by Mark Timlin
‘Your own beds,’ I said. ‘Now get lost.’
‘Will you walk us up?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘You can find your own way.’
‘Gotta heavy date?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I’ll stay for another drink. Now scat.’
And they went. Much more quietly than I thought they would. They both blew me kisses from the doorway.
I sat in the booth for another ten minutes or so but didn’t order another drink. To tell you the truth I felt like shit. Eventually I followed them out, and went up to my own suite. Alone.
29
After all that bullshit I decided to take another swim to clear my head. It had made me feel better earlier, and I thought it might do the same again. So I took my new trunks and went back to the pool.
At first I thought I was alone again. It was steamy and warm inside the pool area with the ever present smell of chlorine and a fine mist like smoke above the water. When I got right inside I saw that I was mistaken. Someone else had decided to take a late night dip. Then I looked again. Something about the picture was badly wrong. I brought it into focus and realised what it was. Whoever was in the pool was fully dressed and very still. Too still. And floating face down just under the surface of the water at the shallow end, arms and legs akimbo, and a halo of long blond hair fanned out like some exotic sea creature. I ran to the side of the pool, kicked off my shoes and slid into the water. It came up to just below my waist. I waded towards the figure and turned it over with some difficulty. It was a he. A he with a soggy plaster peeling off his face. Elmo.
I dragged him to the side and half pushed, half pulled him on to the tiles at the edge of the pool. I jumped out and knelt down next to him. He had no pulse. No heart-beat. I wasn’t about to give a junkie mouth to mouth without some protection. Fuck that. We live in dangerous times. I left the body and ran out of the pool area and down the long corridor to the police incident room. It was quiet inside, just a couple of shirtsleeved uniforms present. ‘Get an ambulance, quick,’ I said to the nearest one. ‘You’ve got a floater in the swimming pool.’
‘What?’ she said, looking at my bedraggled state.
‘Ambulance,’ I repeated. ‘Swimming pool. Now.’
She hit the phone, and I grabbed the other copper and we ran back to Elmo. The copper brought a first-aid case. He tried mouth to mouth using a protective film. Sensible man. But it was no good. I knew it wouldn’t be. After a few minutes he gave up the ghost, sat back on his heels and looked up at me. ‘You’d better tell me what happened.’
So I did.
It didn’t take long, and as I finished the ambulance crew arrived. They had all the paramedic gear in the world with them, but I knew they were wasting their time. I didn’t want to stick around and watch. I asked the constable if I could change into my clothes. He came up to my suite with me. I towelled myself off and put on fresh boxer shorts, socks, trousers and a shirt. As I finished changing Carpenter and Ripley arrived. I was beginning to wonder if they were joined at the hip.
‘He was in the pool when you found him?’ asked Carpenter.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure?’ said Ripley.
‘Sure I’m sure. You don’t think I put him in there, do you?’
The look on his face said he’d put nothing past me.
‘Well, I didn’t. And if I had, I’d’ve made myself scarce. Not gone for one of your people.’
I could tell he wasn’t impressed by the logic of that by the way he sniffed.
‘Well?’ I said. ‘Wouldn’t I?’
Neither of them answered the question. ‘Did you see anyone else around?’ asked Carpenter.
‘Not a soul,’ I said. ‘I take it you haven’t located Boyle yet?’
‘You take it right.’
‘Looks like he may be close though.’
‘Yes, who the hell knows where he is? But we’ll get round to him in due course. When exactly did you go into the pool area?’
‘I don’t know exactly. Five, ten minutes before I saw the constable here.’
Carpenter looked at the uniformed man. ‘Eleven fifty-two precisely, sir.’
‘And where were you before that?’
‘In the bar.’
‘Alone?’
‘With two other guests,’ I said.
‘Who?’
‘Their names are Alice and Clarissa. They’re staying here with their mother.’
‘Those two,’ said Ripley. ‘Bit young for you, aren’t they?’
‘They were wandering around the hotel alone. I bought them each a Coke and sent them up to their room. Christ, I hope they’re all right.’
