The Echo Man

Chapter 34

As Novak approached, Byrne watched the man's hands. It was a habit he'd acquired as a rookie and he'd never forgotten it. Watch the hands, watch the man.

Novak stopped in front of them. He did not look at Jessica, just at Byrne.

'I just wanted to say I harbor no hard feelings,' Novak said.

This isn't over, Byrne thought. You might change your mind about that.

Novak extended his hand.

Byrne had learned a lesson from his father many years earlier, and that was never to refuse to shake a man's hand, even if you think he is the most despicable person on earth. The reason, Paddy Byrne explained to his young son, was that if at some point in the future you needed to take that man down, he would never see you coming.

Byrne reached out.

The two men touched, and Byrne saw…

… the house bathed in darkness, light coming in the high windows, milk of an autumn moon painting everything in a sulfurous blue.

Four people here. Music plays in the background. Lilting, familiar music, soon buoyed by screams of terror and agony. Now the smell of blood in the air. Blood and jasmine.

At midnight three people stand over a dead body, blood spreading on the white tile, glossy crimson clouds reflecting faces that…

… Byrne could not see. Not yet. He held Joseph Novak's hand for an uncomfortable second too long. The gesture was not lost on Novak, who turned quickly and walked out of the duty room.

Byrne had one question circling the disturbing vision in his mind, one question to which he did not really want the answer.

Was this Joseph Novak's memory, or my own?