,’ said Johnny, ‘I’m standing out there, and you’re all looking at me like I did something, and you’re my friends, and …’ He turned to Edie. She was staring at him, panic flickering in her eyes. Johnny threw his hands up. ‘So how do you think the guards are going to look at it?’

Edie started to stand. ‘Honey, stop—’

‘No!’ said Johnny, batting her back down. ‘No. Just stay where—’

‘Johnny,’ said Patrick. ‘There’s no need for that.’ He grabbed the armrests and started to shift his chair back.

‘You can stay the fuck where you are too,’ said Johnny, ‘and just hear me fucking out.’

‘OK,’ said Patrick, nodding, ‘OK.’

‘I did not lay a finger on that man,’ said Johnny. ‘I don’t know what happened to him. But whatever it was, it’s going to look like I did it. There’s stuff you don’t know, but trust me, Terry and I have a history, and it’s not good. We’ve had rip-roaring rows. He’ll bang on about me to whoever’ll listen, and, well, I do the same myself.’

‘You’re the one keeps hiring him,’ said Murph. ‘What—’

‘Jesus! Shut the fuck up about me hiring him,’ said Johnny. ‘The point is, as soon as the guards start going “Who had a reason to kill Terry Hyland?”—’

‘They’ll say “half the fucking town”!’ said Murph.

‘But only one of them has his fucking body lying in their garden,’ said Johnny. ‘You don’t get it. Everyone knows I can’t stand Terry. I … I held back some of the money I owe him, and he wasn’t happy. But he hadn’t finished the jobs, and it was the only way I could get him to come back.’ He turned to Murph. ‘And I hired him because he’s cheap, OK?’

Everyone went quiet. Edie stared at the floor.

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