‘We’re checking all the apartments,’ said Ripley.
Right on cue, someone knocked on the door of my suite and opened it without waiting for an answer. It was another plain-clothes copper. He buttonholed Ripley and took him out of earshot. Ripley looked sick and came over to Carpenter and whispered something in his ear. Carpenter sighed heavily.
‘There’s another stiff upstairs,’ he said.
‘Who?’ I asked, dreading the answer. As far as I knew Ninotchka was upstairs.
‘One of the band. Valin. So that’s two. Now you’re really in trouble. I told you what would happen if anyone else died,’ he said.
He didn’t have to rub it in. I felt bad enough as it was. Even if one of them was only a scumbag drug dealer.
‘Come on then,’ said Carpenter to Ripley. ‘Let’s take a look.’ The pair of them left. I tagged along. I had nothing better to do. Valin’s suite was on the top floor next to Ninotchka’s. The door was open and coppers were buzzing around like flies. I didn’t go inside the room, just looked in between the figures of the policemen. Baby Boy Valin was lying on one of the sofas. Even from where I was standing I could see that his head was at a strange angle and his face black, with eyes and tongue protruding, just like Turdo’s had been. I’d’ve put money that a guitar string was embedded deeply into the flesh of his neck too.
Oh shit, I thought.
I looked down the corridor to where it doglegged round to Ninotchka’s suite, and followed it, and knocked on the door. Don answered. He stood in the doorway, blocking my way. ‘Is she in?’ I asked.
‘Is that Nick?’ came Ninotchka’s voice from inside.
‘Yes,’ said Don.
‘Let him in.’
Don stood back and I went inside. Big Phil was leaning against the wall by the window. Ninotchka was standing in the middle of the room. She was holding a glass. ‘Well, Nick,’ she said, ‘it looks like you were right.’
‘So you’ve heard?’
‘Yes, Phil just told us.’
I looked over at the big man. ‘I’m not exactly ecstatic about it,’ I said. ‘I’m really sorry, Ninotchka.’ And I was.
‘Poor Elmo,’ she said as if she hadn’t heard me. ‘And Baby Boy. Jesus, this is awful.’
I turned to Don. ‘Why was he alone?’ I demanded. ‘Where were your lot?’
He shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me.’
‘If I don’t, someone else will.’
Suddenly there was a commotion in the corridor. I went outside and round to Valin’s suite again. A uniformed sergeant had arrived from somewhere, and was breathlessly explaining to Carpenter and Ripley that someone had been spotted on the roof.
‘We think it’s our man, Guy.’
‘Mike,’ said Carpenter with authority, ‘let’s go.’ He turned to me. ‘This time you stay here. You’ve caused enough trouble as it is.’
I stood and watched as the three of them went down the corridor away from me.
I did as I was told for once.
30
I went back into Ninotchka’s room. ‘What’s happening?’ she asked.‘There’s someone on the roof.’
‘Who?’
/>
I shrugged. ‘Who knows?’
She knew. ‘Is it Bobby?’
‘They think so.’
‘Oh, sweet Jesus. Let him be all right.’
I said nothing in reply. ‘Anyone got a cigarette?’ I asked. Big Phil tossed me a packet of B&H. I took one and he lit it for me. I went over to the bar and got a beer. ‘Anyone else?’ I asked.
No one answered.
I smoked the cigarette and drank some beer and said nothing. Nor did anyone else. Ninotchka paced the floor, still holding her glass.
Ten minutes later Ripley came into the suite. ‘Can I see you a minute, miss?’
‘Is it Bobby?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We can’t get to him, and he’ll only speak to you. No one else. He says he’ll jump if you don’t go up there.’
‘OK,’ she said without hesitation.
‘Wait a second,’ I interrupted. ‘He might want to kill you too.’
‘No,’ she said.
‘You can’t risk it. He’s killed two people already tonight.’
‘You don’t know that, Nick.’
