Say My Name by Joe Clifford

Author:Joe Clifford [Clifford, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Published: 2023-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The photos were from the ’80s, a time before our phones captured every moment and meal, however mundane. Even if I didn’t recognize the Twins, the hair, big and feathered, would’ve given away the timeframe. Rainbow sweatbands and tee shirts, teeny matching Adidas shorts. I also recognized the necklace I’d given to Annabelle. Which broke my heart. They were sitting on a couch, its faded brown indistinguishable from every other variation of taupe. Bland, flavorless. So conservative. So Berlin. The girls looked beautiful, young and vibrant, their smiles bright. Ava was laughing. Annabelle was happy too, even if there seemed to be a pensive quality to her expression. No, not pensive … blunted. Like when you’ve had too much to drink. Still pleasant but on the verge of getting sick. The room seemed familiar in a vague way, like how all your friends’ houses looked alike when you’re a kid. I pushed deeper into my subconscious but couldn’t gain traction.

“Where’d you get these?” I asked Wayne, even though he’d already told me.

“We found them in the shed night you were attacked.”

Is that Danny’s living room in the photographs? No, I’d been to Barbara McPhee’s. This wasn’t their house. It wasn’t the shed, either. It was a living room—a basement living room. Rich? Poor? Decorated in the style of the era. Whose basement was that? I’d been there.

“Why were you there?” Wayne asked.

“Huh?”

“At the shed?”

Right. No one can read your mind. I told Wayne about having dinner with Mel McPhee, who’d shared details of Danny’s job at Gribbard, his getting kicked out of his folk’s and living in the shed before he was arrested. I omitted the part about my uncle’s helping him get the job.

“I thought he might’ve left behind a clue,” I added.

“You could’ve brought this to the police.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I could have.”

“Did you see these Polaroids that night?”

“It was dark. I couldn’t see much of anything. Except … there was a cot. It was stained red—”

“Saw that too. Not blood. Paint.”

“Where did you find those pictures?” I asked.

“In a corner, with some old soil and planting sod, gardening material fossilized at this point.” Wayne jabbed a finger at the photos. “They were resting beneath a pot, on a plate.” He hopped up, rubbing his chin, pensive. “Looking for evidence, eh? Well, if what you say is true, that Danny was living there—I think we may’ve found it.”

Wayne drove me to the Citgo so I could pick up my car. On the way I told him where Danny McPhee was currently staying. Wayne said they’d be paying a visit to the America Inn, ASAP.

I got my prescription from the pharmacy, popping a couple Percs before I was out the door. Even though Wayne had said to sit tight and that he’d call me once he had anything, I couldn’t do that.

I rang Jim, figuring he’d be at work. Planning to leave a message, I was surprised when my friend picked up on the first ring and told me he had the day off.

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