Switchback Stories (25 page)

She spent the rest of the day drifting in and out of a troubled, restless sleep.

• • •

It was a long time since she’d had the dream. Sooner or later it always came back, bringing with it the memories, the obsessions, the pain.

She was fourteen years old again. Tiny frame, cute-as-a-button features. Her first boyfriend was Todd Weston, tall, sinewy, fair-haired. She met him on the beach. They went bodysurfing together, and spent summer week after summer week at the surf club coffee shop. She thought about him day and night, fantasized about spending the rest of her life with him. He told her he felt the same, that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

A couple of weeks later, Todd ditched her for a sixteen year old glamour-puss with honey blonde hair and the perfect figure. Jill cried every night for weeks. It took her a long time to get Todd Weston out of her system.

Her next serious boyfriend came along a year later. He was dark-haired and broad-shouldered. She was swept away again by passion and desire. She imagined a romance that would last forever. When he dropped her, not long after, it was for another knock-out figure, with luscious lips and come-to-bed eyes.

Jill was twenty four when Marlene came to work with her at the film distribution company. Just the sort of woman I detest, Jill thought, the kind all the men lust after, the one who always gets the one she wants.

• • •

But this time it happened the other way around.

Mike Chambers was already married to Marlene. He didn’t love her any more. He loves me, Jill told herself again and again. He should ditch her. That’s the way it’s supposed to happen. This time, Jill was determined she wouldn’t miss out. She knew she had to have Mike Chambers at any cost.

But in the dream, she was fourteen again. Todd Weston held her and kissed her and told her how beautiful she was. He’s a liar, her inner voice screamed out with the hindsight of the years. She turned and fled and she saw the other girl on the beach, brief bikini, skin glowing with a golden tan, and she ran forward, suddenly brandishing a carving knife, and she plunged it down, the other girl’s screams ringing in her ears.

The screams jolted her awake. The shrill ringing in her ears was the telephone. It was just a dream … but what was going to happen tonight was real. She reached for the phone. Marlene’s voice. ‘Hi, Jill, I just rang to see how you were.’

‘Fine. I’m fine.’

‘You sound terrible.’

Yes, I do, thought Jill, but not for the reason you think. ‘It’s just a cold, Marlene. I’m sure I’ll be over it tomorrow.’

‘Well, you just take it easy, okay? I’m coming straight over to your place after work to give you some good, old-fashioned mothering.’

Alarm bells rang in Jill’s head. ‘No Marlene. Don’t bother yourself about me. My sister stayed over with me, so I’m fine, really.’

‘You sure?’

‘I’m sure. You just go home, relax, and look forward to seeing Mike.’

Marlene was hesitant. ‘Well, if you say so.’

‘I say so. I’ll see you at work tomorrow. ‘Bye Marl.’

‘Okay. See you tomorrow.’

Jill hung up and breathed a sigh of relief. She was sweating and she wiped her forehead with her palm.

• • •

Mike Chambers was seated at the bar of the Commodore’s Arms Hotel. After a restless night, he’d cut his trip short and headed back into Sydney, arranging to meet an old friend at their favourite drinking hole.

‘It seems I’ve got myself into a bit of a tight spot,’ Mike told Ray Coleman as the barmaid placed a schooner of beer in front of him.

‘Let me guess,’ Ray said with a wink. ‘More women trouble?’ A grin played around the corners of his mouth.

‘Yeah. But not as pleasant as it might sound this time, Ray. There was a time, going back a c-ouple of years, when I felt I didn’t love Marlene any more. I started playing around, but then you know that. One night stands all over the place. There’s one particular lady, a friend of Marlene’s, whom I’ve been seeing for about eighteen months.’

‘Sounds like it’s getting serious.’

‘That’s the trouble.
She’s
getting serious. Real serious. But I’m just not interested any more. The fact is, I’ve been a damn fool. I’ve realized that I
do
love Marlene, I’ve always really loved her deep down.’

‘So you’re feeling guilty?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Let me tell you something, Mike. I’m glad to hear you say you really love Marlene. Terrific lady, always has been.’

‘I’ve been planning to tell Marlene’s friend it’s all over. Trouble is, I’m afraid she’ll spill the beans on us to Marlene, just out of sheer spite.’

