Death by the Book - Lenny Bartulin [47]
Jack casually swept the hair across his forehead, though he felt far from casual doing it. ‘No.’ He shook his head to emphasise the fact. The detective looked at him, one eyebrow rising ever so slightly over his left eye. Or maybe Jack was imagining things. A primary school teacher once told the young Jack Susko that his imagination was too ripe and would ultimately get him into trouble. Maybe. He smiled at the detective and shook his head a little more and gave the detective the old Sorry I can’t help you look. But even as he shook his head and smiled his dumb smile, Jack knew that he should have come clean. He was lying to the law. The moment the word ‘no’ had left his mouth he knew it was a stupid move. So what the hell was he doing?
From the kitchen, somebody said: ‘Jesus, what a mess.’
A toilet flushed. Ian Durst stepped out into the claustrophobic hallway again. ‘Excuse me,’ he said, turning sideways as he passed between Jack and the detective. They both watched him leave.
‘You know him?’ asked the detective, nodding in Durst’s direction.
Jack’s face was firm, serious. ‘No,’ he said. His second stupid ‘no’ of the day.
‘Looks like you don’t know too many people, Mr Susko.’
‘I’m a bit of a recluse.’
‘Busy book-dealing.’
‘Pretty much.’
‘You do a lot of reading?’
‘Just before bed.’
‘No girlfriend then?’
‘Not any I ever wanted to wake up to.’
Detective Sergeant Glendenning gave his second smile for the financial year. One more and he would be eligible for a rebate. ‘Sounds like you’re too picky.’
‘I live in hope. But we can’t all be happily married men.’
The detective looked down at his mobile again. The smile on his face went back to wherever it had come from. Almost in a whisper, he said: ‘No, we can’t.’ He slipped the phone into his pocket and adjusted his round shoulders. ‘We’ll be in touch.’
‘And don’t leave the country?’
No smile this time. ‘We know where you live, Mr Susko. Don’t worry about a thing.’
He walked out of the hall and back into the living room. Jack watched him a moment and then followed. Celia was still sitting in the lounge chair, her face pale and puffy from crying. A half-glass of water on the coffee table told Jack that she had probably been given a sedative.
Durst stood by a glass credenza full of Japanese dolls and smoked. Uniformed police officers moved back and forth across the room, all attention focused on the bodies in the kitchen.
Detective Sergeant Glendenning and a female officer approached Celia. ‘That’s all for the moment, Ms Mitten. Officer Ivanovic here will help you through the rest of the investigation and assist you in any way she can. She’ll also organise a social worker and some trauma counselling for you. Don’t hesitate to ask her for anything else.’ He glanced at the officer and then back down at Celia. ‘We’ll need to see you at the station in the morning. I’m sorry for your loss.’
Celia looked up at the detective and nodded, pressing her bloodless lips together into a sad half-smile. Glendenning reached out and touched her on the shoulder. Behind him, another uniformed officer came in from the kitchen and moved the coffee table aside. Then a couple of ambulance officers wheeled out one of the bodies. It was Kass: an arm showed from beneath the sheet that was pulled over him. There were ink-stains on his fingertips. Celia Mitten stared at the hand.
Durst walked over from the credenza. ‘Can I take her away now?’
‘Yes,’ replied Glendenning. ‘Does she have somewhere else to stay?’
‘She can stay with me.’
The detective followed the stretcher out with his eyes. ‘She’s stayed with you before then?’ He turned to face Durst again.
A slight pause. ‘No.’
‘So you two aren’t together?’
Durst looked down at Celia and put the cigarette to his lips and smoked. ‘Yes. We’re together.’
‘Good,’ replied the detective and walked off. As he got to the front door, he turned around again and spoke to Jack: ‘You can go as well.’
‘Thanks.’
The second body was wheeled out of the kitchen: the short shoplifter guy who had knifed Jack at Susko Books only three