A shriek crashed through my subconscious and I woke suddenly, completely, heart hammering, sweating with fright. The new clock said 3.07. I snatched at my phone.
I’d just hit answer when it spoke in an eerie whisper. `Rob? Is that you?’
`Of course it’s bloody me. Who do you think it would be at three o’clock in the fucking morning. Who is this?’
`Thank God,’ replied the voice with a stifled sob.
It couldn’t be. `Marianna?’
`I can’t talk. Go to Alice’s cave. Now.’
The phone went dead. Alice's cave? What was that? I didn’t know anywhere called Alice’s cave. But a bell was ringing, far away, but ringing.
Alice's cave. Marianna and romantic days. Marianna, my nearly ex-wife, now Jimmy Knowles’—what? Ex-mistress?
It came to me all at once complete with all its attached emotional baggage. It was Marianna. Only she would know about Alice’s cave. It was just before we were married. We’d had lunch at a tiny `hole in the wall’ cafe in Fitzroy. We were heavily in lust and could hardly keep our hands off each other.
The proprietor of the cafe was a friend and sympathised. He owned an old hat shop down the street. Would we like to spend some...er...time there?
We borrowed his key and giggled our way into his shop. It was filled with hats. Feathered, veiled, flowered hats, hanging from the walls, in piles, on stands, on dummies and disembodied heads. I called it Aladdin’s cave but Marianna laughed and said it was Alice’s cave, because it was the Mad Hatter's storeroom. There was a bed there, too. My eyes stung. I wasn’t into nostalgia, but it had been a magical moment.
Whatever tonight’s call was about, Marianna's terror came down through the phone like electricity. My fingers were still tingling with it. Jimmy. It had to be about Jimmy Knowles. Would she know that he’d been got at in jail?
Marianna must know what happened to David’s work. She’d helped steal it. If Jimmy had been framed and attacked because of that, no wonder she was terrified.
I threw on a tracksuit and was reaching for my keys when I realised my car was still in the car park where we’d had lunch. Should I ring Win? Or Suzy? Not at three in the morning.
Then I remembered Suzy had gone home with Win. Her car was still downstairs. Had she left her keys behind? Yes. I drove straight to Fitzroy and made several passes past the hat shop. There didn’t appear to be anything suspicious lurking in the street in front of it.
The entrance was round the back, down a tiny, cobbled lane. It was too dark to see properly but from memory there were several gateways that could provide cover for a determined assassin. There were some parked cars too, but no people and no cruising cars.
I parked in Kerr Street not far from the lane, and slid down in the seat, hoping that casual observers wouldn't notice that the car was occupied. My heart was playing a rumba and despite the cold, a river of sweat was running down my back. After about ten minutes I still hadn’t seen anything sinister but decided to move the car. If I had to bolt I reckoned it would be better to run to somewhere light and busy.
I drove back to the main road and left the car under a streetlight. I felt horribly vulnerable walking in that area at that time of night. Any minute I could be in the cross hairs of a drug bust, or a gang war. Eventually, after constantly looking over my shoulder I approached Alice’s cave. My memory of the lane was more or less correct. There were several large doorways. I sped up as I passed them, ready to take off if I heard even a hiccup. I bolted past another old night cart lane and didn’t take a breath until I got to the doorway of Alice’s cave.
The old door had lost most of its flaking blue paint so that the sign that had once read, 'Wilsons Millinery and Hats, Trade Only', now read 'ils illin ry a Ha s, Tr d Onl'. It was the right place. A large, rusted bolt hung loosely by three screws and a newish padlock was unlocked. The door was slightly ajar. I pushed it and slipped inside. The slight creak made me jump. It was blacker than a sepulchre inside.
Careful as I was I still stumbled and made a clattering sound on the bare wooden floor. I wasn’t prepared for the violent `Sshh!’ that came from the darkness and my heart nearly flew out of my mouth.
`Mari— I didn't need to finish the word. I knew she was there. The night was cold, but that wasn’t why I was shivering. I could feel her fear creeping across the room.
I took a step and bumped into something hard. `Shit,’ I hissed. Another few steps and something soft wrapped around my head. I reached up and it fell away in a cloud of dust. `Shit,’ I said again. There was another sharp, `Sshh!’
Whatever had fallen revealed a tattered window blind letting in just enough light to make huge shadows against the walls. A small draught shifted the blind occasionally and made the shadows dance, like demons cavorting round hell's fires. I felt the devil wasn't far away.
I tiptoed forward. Each board protested with a squeak, but the `Sshh!’ didn't come.