‘I wouldn’t bet my life on it.’
‘Come with me then.’
‘He said just you, miss,’ interrupted Ripley. ‘There’s no knowing what he’ll do if someone else goes out there with you.’
‘It’ll be all right,’ she said. I hoped she was as confident as she sounded.
‘OK,’ I said. ‘But stay close to me. Don’t let him touch you.’ She nodded assent and we went.
Although the suite we were in was on what was called the top floor of the hotel, it wasn’t really. Upstairs were the attics of the old houses. A narrow flight of stairs led to them. Up there the dividing walls had not been completely knocked through. The three of us snaked through the gaps, sometimes walking on hardboard, sometimes on thick joists. The attics were dimly lit by dusty bulbs hung high in the rafters, and old pieces of furniture and rubbish loomed through the shadows. The only major work that seemed to have been done was that midget doors had been set in the roof every twenty yards or so, probably where there used to be windows, to allow access to the fire escapes. Carpenter was standing inside one of the doorways. A powerful lamp on a tripod, powered by a battery, shone out onto the roof. ‘Thank you for coming,’ he said to Ninotchka. And then to me, ‘What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay out of this?’
‘If she’s going to talk to him, I’m going with her.’
‘No, you’re not.’
‘You can’t let her go outside there on her own. Are you mad? It’s too dangerous. He might decide to jump off and take her with him.’ I saw the look of pain on Ninotchka’s face as I said it. ‘Sorry,’ I said, squeezing her arm. ‘But he might.’
‘I still don’t believe he killed anyone,’ she said. I wondered what kind of man Boyle must have been to command such loyalty. And what kind of woman Ninotchka was to give it. For a moment I envied him, and her. ‘Two people have died already tonight,’ I said to Carpenter. ‘Let’s not make it three or four if we can help it. I’m going with her, and that’s all there is to it. You can’t put her in that kind of danger. I’ll make sure the publicity kills you if you do.’
If looks could burn, I’d’ve been toast.
‘It’ll be all right,’ said Ninotchka. ‘Let him come with me.’
Carpenter hesitated. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘Now listen, I’ve got men inside the room under here. When you’ve got Boyle’s attention, I’ll call them up.’
‘That wasn’t part of the deal,’ protested Ninotchka.
‘Without it, there isn’t a deal.’
‘So you want to trick him?’
‘No, I want you to save him. Whatever he is, and whatever he’s done, he’ll be better off with us than out there.’
She thought about it for a minute and looked at me. I nodded to her. It really was the only way. ‘All right,’ she said reluctantly.
‘Can’t you put a line on her?’ I asked Carpenter.
‘I don’t want a damn line!’ she said. ‘Heights don’t bother me.’
Unfortunately I was remembering just how much they bothered me. A line would have made me feel a whole lot better. ‘How about the fire brigade?’ I asked: ‘With nets.’
‘He said that if he sees them he’ll jump right away,’ replied Carpenter.
Christ, I thought, the geezer’s thought of everything.
‘Are we going, or are we going to stand here all night discussing it?’ asked Ninotchka.
I couldn’t think of anything further to delay us. I took a deep breath. ‘OK, let’s go.’
Ninotchka stepped into the doorway. I stood behind her. It was misty outside. It reminded me of the swimming pool, and the beam from the light that the police had set up was haloed with particles of moisture in the air. The green tiles looked slippery and dangerous from where we stood, and our shadows were long and very black on them.
From the door where we stood, slanting downwards to the edge of the roof, stretched a black iron handrail that I imagined led to the top of the fire escape. It was maybe three foot high, and looked very frail. Where the roof finished, it turned sharply along the edges, to the end of the building, where it turned back again for about a yard and ended where it ran into the roof again. In that far corner, in the angle that the railing made, leaning against it was a figure. I could just tell in the refracted light that it was the man who had been in the car park the night before. He was peering down over the edge of the roof checking that no police were coming up. That was why we needed to get his attention.
