She hurried upstairs.
*
Milosz stood by Victor’s body, smoking a cigarette.
‘We can bury him in the woods,’ I said.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Look after the girl. Besides, better you don’t know where, in case anyone ever asks.’
‘What if they ask you?’
‘I’m not here,’ he said. ‘I’m not even in this country.’
Victor moaned. The wood axe protruded from his chest. It swayed as he shifted on the ground. I knelt by him, in a lake of blood and dust.
‘Why the Leckies?’ I asked.
‘Paid,’ he said.
‘You paid?’
He shook his head.
‘Vaughn Matheson. Paid.’
62
I drove up to the Forest, once again following the path of the bomber. This time, though, I knew where I was headed.
I parked under the old redwoods. Vaughn’s house was dark from this side, but I heard voices. Vaughn and Freddie.
I walked round to the back of the house, overlooking the Forest.
‘Stop,’ Vaughn said, laying down his end of what looked like a coffin. They were halfway up the steps to the terrace.
‘Who’s there?’ Freddie asked. He was at the bottom of the steps, and had the view up towards the house. He had a bundle of silk over his shoulder. A parachute.
‘Looks like you could use a hand,’ I said, stepping out of the shadows of the house.
*
We laid the casket on the terrace. It was metal. Its corners were rounded, and it had several loops on the upper edge. Each loop was connected to a metal clip, and each metal clip was fastened to a length of rope. Some kind of harness. The ropes had been cut several feet from the ends.
The underside of the coffin was crusted with sand, from where it had bedded itself into the ground.
‘Father Christmas come early?’ I asked, as Freddie busied himself undoing the clasps. He looked like he knew what he was doing.
‘Gift from the gods,’ he said, looking up at the dark sky.
Freddie busied himself unbuckling a set of clasps along the side of the coffin, giving a grunt of effort with each one. It was well engineered. Designed to withstand a hard landing without springing open.
‘You had the Leckies killed,’ I said to Vaughn.
‘What’s it to you?’ he replied.
‘She was my first teacher,’ I said. ‘A long time ago. And
I liked her.’
