The Dead Beat
Page 19
Sam was sobbing, face puffy, looking afraid and desperate.
Martha wondered what she would be like at her own husband’s funeral, if she ever had a husband. Or at Cal’s funeral. Or Elaine’s.
The tears came. Not for Gordon, or Ian or Johnny. Not for the thought of Cal or Elaine. But for herself, and for everyone else on the planet, trudging along in their day-to-day existence, quietly, heroically living the best life they could manage for as long as they were here.
Billy hugged her closer and squeezed her arm as they lowered the coffin into the ground.
Martha remembered Gordon’s face half missing, putting her hand on the carpet soaked in his piss, the ride in the ambulance.
Sam threw a handful of dirt on the coffin, then her legs buckled and she sank to her knees. She was helped up by an older man and led away.
That was the signal for everyone else to break.
Martha wiped at her cheeks and looked up at Billy. Kissed him on the lips.
She turned him away from the graveside and began walking. She wanted to show him.
A hundred yards away she stopped at Ian’s grave. Looked around again for the wood pigeon. Nothing.
The grass seed still hadn’t taken in the soil. She wondered if it would.
‘So this is Ian,’ Billy said.
‘Yeah.’ Martha had a thought. ‘Will they dig him up?’
Billy looked at her. ‘Why would they do that?’
‘Forensics, maybe they can tell whether he jumped or whether Johnny forced him over somehow.’
‘Wouldn’t they have already done a post-mortem?’
Martha shook her head. ‘It’s not standard for suicides.’
‘If it was suicide.’
‘Exactly.’
Elaine and Cal joined them at the grave. Elaine’s eyes were red and she was sniffing into a tissue.
‘I don’t know why I’m crying, I hadn’t seen Gordon in two decades.’
Martha nodded at Ian’s grave. ‘Will they put Johnny next to him?’
Elaine shrugged. ‘Do you think they should?’
‘I don’t suppose it matters.’
Cal looked at Elaine then turned to Martha. ‘We’ve got some news.’
‘Yeah?’
‘The fire service forensic team have submitted their report.’
Martha closed her eyes. Pictured the living room as it used to be.
‘And?’
‘Cause of fire is undetermined.’
Martha opened her eyes again. ‘What does that mean?’
Elaine spoke. ‘It means they don’t know why it happened. Whether it was an accident, or whether Johnny did it.’
‘More importantly,’ Cal said, ‘it means the insurance will pay out. So we’ll have our home back eventually.’
Martha thought about that. She didn’t know if she wanted it back.
‘Fluke.’
It was V striding towards them, McNeil in her wake.
V walked up and gave Martha a hug. ‘Hey, kiddo.’ She broke away and did the same to Billy, then spoke under her breath to both of them, pointing at McNeil behind her. ‘Buggerlugs here has some interesting chat for you pair. Be cool.’
‘Martha,’ McNeil said. ‘Billy.’ He looked over his shoulder. ‘A sad business.’ He turned back, shuffled his feet a little. ‘Virginia has been filling me in on what you have been up to.’
Martha held onto Billy’s arm.
‘Rose has handed in her notice,’ McNeil said.
‘What?’ Billy said.
‘I’ve refused it, of course. Still trying to talk her round. Think she just needs some time off.’ He waved his hand around the graveyard. ‘Anyway, I’ll hold her job open as long as she wants, but I need someone to cover for her, which is where you come in. We also, of course, have a permanent vacancy on the obituary desk, if either of you are interested in that.’
He harrumphed and rubbed his hands.
‘So, that’s it. There are two jobs going, crime reporter and obituary writer. You can take your pick between you. Either way, see you both in the office on Monday, yes?’
V smiled. ‘Well?’
Martha and Billy looked at each other for a long time.
‘I don’t mind,’ Billy said, holding his hands out.
Martha looked past him, at the hundreds of graves, hundreds of lives, hundreds of stories that deserved to be told. Sunlight snuck through the oak trees, and she spotted something up there amongst the branches. Her wood pigeon, ruffling its feathers, face turned upwards, soaking up the warmth.
She looked at Billy and smiled.
‘I’ll take the dead beat,’ she said.
Also by Doug Johnstone
Hit & Run
The worst night of your life just got worse . . .
High above Edinburgh, on the way home from a party with his girlfriend and his brother, Billy Blackmore accidentally hits a stranger.
