The Institution
Page 27
*
‘Verdad!’ O’Connell calls. Verdad, clutching a crisp black leather briefcase and hurrying towards his car in twilight stops when he hears the familiar Scottish accent.
‘O’Connell.’ He replies stiffly, turning to face him. Verdad notices that O’Connell’s hair is slightly longer than the last time he saw him, his suit, however, just as crinkled. ‘What are you doing here?’ He demands.
‘Believe it or not, I was just going for a casual stroll. What a coincidence. I mean, me running into you right outside your car dealership, at the exact time you go home.’ O’Connell smiles.
‘Yes, a meticulously timed coincidence.’ He stares icily at O’Connell. ‘Goodnight.’ He continues towards his car.
‘Goodnight? Can’t you stay and chat?’ O’Connell crosses his arms and leans against a street light, illuminating himself.
‘Chat with the detective who is trying to send me to gaol? No, I don’t think so.’
‘But aren’t you curious?’ O’Connell’s eyes open widely as he grins.
‘Curious? About what?’ Verdad tilts his head.
‘About why I felt the need to stroll by here at this exact time?’
‘Should I be?’ He sighs.
‘Some might think so.’ O’Connell begins inspecting his roughly cut fingernails.
‘Okay, let’s chat then.’ Verdad humours.
‘Good. Say, do you remember when you told me to get a little something called ev-i-dence?’ O’Connell looks away from his finger nails, smiling as he phonetically pronounces the last word.
‘Yes ...’
‘Well, you’re looking at a man who has recently acquired some ev-i-dence.’
‘Oh?’ He tilts his head.
‘Yes. I went and saw Jennifer Barns the other week. But you probably already know that. She told me you paid her a little visit as well, that was nice of you. Tell me, how did you manage to find her?’
Verdad stares at him blankly. ‘Her parents told me in passing. I can’t imagine why they made you believe they hadn’t seen her in seven years.’
‘Well, technically, they haven’t seen her, but admittedly they do know where she is. But, they didn’t tell you that. They told me, but not you. That really does make me curious, how did you find her?’ He asks again.
‘Her parents told me in passing.’ Verdad repeats slowly, staring into O’Connell’s eyes.
‘Okay, I really don’t feel like playing games tonight.’ He sighs. ‘You can tell me how you found her when you’re in gaol.’
Verdad snickers. ‘Gaol? You wish.’
‘Do you know what else Jenny told me, aside from the fact that you visited her?’ O’Connell continues.
‘No. Wait let me guess, she told you to get lost.’ Verdad’s laughter irradiates around the empty car park.
O’Connell chuckles to himself. ‘No. She said she saw something, something that can put you away for life.’ O’Connell couldn’t stop himself from grinning.
‘Yeah? What?’ Verdad’s heart begins to pound, though his face remains still.
‘Well, I’ll be honest. I don’t have all of the details, but I’m sure I will soon.’
Verdad laughs. ‘Look, she may have said that, I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned I really don’t have any idea what she might be referring to but when I went to see her, she was pretty much off with the fairies. Hardly a credible witness, don’t you think?’ Verdad starts to walk away.
‘Oh, absolutely, only she’s not off with the fairies.’ O’Connell smiles.
‘Really? Did she tell you that herself?’ Verdad stops, laughing.
‘Yes, as a matter of fact she did.’ O’Connell shifts his weight from one foot to the other.
‘Yeah, well … she said the same thing to me.’
‘She did?’ O’Connell says, unsurprised.
‘Yes. She told me that she was sane and nobody believed her, that she was only there because her parents were making her stay.’
‘And did you believe her?’
‘No, the rest of the time she acted nothing like her old self. There is something wrong with her, she’s not there just for a holiday.’ Once again, Verdad attempts to walk away.
‘Maybe she just wants you and everybody else to think that there is something wrong with her, when there actually isn’t.’ O’Connell says simply.
‘Come on, how can you believe that? Who would spend that much time and money pretending to be insane for no apparent reason? You’re just hoping there’s nothing wrong with her because you’re in love with her; and don’t act like you’re not.’ He adds as O’Connell chortles, rolling his eyes. ‘You could never keep your eyes off of her, and even though you tried to be all nice to me when I first started going out with her I could tell you hated my guts, that you wanted me to go away so you could have her.’ Verdad’s anger instantly intensifies, he creeps towards O’Connell. ‘You’re pathetic, I mean holding on to this fanta ...’
‘Shut up!’ O’Connell yells, interrupting Verdad’s rant. His voice echoes around the deserted car park. He steps away from the street light and takes a stride towards Verdad. The two are centre meters away from one another. ‘You know, I may have feelings for her, and I sure as hell resent not telling her before you showed up but that doesn’t make me a jaded fool. You believe what you want. There is nothing wrong with her and she is more than ready to get herself out of that hospital and testify against you. And then, she’s going to start her life over with me, and she’s going to forget about you.’ O’Connell breathes heavily into Verdad’s clean face.
Verdad stares at O’Connell, taken back by his unexpected outburst. ‘Whatever you think O’Connell.’ His eyes harden. ‘But, if I can’t have her ... then neither can you.’ He says bitterly.
O’Connell raises his eyebrows. ‘What’s that supposed to me?’
‘Wait and see. Goodbye. Have a nice night.’
O’Connell bows and slowly turns and heads away from the once again silent car park, and continues on down the footpath beside the main road.
Verdad stares after him until he is no longer in sight before turning and thundering to his car. He yanks the door open and pulls his mobile out of his pocket. While tossing his briefcase onto the passenger seat, he hops in. Once seated he searches through his address book until he finds the name ‘Quin’. He hits the dial button. The call is answered on the first ring.
‘Yes Mr Verdad?’
‘Quin, the plan has changed.’
#21 A Phone Call