A Coffin For Two

5

‘You’re going to what!’ She had been straddling me on the bed; suddenly she sat bolt upright.

‘I’m going to help him,’ I repeated, staring up at her. ‘What else should I do? The guy’s beside himself with worry about it, and he’s got no one else. Shifting that lid will be a two-man job, and Jaume’s far too old for it.

‘Remember, Miguel’s the reason we’re here. He’s done us a huge favour, and if he’s got a problem, it’s up to us to help him out. We’re part of this community now. If Miguel says he knows what’s best for it, then even though it scares me shitless, I just think I have to go along with it.’

Prim frowned at me, and resumed her ministrations with Dettol-soaked cotton wool to the graze on my right temple, where I had bumped it on the coffin. I had come home unaware of the line of blood trickling down my face.

‘But won’t that make you both accessories after the fact, or something like that?’

‘I’d rather not think about that, thank you very much.’

‘Well what about this poor man?’ she said, severely. ‘From the way you described the condition of the skeleton, he can’t have been dead for all that long. Almost certainly, he’ll be on someone’s missing persons list. What about his family? Don’t they have rights?’

She dabbed again, a wee bit too hard, I thought, making me wince. ‘Easy on the antiseptic, love. They’ve got the same rights today as they had yesterday, but you could argue that thanks to Jordi and Miguel they’re nearer today to having them fulfilled. Miguel isn’t talking about burying the guy again. He plans to leave him in a place where he’s likely to be found.’

‘Such as?’ My arguments were having little or no effect on her disapproval level.

‘Well, hardly in the middle of the road, but in a place where he won’t be too hard to find yet where realistically he might have been since he was killed.’

She seemed to brighten up a bit. ‘I see. Then you and I might go for a walk one day and sort of trip over him. Accidentally. Yes?’

I wasn’t so sure about that idea, but I said ‘Yes,’ anyway.

‘Okay then,’ she said, grudgingly. ‘D’you want me to come with you tonight?’

I shook my head. ‘I think that would make Miguel uncomfortable. Anyway, two of us stumbling around in the dark will be quite enough.’

‘When are you meeting him?’

‘Three o’clock. I’ll try not to wake you, going out or coming back.’

She shook her head, shot me her best ‘Daft bugger!’ expression, and kissed me gently in the middle of the forehead. ‘Fair enough, but make damn sure you do one thing.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Have a shower before you get back into bed!’

She jumped off me and headed for the bedroom door. ‘Change of subject,’ she called back to me. ‘Come on and I’ll show you our advertisement. I’ve got it written out.’ I followed her into the living room. We had added a writing bureau to our inherited furniture, to accommodate my lap-top and printer. The fall-flap was down and on it lay a sheet of paper. ‘There you are,’ said Prim, standing over it. ‘What d’you think?’

I scanned it, murmuring as I read.

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