‘So go to Marlene first and tell her everything. Come clean.’

‘You think she’ll forgive me?’

‘She just might surprise you, Mike. Why not give her the chance?’

Mike knew his old friend was right. He left the pub shortly after with a new resolve. He would go to Marlene with the whole story and ask her to forgive him. A new start. That was what he needed. Would she forgive him? It was one hell of a big ask.

He checked his watch. Marlene was due home from work soon. She wasn’t expecting him for a couple of hours yet. He’d surprise her. It would give him plenty of time to bring up the subject and try to explain his actions over the past year and a half.

He had only driven a few streets when his car began to shake uncontrollably. Flat tyre. He pulled over to the side of the street. Cursing, he stepped from the car, lifted the jack from the compartment beneath the boot and went to work.

• • •

The crucial thing now was the routine. Jill knew everything revolved around that. It was important that Marlene arrived home at the usual time and had her after-work drink.

Jill drove to the street that ran behind Marlene’s building and parked half a block back. From there, she had a clear view of the lounge room window of Marlene’s apartment.

Twilight came and went, soaked up slowly by the encroaching night. Jill squinted at her watch in the half light. It was 6.35 and still no light in Marlene’s apartment. The minutes ticked by.

Jill thought: I mustn’t panic. Perhaps the trains are running late. Maybe she was held up at the office. Marlene knows Mike will be home later. She’ll want to get home, cook, clean, be ready to greet him. That’s her way. Fussing over every little thing.

Suddenly, the lounge room window was illuminated by the interior light. Jill saw a figure move inside. She could make out the long hair and familiar profile.

Jill’s eyes darted from the window to her watch and back again. Over and over. Ten minutes. Twenty. That should be time enough, she thought. There was no movement inside the apartment that could be seen through the window.

She pulled on her cotton gloves and moved swiftly to the side entrance to the apartment block. Fortunately she had her own entry key. Months before she’d taken Mike’s spare key from his key-ring, had it copied, and later returned it, all without Mike ever noticing.

It was essential now that no-one saw her. At the base of the stairwell, she listened for sounds of movement above.

Nothing.

She darted up one flight of the stairs to the door of Marlene’s apartment. It was unlocked, as she expected. Marlene never locked up this early.

She went in, closing the door behind her. The first thing Jill saw was the glass. It had struck the edge of the coffee table when it dropped. Shiny splinters lay across the carpet where the spilt liquid had spread its dark stain. Jill felt a curious sense of detachment, as though she were watching scenes from a movie projected around her.

Her eyes trailed the floor. Just beyond the broken glass were Marlene’s feet. The rest of her body was obscured from view by the angle of the sofa. Jill inched forward and peered over the top of the furniture.

Marlene had gone down flat on her front with her head turned sideways. Jill caught a brief glimpse of the side of Marlene’s face, then turned away quickly. She didn’t want to stand and stare, only to be certain it was Marlene’s body lying there.

She took the suicide note from her pocket and placed it on the coffee table in clear view. It was a peculiar kind of limbo, this uneasy moment when the murderer stood alone with the corpse of the victim in the minutes immediately after death had occurred.

Jill shivered, then turned and left.

Someone was coming into the block from below.

She stepped back into the apartment and waited, listening to the footsteps as they ascended the stairs. The footsteps continued up to the next landing. She looked out the door again. No more sounds on the stairwell. She walked calmly and quickly from the block and down the side passage to the street behind.

She realized for the first time she was gasping for breath. The adrenalin rush from her actions had made her feel giddy.

Moments later, she was behind the wheel of her car and pulling out from the curb. Less than sixty seconds after Jill had turned out of the street, Mike Chambers drove into the street from the opposite end.

Jill had no sooner turned into the adjoining road than she saw the police car bearing down on her from behind, lights flashing, the driver indicating for her to pull over. At that moment, she felt sure she was going to fall apart.

How can this be happening?

She pulled over and stepped from the car. It occurred to her that she could make a run for it. She was small, slim, fast on her feet. And it was dark.

Now. Before the police officer gets out of his car
.

