My eyes have seen what my hand did.
Robert Lowell, Dolphin
The storm lasted throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning. It had little effect on Karl’s usual sunny disposition.
‘The noise last night,’ he grumbled, sipping his early morning coffee at the kitchen table. He looked like a bear forced out of hibernation. ‘Sounded like the end of the world.’
Naomi smiled, kissed him and sat down opposite, a bowl of cereal in her hands. ‘I slept like a baby. I hardly heard the storm.’
‘It wasn’t the storm I was referring to, it was your bloody snoring.’
‘I’ll have you know, Karl Kane, I do not snore. I’m a lady.’
‘Then it must have been all that farting you were doing, because some sort of thundering noise was coming from you, from under the sheets as well as–’
The front doorbell sounded. Karl and Naomi looked at each other, neither moving. A Mexican standoff.
The bell sounded again. More insistent this time.
Naomi sighed, stood to get up.
‘Don’t bother,’ said Karl, standing. ‘I’ll do it, like everything else around here.’
‘Keep telling yourself that. Might come true one day.’
Opening the front door, he was struck with surprise and weariness by the sight of Detective Chambers, notebook clutched in one hand.
‘I’ll have to move you into the spare room, if you keep showing up at my door, Chambers. What is it now?’
‘Can I come in?’
‘This early in the morning? Catch yourself on.’
‘Okay. I’ll ask the questions here. How well did you know a Francis Duffy?’
Karl’s stomach clenched in trepidation.
‘What’s happened to Francis?’
‘He was found dead at his home in the early hours of yesterday morning. A district nurse who checks in on him occasionally discovered the body.’
‘Ah shit…’ Karl shook his head. ‘What…what happened?’
‘Initial reports suggest a burglary gone wrong. Looks like a struggle between Mister Duffy and the perpetrator ended when Mister Duffy was shot in the stomach with his own legally-held shotgun.’
Karl could no longer hold back the rage. ‘Fuck! For all he had, some scumbag would kill him. Bastard! And to shoot him in the stomach…’
‘Was Mister Duffy related to you in any way?’
‘No…not related, more a friend of the family from many years back. What makes you think it was a burglary?’
Chambers scribbled something into the notebook before addressing Karl. ‘The house had been ransacked, apparently. Hard to tell what was stolen. According to the report, everything seemed to be haphazardly strewn about.’
Karl thought back to the state of the place when he had visited. It already looked like it had been ransacked.
‘Do the cops have any leads? Any suspects? Anything?’
Chambers shook his head. ‘Forensic officers are still going over the scene. It’ll be some time before we hear from them.’
‘Any other questions? I’m going to have to make funeral arrangements for Francis, ASAP.’
‘Did Mister Duffy have any enemies that you know of?’
Karl shook his head. ‘I really couldn’t answer that. Up until a week ago, I hadn’t seen him in years. He seemed to be living a hermit’s existence, just wanting to be left alone.’
‘What exactly were you doing, visiting him?’
Karl’s face tightened. ‘The damn answer is in your question, smartarse. Visiting. Not that it’s any of your business. Anything else? I need to go.’
‘If you think of anything, anything you may have…forgotten, will you contact me?’
Karl nodded. ‘Now, I really need to move it.’
‘Of course.’
Chambers turned to leave just as something occured to Karl.
‘You haven’t told me how you figured I might have a connection with Francis.’
The young detective stared at Karl, reluctance in his demeanour.
‘I…I didn’t want to tell you at this stage.’
‘Jesus, drop the cryptic shit, Chambers. Tell me what?’
‘Your business card…it was stapled to Mister Duffy’s forehead.’