Shooting in the Dark

never cared who was the president of the US after Kennedy was killed. Bobby, that is.’ He stood on the pedal and pushed away from the kerb.
    Sam followed. He said, ‘JD, don’t let anybody ever tell you different: you are a fountain of wisdom.
     

48
     
    Geordie had gone to look at plots in the old York cemetery; Janet’s idea. Something to keep him moving, get him out of the house. Plus, it was a practical job which needed doing. The cemetery was a quiet place, a haven for wildlife, and Geordie would be able to collect his thoughts there, maybe remember that he had a wife and child as well as a dead brother.
    Janet called on Angeles at Sam’s house, but she’d gone to work and there was nobody home. At the office she found Marie. ‘Where is everyone?’ she asked. ‘It’s like a grave in here.’
    ‘Celia’s gone to the bank. Sam and JD are on a stakeout. They think they’ve found the guy.’
    ‘Hope so. Who is it?’
    ‘That’s what they’re working on. He lives in Aldwark with a girlfriend who’s a waitress.’
    ‘Waitresses always end up with shit,’ Janet said. ‘I hated it. The worst job in the world.’
    ‘Worse than nursing?’
    ‘Dunno. Probably about the same. Whenever I stopped working in a café or a restaurant I’d throw all my clothes away. They’d stink. All the fat and whatever it was they cooked in the place, it’d get into the weave. You could wash a shirt five, six times and it’d still smell of rotten food.’
    Marie looked up from her desk. ‘How’s Geordie?’ she said.
    ‘He’s gone to the cemetery, look for somewhere to plant Ralph. I don’t wanna talk about that. How’s your love life?’
    Marie raised her eyebrows and kissed the air.
    ‘That good? What’s he called, Davy?’
    ‘David. David Styles.’
    ‘Are we talking lurve, here?’
    ‘Yes. I’m in love with him and he’s in love with his children. At the school, his class.’
    ‘And not with you?’
    ‘Oh, he likes me,’ Marie said. ‘He’s attentive. But if we were in a sinking ship, he’d get the kids out first.’
    ‘D’you mind?’
    Marie nodded. ‘Yes, I do,’ she said. ‘I want him to be mad about me. I want him to feel like I do, to wake up in the morning and be thinking about me rather than the lesson he’s got to teach.’
    ‘That’s like JD,’ Janet said. ‘He wakes up in the morning thinking about you and then he goes through the day thinking about you, and you don’t even want to see him.’
    ‘Yes, he’s as loyal as a Dobermann pinscher.’
    ‘And it’s not enough.’
    A smile passed over Marie’s face. ‘Crazy world, isn’t it, Janet? The sex is better than I thought sex could be. It’s like the kind of sex you dream about when you’re not getting it. But I’m looking for something else. Sex can give you a sense of self-discovery and fulfilment, but it’s just as likely to leave you overwhelmed by loneliness.’
    They turned towards the door as Celia’s footsteps sounded on the stairs. She was wearing knee-length boots with a Russian coat and a round fur hat. ‘Oh, girls’ party,’ she said. ‘The men still out hunting?’
    ‘Presume so,’ said Marie. ‘We haven’t heard anything.’ Celia slipped her paying-in book into the top drawer of her desk. ‘I hope they’re watching this chap,’ she said. ‘Only there was a blond in the bank giving me the once over. I hope it wasn’t him.’
    ‘Who?’ said Janet. ‘What blond in the bank?’
    ‘The guy Sam and JD are tailing,’ Marie explained. ‘He’s a blond.’
    ‘Oh, my God,’ said Janet. ‘Of course he is.’
    ‘Explain,’ said Celia, coming around her desk.
    ‘I was following Ralph,’ Janet said. ‘For a few days before he was killed. But I wasn’t the only one. There was a blond guy watching him as well. I didn’t think about it before, what with Ralph’s death and the state of Geordie. It must be the same man. Rent-a-drool face?’
    ‘Sam said six foot three or four, but slim, long legs.’
    ‘It’s him,’ said Janet.
    ‘Would you be able to pick him out of a line-up?’ asked Marie.
    ‘No problem. I’ve seen him two or three times. If it’s the same guy, I’ll recognize him.’
     
    The girl left the house early, just after eight. She didn’t take the bike this time, walked in the direction of the café. An hour later the man came out and walked off in the same direction.
    Sam said, ‘I’m going inside. Cover me.’
    They were sitting in the Montego and it was