In a panic, they drive off.
The next day Billy, a journalist, finds he has been assigned to cover the story for the local paper.
‘A great slice of noir.’ Ian Rankin
‘This noirish crime novel builds into something more substantial: an existential thriller where a man crumbles as he tries to scream the truth in a house of liars. Thus Hit & Run becomes a grisly parable for our times.’ Irvine Welsh
‘With this book‚ Doug Johnstone hits YOU and then HE runs‚ and you never catch him until the last word of the last sentence on the last page. Cracking stuff.’ Alan Glynn‚ author of Graveland
‘Fantastic: sparse and fast-paced but believable and emotionally satisfying. You feel you could be Billy – and you thank God you’re not. His best yet.’ Helen FitzGerald‚ author of The Cry
Smokeheads
Four friends. One weekend. Gallons of whisky.
What could go wrong?
Four friends‚ spurred on by whisky-nut Adam‚ head for a weekend to a remote Scottish island‚ world famous for its single malts. They have a wallet full of cash‚ a stash of coke‚ and a serious thirst. Determined to have a good time and to relive their university years‚ they start making friends: young divorcee Molly, who Adam has a soft spot for, her little sister Ash, who has all sorts of problems, and Molly’s ex-husband Joe, a control freak who also happens to be the local police.
But events start to spiral out of control and soon they are thrown into a nightmare that gets worse at every turn . . .
‘It lulls the reader with the warm glow of a good dram on a winter’s night‚ then ambushes him with all the bitter nastiness of a brutal whisky hangover.’ Christopher Brookmyre
‘A hugely atmospheric thriller soaked in the spirit of life . . . sip and savour.’ The Times
‘It is so well written . . . there is plenty of flesh and blood here‚ much of it splashing across the page.’ Scotsman
Gone Again
A Missing Wife –
A Father and Son Left Behind
As we learn some of the painful secrets of Mark and Lauren’s past – not least that this isn’t the first time Lauren has disappeared – we see a father trying to care for his son‚ as he struggles with the mystery of what happened
to his wife . . .
‘A major discovery.’ Spinetingler
‘Excellent . . . sharp and moving.’ The Times
‘Calling to mind the best of Harlan Coben‚ Johnstone shows us how quickly an ordinary life can take one dark turn and nothing is ever the same again.’ Megan Abbott‚ author of Dare Me and The End of Everything
‘Deeply poignant and compelling . . . it’s hard to
take your eyes off the page.’ Daily Mail
‘Riveting from start to finish.’ The Skinny
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Doug Johnstone (@doug_johnstone) is the author of five previous novels, most recently Gone Again (2013), described by Ian Rankin as ‘a fast paced thriller with a very human touch’. A freelance journalist‚ songwriter and musician‚ he also has a PhD in nuclea
r physics. He lives in Edinburgh.
www.dougjohnstone.wordpress.com
Praise for Gone Again:
‘Calling to mind the best of Harlan Coben‚ Johnstone shows us how quickly an ordinary life can take one dark turn and nothing is ever the same again.’ Megan Abbott‚ author of Dare Me and The End of Everything
‘Deeply poignant and compelling . . . it’s hard to take your eyes off the page.’ Daily Mail
‘Excellent . . . sharp and moving.’ The Times
‘A very honest book about love and loss.’ Independent on Sunday
‘Its strength lies in its portrayal of the minutiae of life while grief unfolds around it.’ Scotland on Sunday
‘As Johnstone takes his characters on a slow descent into hell‚ he deftly manipulates the reader’s emotions by creating a book of contrasts. A psychological thriller that is harrowing yet touching. Intimate yet explosive.’ Daily Record
by the same author
Tombstoning
The Ossians
Smokeheads
Hit and Run
Gone Again
First published in ebook in 2014
by Faber & Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
Typeset by Faber & Faber Ltd
All rights reserved
© Doug Johnstone, 2014
‘I Just Wanna Get Along’ words and music by Kim Deal
© 1993. Reproduced by permission of EMI Music Publishing Ltd‚ London W1F 9LD
www.faber.co.uk
Cover: Design by Faber
Cover photograph © Giancarlo Liguori/Shutterstock; Ayal Ardon / Arcangel Images.
The right of Doug Johnstone to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–30887–3