Verbatim
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There is silence between them before Carol speaks, “I think you must have taken leave of your senses. I want you to leave my house now. We can speak again once you’ve regained your sanity.”
“But,” says Grant, “you haven’t yet agreed to my terms.”
Grant takes a piece of paper from his inside pocket and shows it to Carol. Carol reads it, what she reads is a contract already signed by Grant in which Carol confesses, promises to pay the sum of money and the proportion of future income which Grant had already mentioned. It also assigns half of the copyright to Grant. In return Grant will agree to take no legal action against her.
“I’m not signing this, get out of my house at once.”
“Theft of copyright is a serious offence, you’ll go to prison for it. If I leave this house without you signing that document I will go straight to the police.”
“And tell them what.”
“That you are guilty of copyright theft.”
“I don’t know what’s got into you today, why are you suddenly accusing me of stealing your novel? I wrote that novel out of my own imagination. Besides which you can’t prove you wrote it because you didn’t, you couldn’t have.”
“If Phil Johnson, I think that was his name, who ran Johnson Books is still around he may remember receiving both copies.”
“He won’t be able to help you, I know for a positive fact that he died about ten years ago.”
“In that case I shall have to try and persuade you to sign that contract by some other means.” With that Grant reaches down into the small attaché case he had with him and opens it, he takes out the small pistol he had acquired in London. He points it at Carol.
“This isn’t a toy.”
The two sit there for a minute or two without speaking. The silence is broken by the sound of the front doorbell. Carol moves to open the door. Grant speaks, “Stay where you are, whoever it is will think we’re out and go away.”
The doorbell rings again and again. Josh appears at the front room window. Grant, with his back to the window, cannot see him but Carol can, wisely she says nothing.
Grant speaks, “I told you they’d go away.”
Carol is about to shout to Josh to phone the police but Josh, although he can see Grant, cannot see the gun in his hand. Josh disappears from the front window and makes his way round to the rear. The kitchen window is open. Josh contemplates whether or not to call her but he knows that she is with Grant, he starts to climb as carefully and as silently through the window as he can. Moments later he is in the kitchen. He creeps through the kitchen into the hall and up to the living room door. He goes through without hesitation and without knowing about Grant’s gun.
“Why didn’t you answer the door? I have something very important to talk to you about and we must talk now…” Josh doesn’t quite finish that last sentence, for the first time he sees Grant has a pistol in his hand.
Grant speaks, “Join us and tell us both what is so important that it can’t wait.”
Carol speaks, “He’s just accused me of plagiarising my first novel from him and he’s threatening to call the police.”
“The police,” says Josh, “will be most interested in meeting him. His name is not Gordon Grant, it’s Grant Webster.” Josh related Grant’s history as best he could remember it as told to him by Jim Salter.
“Sit down on the settee next to your mother,” says Grant.
“I’m perfectly happy standing here by the door.”
The three remain silent then Josh’s phone rings. Grant tells him to ignore it. Josh slowly puts his hand his pocket and takes the mobile phone out. Carol becomes very agitated and implores Josh not to do anything foolish.
“You ought to listen to your mother, it’s very sensible advice.” But Josh does not listen to his mother and throws his mobile phone as hard as he can at Grant’s face which momentarily stuns him. Josh lunges toward Grant, they struggle. Carol picks up the poker but finds it hard to hit Grant because she might hit Josh by mistake. She goes to the telephone and presses nine three times. A gunshot rings out, Carol screams she turns almost stiff with fright she sees Josh lying on the carpet with blood streaming from his chest, Grant drags himself up.
Outside a young couple are walking across the road. “What was that?” says the young woman.
“Sounded like a gunshot,” is the young man’s response.
Back in the house Grant is pointing the gun straight at Carol, who, still with poker in hand lashes out at Grant’s hand holding the gun. He drops the gun and goes down to pick it up when Carol kicks him and knocks him over but he manages to get up and struggles with her. He knocks her down, grabs the gun and points it at her. Grant is in just as much of a blind panic as Carol he points the gun at her and as a gunshot rings out Carol falls the floor seriously hurt.
“There it goes again,” says the young woman across the street. The couple stop and look over towards the house where the apparent gunshots seem to be coming from. The young woman continues, “I think we should call the police.”
Grant is standing there with two motionless bodies at his feet, he is much calmer than a few moments ago. He is no fool and realises that this is the end of the line. He falls to his knees, raises his right hand, which is holding the gun, and places the barrel in his mouth.
The young woman ferreted around in her handbag to retrieve her mobile phone, she is about to key in the three nines when a final gunshot is heard.
THE END – NOT QUITE
Later that day there is a local radio news report, it goes something like this:
“Police were called to a house in Didcot Road, Oxford, this afternoon after people had reported hearing what sounded like gunshots. After breaking into the house police discovered two men and a woman. The older man was declared dead at the scene the other man and woman who are believed to be mother and son, were rushed to hospital where they remain in a critical condition. Police are not looking for any other person in connection with the incident. The identities of the victims are being withheld until next of kin have been informed.”
* * *
Several months have now past and I’m happy to report that Carol and Josh both made full recoveries. Physical recoveries that is. Josh has remembered where he’d encountered the name ‘Grant Webster’ but said nothing of it to his mother.
Carol was in the process of moving away from Oxford to be closer to her son in Ealing. She can’t remain in the old house in Oxford because of the horrific memories it contains. Josh is helping his mother and is carrying the old suitcase containing Grant’s copy of Dead Letter Perfect. He puts the case down for a moment and seeks out the envelope containing the mysterious copy. When he finds it he looks inside and takes out the manuscript which proudly announces ‘Dead Letter Perfect a novel by Grant Webster’. What should he do? He cannot believe his mother was guilty all along. All sorts of scenarios pass through his mind, none are satisfactory. Unnoticed by Carol, Josh puts the envelope and contents in this car boot. The ultimate destination for this copy is to be Josh’s shredder; then all evidence of a verbatim novel will be gone.
As far as the world knows Dead Letter Perfect was written by Verity Green – and so it was. But our story is not quite over. As Josh is carrying the old suitcase that contains Grant’s manuscript Carol follows him into the loft and once Josh has placed the suitcase on the floor Carol opens it and begins rummaging through.
“What are looking for?” enquires Josh, as if he couldn’t guess.
“Nothing,” replies his mother, though I’m sure we know better. She ferrets about and finally speaks, “It’s gone.”
“What’s gone?” asks Josh.
“It’s not important.” But just as she is about to close the lid her eye catches something; a small envelope with her name and address written on it in very familiar hand writing. “What’s this?” she thinks. If only Jos
h had discovered it first he could have put it to one side for shredding but he knew nothing of it. Carol opens the envelope and removes its contents and begins to read the letter she had not looked at for many years and had completely forgotten about.
Dear Miss Green or is it Miss Faithful,
May I first apologise if I have written to completely the wrong person. I have reason to believe that you have completed a novel called Dead Letter Perfect. I would appreciate it if you could contact me soonest as there is something I want to discuss with you concerning it.
It is signed, Gordon Grant.
Carol cannot take in what she has read and begins to feel faint. “It can’t be true,” she mumbles.
“What can’t be true?” enquires Josh.
“I did write it, not him. Not him.”
“I did write it.”
“I did write it.”
“I did write it.” Carol keeps on repeating quietly to herself. Josh comes over to his mother and comforts her.”
“Of course you did.”
He takes the letter from her hand and reads it as his mother keeps on repeating:
“I did write it.”
“I did write it.”
“I did write it.”
And so the strangest story I have ever encountered comes to a close. Who knows how this revelation will affect Carol but I do know that so far, at least, she has not written another word.