The dark side of my soul by keith lawson Page A

but I had the pistol in my pocket and would not relinquish it. It was old and as far as I knew untraceable. I had no past record of violence or any other crime. I was a model citizen. Who would suspect me of such an act? I lived only a few miles away and I was already nearly halfway home. I had got away with it. Then I heard the police siren.

 
    Seven
     
     
     
    The police car was in front of me and coming my way fast. The first thing I saw was the blue flashing light as it materialised through the fog. The sound of the siren grew louder then faded with the familiar Doppler Effect as the car swept by at great speed. There may have been a road traffic accident further back along the road or on the motorway but on the other hand the man with the dog may have called the police. I could hear a second siren coming toward me and another police car raced by, blue lights flashing through the mist.
    I convinced myself that the nasty morning conditions must have led to an accident. Surely the police would not have reacted so quickly to a call from the man in the forest. It hardly mattered anyway, I was well away from the scene but another blue flashing light lit up the road ahead. This one was not accompanied by a siren and was stationary; a road block. For a second my heart stopped beating.
    I hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. The light up ahead was pulsating and eerily illuminating the surrounding mist with a blue strobe like haze but the vehicle it was attached to was still lost in the fog. My heart started again but pounded in my chest as though it wanted to escape the confines of my body. I had to think quickly and clearly. I reasoned that, if at this distance the police vehicle was invisible then the officers would not be able to see me either, they may however be able to pick out my headlights. I switched off all the lights. Now I really had to make a decision fast, I was vulnerable to being hit from behind by the next passing vehicle.
    Think, Think.
    I could turn around and go back the way I had come, go into the golf club carpark and stay out of sight for a couple of hours. Surely the roadblock would have gone by then but that would take me back towards the murder scene and a little too close for comfort. I didn’t like that idea. The only alternative was to go on. Maybe I was worrying for nothing, it wasn’t a police checkpoint and they were only in place to slow down the traffic as the road traffic accident had been in that direction. Even if it was a police checkpoint and they were stopping every driver they were probably only asking questions. I didn’t think they would be physically searching every vehicle and occupant. But suppose they were? The gun was in my pocket, any search would reveal it instantly and I would be caught and spend God knows how many years in jail. I could throw it into the nearby hedgerow and drive on. It was the only evidence that could connect me to my crime.
    I had to move fast before I was tail ended by another vehicle. I threw open the door and ran to the side of the road but as I was running I realised that the weapon was bound to be found. Even if the police didn’t search this far away someone would find it and the bullets and the shell casings at the crime scene would match the gun. It would be evidence that might in some way lead back to me. At that moment I couldn’t see how any connection could be made but I was unsure. I hesitated, still uncertain if I was doing the right thing. There were only milliseconds to decide.
    In a stressful, hurried situation you don’t always have time to think things through properly or logically, you tend to go with a gut feeling, a knee jerk reaction. That is what I had; a sudden insight and on the spur of the moment I decided that it was extremely unlikely that the police at the roadblock were going to carry out a full body and vehicle search. It would only be a verbal check, a few questions and as long as I remained calm I