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“WHY’RE WE ON THIS SIDE of the river?” Stanley asked as he got out of his car and went to look at the lights on the other side of the river.
“Because it’s somewhere safer than that stupid bloody place you chose last time.” Sydney sidled beside him.
“Leave the windows up, it’ll fucking sink,” Stanley said. “Now you want us just the other side of that fucking circus.”
“Because if she’s found over here, she’s opposite the most likely suspects.”
“Pfft! Likely?”
“They’re strangers, they’re here and they’re not the kind to be trusted.” Sydney looked at the car. “I think it’s time to lay the young lady to rest.”
Stanley shook his head. “I don’t like this,” he said. “Deborah... well she was an accident. I don’t even know what happened.”
“Heart attack or something,” Sydney said.
“They’re saying she was strangled.”
“Of course they are.”
“I shouldn’t have listened to you. If it was a heart attack the doctor would have—”
“She liked rough sex, didn’t she?” Sydney snapped.
“Well... why?”
“She had bruises. No doctor would bother looking past them. Alright, it wasn’t your fault, but the hangman won’t care. You’d swing for it anyway.”
“This one’s different.” Stanley looked to his car.
“You want me to sink it for you?”
“The car! NO!”
Sydney laughed. “Not the car you fool, the bitch.”
Stanley went to the river and vomited.
“That’s good,” Sydney said sympathetically. “Get if out of you, but not where it’ll be found.”
Stanley looked at Sydney. “I can’t,” he said weakly.
“You must. It’s her or you.”
“She’s not dead.”
“She’s a copper’s bitch. It’ll be a short drop for you. A very short drop.”
Stanley swallowed.
“She’ll be there, beside her beloved copper. They’ll watch as you’re slowly tortured to death. You really want that? They’ll do nothing to save you. Just watch. You’ll regret not doing this the whole time you’re struggling for breath. If that’s how you want to die, then let her out. But I recommend you then drown yourself.”
“You’re the one who chloroformed her.”
“And you’re the one who fucked her.”
Stanley shook his head. “I did not!”
“Ask her if you want.” Sydney smiled darkly. “You’re the one she knows, you’re the one she’ll finger to her copper boy. If you have any doubt, explain why she’s not wearing clothes.”
“No.” Stanley strode to his car. “There’s no murder if she’s not dead.”
“She’s going to know you raped her, like she now knows you fucked Deborah Higgs. She already knew you fucked Kasey Winkle, who’s claiming you raped her.”
Stanley turned to Sydney.
“She’d have heard every word from the trunk... sorry, boot, of that car. Your whining has just sealed her fate, or yours. Whose is it?”
Stanley unlocked the boot of his car. Marie was there, bound, gagged, naked and glaring at him. Stanley turned to Sydney. “I can’t do this,” he said.
“Chloroform her again,” Sydney said. “Then she’s just another carcass.”
“You do it.”
“I’m not the one who’ll hang.”
“Where’s the chloroform then?”
“In the glove compartment.” Sydney looked at the circus. “I think you’re going to need someplace to keep some distractions for later enjoyment.”
“What do you mean?” Stanley asked as he ferreted about in the front of the car for a rag.
“Your grandfather was a forward-thinking man. He’d hidden a couple of... what did they call them... containers? Something that they put on the back of big trucks to carry shit about in. They’re solid, silent and secure. Once you’ve put one inside one of them, there’s no getting out. They only latch from the outside.”
Stanley closed the car door and poured some chloroform into a rag he’d found. “What’re you suggesting?”
“Brian never had the chance to use them, but his son, your uncle Enoch, he did.”
Stanley went to the boot and put the rag over Marie’s face. She struggled for some time before falling unconscious.
“Don’t hold it there too long,” Stanley said. “You want her to drown. Then it’s an unfortunate accident, drowned while skinny-dipping.”
“Where are these truck things then?” Stanley stood.
“Deal with this first and I’ll show you.”
“Are you going to help me with her?”
“No,” Sydney sat in the car. “And hurry up. We’ll get something to put aside for later. You haven’t used all that chloroform, have you?”
Stanley looked at him and shook his head. “You shitting me? You know how big that fucking bottle is?”
Sydney smiled. “That’s my boy. I’ll make something amazing from you yet.”