her body went tight as if she was setting up a physical defence against me. âI donât believe you. Ramsay might get a lot of things wrong, but heâs got an instinct about people. He knows his enemies and he reckoned you were one.â
I was getting angry. Iâd already made my judgement about Ramsay and he was rightâI wasnât sympathetic, but not for the reasons he imagined. âHeâs wrong this time.â
âI think youâd better go.â
11
I knew what was coming next and I was dreading it. An agitated, near-hysterical message from Cyn was on the answering machine when I reached home. Sheâd got the news on the radio and television and the name of one of the people the police were looking for had hit her hard. I had a shower, pulled on an old tracksuit, poured a stiff Scotch, drank half of it and called her number.
âCyn, this is Cliff.â
âWhere the hell have you been? Out screwing some low-life slut I suppose.
Go
!â
The old Cyn. The old complaint, scarcely ever justified. That âGoâ puzzled me, though.
âIâve been working. What does âgoâ mean?â
âNot you. Never mind. Hang on.â
I heard sounds on the lineâvoices, a door, but couldnât make anything of it. Cyn was away for at least ten minutes and she went straight on the attack when she got back on the line. I stood it for a while and then threatened to hang up if she didnât stop.
âDonât hang up. You didnât give me all the facts, did you? You didnât tell me this Talbot was a serious criminal no-hoper.â
âNo, I didnât.â
âWhy the hell not? Trying to spare me I suppose.â
âYes.â
âFuck you, Cliff. When someoneâs dying you donât have to spare them. Theyâre facing the worst thing there is, the end of everything. When youâve faced up to that, you can face up to anything else. Are you too stupid to understand that?â
I finished the drink and immediately wanted more. âIâm sorry.â
âYouâre sorry. Fat lot of good that is. Where
have
you been?â
âIâve been with the sister of the leader of the Tadpole Creek protest. She was there and saw some things and heard others. Thereâs a good chance Megan wasnât â¦â
âWasnât what? And donât try to bloody spare me.â
âWasnât involved directly in the death and was taken against her will.â
âOkay, okay. Just a minute. I have to take a pill. Stay there.â
I nearly tore a knee ligament bolting for the bottle, the glass and the ice cube tray. I was drink in hand when she got back on the line after what seemed like a long time.
âIâve still got some money, Cliff. I can hire lawyers. Oh, what about that friend of yours? Cy â¦â
âCyâs dead. He was murdered.â
âOh, God. The life you lead.â
âWe donât need to talk about lawyers yet. This isnât a Patty Hearst situation. Meganâs not â¦â
âSheâs on the run and being named on radio and television. She must be frantic. We
have
to do something.â
I improvised. âIâm going to look for her. Talbotâs possibly left a bit of a trail. Maybe I can track him.â
âYou donât sound very sure. Why arenât you doing it now then?â
âCyn, Iâm human. Iâm tired. I â¦â
I was cut off by a heavy knock at the front door. âWhat?â
âSorry, thereâs someone at the door.â
âThank God. Let him in, Cliff. Thatâs all we need to say for now.â
She hung up and I sat there with my drink in one hand and the receiver in the other without the faintest idea of what was going on.
âHello, Mr Hardy. Iâm Geoffrey Samuels. It sounds a bit silly to say this, but my mother sent me.â
The porch light is dim and he was standing back a bit
A Tapestry of Lions (v1.0)