‘Bobby,’ said Ninotchka softly. He didn’t seem to hear. ‘Bobby,’ she said again, but louder this time.
He looked up at us with a start. ‘Ninotchka,’ he said. Then he looked behind her at me. ‘Who’s that with you?’ he demanded.
‘A friend. His name’s Nick.’
‘I told them that you were to come alone.’
‘They wouldn’t let me.’
‘Tell him to go away or I’ll jump.’ He put his hand on the rail and crouched as if to vault over it.
‘No, baby. Trust me,’ pleaded Ninotchka. ‘He won’t hurt you, I promise.’
‘Is he a cop?’
‘No, I told you. He’s a friend. Please let him stay.’
‘No tricks.’
‘No,’ she said.
‘You,’ he said to me, ‘Nick or whatever your name is.’
‘Yes?’ I said.
‘No tricks, understand, or I’ll jump.’
‘No tricks, Bobby,’ I said. But I had my fingers crossed. I’d do anything necessary to get him inside without hurting Ninotchka. There was silence for a moment. I could clearly hear the traffic from the main road. ‘Bobby, what have you done?’ Ninotchka asked eventually.
He didn’t answer.
‘Why don’t you come in, honey?’
When he replied, his voice croaked. ‘They’ll put me away again,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t bear it.’
‘No, they won’t,’ she replied.
‘Don’t lie to me, Nin. Not now.’
‘I won’t,’ she said.
‘They beat me up in there, Nin. You’d never believe the things they did to me.’
I believed it.
‘I’m sorry, honey,’ she said.
‘What the hell am I going to do?’ he said desperately as if he hadn’t heard.
‘I don’t know. Come in, please. You look so cold out there.’
‘I’ve been out in the cold for years.’
‘Come in, Bobby,’ I said. ‘This is no good for anyone. I saw your dad today.’
‘You did?’ He looked up again.
‘Sure. He’ll help you.’ Christ, I thought, that was a good one.
Bobby was miles ahead of me. ‘M
an, if you think that, you didn’t see my father. He can hardly help himself to the toilet.’
There was a faint clink from the other side of the roof. Boyle looked down, then at us again. ‘Oh, Nin, not you too. I trusted you.’ He came up on his hands and knees and crabbed across the tiles towards us. The soles of his sneakers slid away and his hands scrabbled for a hold. I felt Ninotchka move from me and the safety of the doorway. I grabbed her arm, but she knocked my hand down and moved further towards him. I went after her.
Hand over hand she edged along next to the handrail. I was just a foot behind her. Boyle came fully to his feet. They were maybe two yards apart. She let go of the rail, and put her hand out to him. As she did so, she missed her footing. I heard her gasp as she slipped on the damp roof, and both Boyle and I grabbed for her. I caught her wrist and brought her up short. It reminded me of another time and another place. He missed completely, and lost his footing, and his arms windmilled at the air, and he slid down towards the edge of the roof. The backs of his thighs hit the rail, and he stopped for a long second before he toppled over it, arms clutching at the empty air again, and dropped from sight. He screamed as he went until the scream was cut off abruptly with a thud like a bag of damp cement hitting the ground.
Ninotchka screamed too as he went. She tried to pull away from me, but I dragged her back and held her. I could feel her heart beating against me and she sobbed into my chest. Carpenter came out onto the roof and I passed her to him, and when he had her, I went to the top of the fire escape and looked down. Boyle’s body lay in a heap on the concrete beneath me. All I could clearly see were his feet sprawled out in the light from an uncurtained window. I gripped the rail with both hands to keep them from shaking. Some policemen appeared from below and knelt over him, then stood and looked up.
The light shone on their faces too, and from their expressions I knew it was over.
31
So that appeared to be that. Apparently Boyle had been living in the attic off and on for a week. A close search revealed a few pathetic belongings: a blanket, some scraps of food he’d stolen from the kitchen, an old copy of the NME containing the story that the band were arriving in the country to complete their new album, and a single drumstick. A 2B. The twin of the one that had been hammered into Turdo’s chest.