I felt for the wall and a light switch. Something stirred the air and Marianna hissed, `Don’t,’ and my hand was pushed away.
`Marianna?’ I whispered, `Is that you?’
`Yes, but just listen, don't talk. Okay?’
`Okay.’
`They’re going to kill me, Rob,’ she said. It was a strangely flat statement. `They got Jimmy and they’re going to get me too.’
`Who? Why?’
Why would they, whoever they were, get rid of their own accomplices? My eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light and I could just make out Marianna’s pale face. She handed me a small briefcase.
`These are copies of your work notes, Rob.’
She spoke so softly that I caught only the last few words. When I opened my mouth she raised a hand to stop me.
`No Rob, don’t. I’m sorry I started it. It was all a horrible mistake.’ Even in the dim light of the tiny room I could see the glitter of a tear tracking down her face. She sat back on the old bed. The bed where we'd romped not so long ago. The magic was gone now. We faced each other, hearts pounding, but from fear, not love. The betrayer and the betrayed.
`I was so in love, Rob. Jimmy was so...sweet, kind, and he needed me.’ I started to speak, and again she stopped me. `Please Rob, I have to explain. It won’t change anything, but I have to tell you. In case. You see, you didn’t need me.’ I opened my mouth again, but she cut me off quickly. 'No, not really need me. I don’t think you ever did.’
Did I? No, she was right. I didn’t need her. Not the way she wanted to be needed. I loved her, or I thought I did. But even then I had held back.
`I didn’t know—' I began,
`I know. And when David appeared, you turned away as if I didn’t exist. I watched you care about him, hang on his every word, be there for him the way you never were for me. You didn't even see how much that hurt me. I knew then that we’d never make it. I bet you didn’t miss me much, or at all really, after I left.’ I leaned back against the wall. I couldn’t look at her. It was true. I hadn’t missed her. Didn’t miss her. Not really.
`Then Jimmy arrived. Charming, funny, he talked to me, listened to me, the way you never did. Even later when he had other women—' She looked up at me and I saw the flash of her teeth as she smiled. `Of course I knew he had other women. But it didn’t matter. I was still more important to him than I was to you. But I shouldn’t have let him talk me into this business.’
She indicated the briefcase. `I was so angry to be left out by you and David. Even Suzy was closer to you than I was. I didn’t have any money of my own. I think I meant to pay you back. I don’t know. I expected to be living like a mogul, if your research stuff was what you said it was. But there wasn’t nearly as much as we'd been told. They said we’d mucked it up. That there were gaps in the data. We said that we’d taken all there was, but they wouldn’t pay us. Jimmy was going to tell the police if they didn’t cough up. That's why they went after him and that's why they're going to get me.’
Her voice trailed away and the tears stopped. `They came to kill me that night. They thought they’d find me in my fiancé's bed.’ She laughed suddenly. It was a strange sound, harsh but as soft as a whisper. `Can you imagine how they felt when they found out that the woman wasn’t me. Poor bitch. She really paid for that little adventure. Well, it's all over now. They won’t bungle it again.’ She stared out through the tattered blind.
`I’ll help you. We can hide you,’ I whispered. She shook her head slowly and the light picked up the damp streaks down her face like silver pathways. `Who are they? If we can find out we can stop them. The police—'
`Don’t talk about the police,’ she hissed. `They’ve been out to get Jimmy for ages. They won’t help me. They’ll get Jimmy even though he’s in prison. I’m tired, Rob. I just wanted—Oh, bugger it, take the damned case. I have to go. I wish I’d never set eyes on it, or you either.’
She jumped off the bed, reached for the case which she'd set on the floor in front of me and shoved it at my chest, forcing me to hold it.
`Please Marianna, who are they? A name, something?’ I reached out to her but the briefcase was between us.
`I have to go.’
`Who, Marianna?’
She reached out to stroke my cheek. I covered her hand and held it there. `Please.’
`I don't know.’ She put her other hand on my lips. `Companies? Here…overseas—’
Then she looked down. A large dark patch appeared on her pale sweater. She looked up into my face again, puzzled. Then her face disappeared. She was standing in front of me and her face just disappeared. All that was left was a dreadful mess of blood and tissue.
I snatched at her as she slumped, her weight dragging me with her to the floor. Something hit the wall next to me. There was no noise, just a thud. I scrambled for the door. Something thudded into the wall behind me. I raced down the lane and didn’t slow down until I was in the lights of Brunswick Street.
Crouching behind the car I fumbled with the door handle then opening it as narrowly as possible, dropped into the seat. Something pinged off the bonnet. I gunned the engine and took off. A car horn blared behind me. I swerved, leaving it far behind.