The thoughts flashed through her mind, jumbled, too fast to follow, but all the while she stood, shaking, frozen to the spot. The uniformed constable’s face came into view, lit by the overhead street lights as he approached. Fresh faced, red haired. He looked too young to be a cop. Jill was aware that there was another officer in the car, a woman.

‘Is there something wrong with your lights, Miss?’

‘Lights? No …’

The officer indicated her car. ‘You’re driving without your lights on, Miss. That could prove very dangerous at night on a busy road like this one.’

‘Of course. How silly of me, officer. I just wasn’t thinking.’ Relief surged through her and she tried to smile, but the muscles of her face seemed locked into place.

‘Happens to all of us,’ the constable replied. A grin flashed across his lips. ‘Well, have a safe journey home. With your lights on.’ He was about to turn and leave when something caught his eye. ‘You are all right, are you, Miss? Your hands are shaking.’

‘I’m fine, thanks. Just a little tired but I don’t have far to go.’

She slid back into the driver’s seat of the car and waited until the police vehicle had pulled out and turned off the road. Then she switched on the ignition and drove slowly, almost dreamily. During the fifteen minutes it took Jill to drive home, a couple of cars tooted their horns at her. It didn’t occur to her, though, that she was still driving without her lights. She was a million miles away.

Jill lay awake half the night. When she did nod off, she slept heavily, waking late and getting into the office at midday. She was pale and dishevelled as she took her seat in the office. One of her workmates, sandy-haired Mandy Robinson, came over.

‘Jill, you weren’t here earlier when the boss called all of us into his office. Have you been told the news yet?’

‘What news?’

“It’s Marlene. Her husband found her on the floor of their apartment. Poisoned. Apparently she left a note.’

Jill acted as though she was stunned. ‘Marlene? She’s dead?’ She allowed a note of hysteria to creep into her voice. ‘She killed herself?’

Mandy sat down opposite her. ‘It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? You just don’t expect something like that to happen to someone you work with. Apparently the boss received a phone call from the police earlier this morning. They’d been interviewing Marlene’s husband half the night. They’re coming in here to interview everyone on the staff.’

Jill was perplexed. ‘Why? If she committed suicide …’

Mandy cut in. ‘The boss thinks they suspect it was murder. Someone close to her. Someone who could’ve planted the poison in her drink. I guess it must’ve been something like that.’

Jill could feel her heartbeat exploding. Erratic booms and thumps like thunder in her ears. ‘But, Mandy, you said they found a suicide note?’

A sudden realization showed in Mandy’s eyes. ‘That’s right, you weren’t here yesterday, were you? So you don’t know.’

Jill was desperate. ‘Know what?’

‘The boss called Marlene into his office at about five o’clock yesterday afternoon. She didn’t get the promotion last week because the firm had something bigger and better in mind. She’d been selected to head up a new branch office. She was so damned excited. You know how she gets. She went flying through the office to tell everyone and she slipped. Went down like a rock and broke her right wrist. We sent her to the surgery down the road to get bandaged up and she went straight home from there.’

Jill felt the colour drain from her face like a retreating tide. From the corner of her eye, she saw the elevator doors at the far end of the office glide open. Three police officers entered. One of them was the cop who looked too young to be a cop. Jill felt as though her head was swimming. Two other thoughts came crashing through to her conscious mind. She hadn’t been in the office at the time of the accident. Everyone knew that. And it was a matter of public record, held at the local technical college, that she’d completed that course in calligraphy. Now there was a reason for the police to investigate everyone’s background.

‘Marlene was right-handed.’ Jill’s voice was a croak.

Mandy nodded. ‘That’s right. The cops told the boss there was no way Marlene could have written that suicide note in her normal handwriting …’ From the corner of her eye, Jill watched the progress of the red-haired constable across the office. She overheard introductions being made. He was assisting the plainclothes homicide detectives as part of his training. His eye caught hers, and the recognition showed there immediately as Mandy Robinson continued, ‘… the person who killed Marlene had the skill to fake the note, someone …’ and Jill felt the chill rising up her spine as the policeman approached, ‘… who was close to her, but who didn’t know about her promotion and who didn’t know that she couldn’t use her right hand last night.’