‘Why d’you say that?’ I was straining my ears for the sound of a motor which is a hard thing to do when your teeth are chattering violently.
‘Robert wanted to fuck all of us-me, Kah-ren, his real sister Nadia. Everyone except Verity. He tried, too. I had to fight him off a couple of times. Nasty, pimply little twerp. He was at it again recently, too.’
I was beginning to get a handle on it at long last. Sir Phillip Wilberforce and his wives had brewed up a deadly mixture. ‘What was special about Verity?’
‘She hated Dad as much as Robert did. Robert hated his own father, too, but Verity loved hers like I…’
‘I think he killed Nadia.’ I hadn’t meant to articulate the thought, but it came out anyway.
‘Jesus, no,’
‘You were going to say that you loved your father. Why did you shoot him?’
We were both up at the front of our stalls, near the gates, gripping the bars and staring out at the moonlit brick-paved yard. I moved sideways until I was separated from her only by the width of a brick wall.
‘I’m insane,’ she whispered. ‘Paranoiac, depressive, schizophrenic. My life is a running stream of shit. I’ve tried… I’ve tried lots of things. I tried to talk to people. I tried. I wanted to be interested in them. Do you know why I had to leave Lindfield?’
‘No.’
‘The council passed a law that you couldn’t have more than one dog.’
I didn’t say anything and she went on, ‘But I just couldn’t… cope with things. I was interested in you, but you turned out to be another bastard. Just another bastard. Aiming your fucking gun at that poor dog. I went to see Dad to ask him to buy this place for me. I was so happy here. I could have got it going again, taken care of the dogs. Dogs are the only creatures…’
‘Paula,’ I said. Your father hired me to find you. He loves you.’
‘He said no. He didn’t understand. I had your gun and I shot him.’ Her voice mounted into a scream of pain and rage. ‘I’d shoot you if I could. Oh, I’d shoot you, you murderer. You killed my beautiful dog. We would have been so happy here, Rudi and me. We were happy. He caught rabbits and…’
My patience gave way. I rattled the bars trying to pull them from the mortar. Not a chance. I didn’t want to die in a dog kennel. I cursed her and her father and every other member of her family. I yelled at her that they were all a pack of degenerates. She laughed and agreed.
‘You killed my darling Rudi.’
The blanket had slipped from my shoulders during my outburst. I was cold and shivering; my skinned knuckles throbbed and my bruised and bleeding head ached. I sat down on the cold concrete, exhausted and drained. ‘He sprang at me like a fucking tiger,’ I said. ‘That big yellow bastard was a killer and it was a matter of me or him.’
‘What did you say?’
‘You heard me. I had to kill him. I didn’t like doing it but I had no choice.’
‘What did you call him? ’
‘A tiger, a yellow…’
Her voice, which had been harsh and off-key, became soft, melodic. ‘Rudi’s not yellow,’ she said. ‘He’s a beautiful black and tan.’
20
Her boots scuffed the cement as she moved close to her side of the pillar. I could hear her breathing and almost feel her warmth coming through the bricks.
‘Not a smooth-haired dog, maybe part bull terrier?’
‘Ugh, those ugly brutes. I gave up on them a long time ago. No, Rudi’s a Doberman/German Shepherd cross.’
‘Christ, those breeds don’t take prisoners.’
‘He’s fierce, but he’s wonderful and he’s alive. I’m sorry I said
…’
I was thinking fast. Crosbie couldn’t be away much longer. ‘Does Robert know what Rudi looks like?’
‘No, not unless he’s been here since yesterday morning. Rudi’s been missing since then. I’ve been frantic about it.’
‘Paula, for God’s sake, whistle or call or whatever you do. We need him.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We need the dog. Robert’s coming back to kill us. An attack dog might be of some help.’
Her voice went cold again. ‘What are you saying? Robert’s got a gun.’
‘He’s only got one bullet…’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘It’s probable.’
‘One’s enough.’
‘I can’t believe this. We’re talking about a dog. We’re human beings…’
‘Yes,’ she said bitterly. ‘We are, and just think what we’ve been doing-what I’ve done, what Robert’s done. We’re wonderful aren’t we, we human beings? So kind, so loyal.’
I could sense the madness rising in her again. ‘OK, OK,’ I said quietly. ‘Think of it this way. We’re all animals together. The lot of us. Particularly you and me in these cages. Animals fight for their survival.’
‘That’s nonsense. That’s…’
The sound of the Land Cruiser’s engine stopped her. It approached fast, motor roaring, headlights blazing and steam jetting from the exhaust. In the surge of hope I’d had I’d forgotten about the cold. Now it gripped me again and I could feel my joints stiffening and my body cooling as if I were dead already. Crosbie pulled up with a showy skid on the bricks. He stopped a few metres from the cages with the lights full on us. There was something roped to the bonnet. I squinted above the beams. It was the yellow dog. Its battered head hung loose and wet over the right mudguard.
Crosbie switched off the engine but left the lights on. He jumped down and pulled the pistol from his pocket. He slipped on the wet bricks, cursed and strode away to turn off the hose.
Paula said, ‘Even a dog that ugly shouldn’t have its head beaten in.’
I didn’t say anything. The point didn’t interest me. I was going to die in a worse way than I had imagined, and I’d imagined some pretty bad ways.
Crosbie came back and stood in front of the cages. ‘Well, there he is, my dear little step-sister. Your precious Rudi. I always wondered about you and Rudi Number One. Did you jerk him off or did you go all the way?’
Crosbie’s laugh was drowned out by Paula’s. She shrieked and howled and beat her feet on the floor. Crosbie took a step back. Then he yelled, ‘Shut up, you mad bitch!’
The lights were dazzling me, distorting everything. He was a dark, distant figure, twitching with agitation. I was a sitting duck. Even if I retreated to the rear of the cage I’d only be three metres away from the gun and transfixed like a spotlighted rabbit. I stayed up there by the bars.
‘Why did you kill Nadia?’ I said.
Crosbie pointed the pistol at my head. ‘She was a slut, a whore.’
Paula’s voice was breathless after her fit of laughter. ‘And she wouldn’t fuck you.’
‘Shut up! It was a sort of accident.’
‘Lamberte and Karen weren’t an accident though,’ I said. ‘How did you manage that?’
I didn’t really care. I just wanted to keep him talking. While he talked I drew breath. You don’t talk to a dead man, not for long.
Crosbie took a clasp knife from his pocket and unfolded a long blade.
I watched, fascinated. What the hell is he going to do with that?
He seemed almost to be in a daze as he cut the ropes tying the big dog to the Land Cruiser. The body flopped onto the wet bricks. He put his foot against it and slid it across to the front of Paula’s cage. ‘I found out
