Chapter 11
An alarm woke Vanessa up. It was six AM and her head was pounding. She silenced the timer, rolled over and looked at the dip in the mattress which her colleague had left behind in the early hours of the morning. She cautiously peeked beneath the sheets and was pleased to find she had on her pyjamas; a grey t-shirt with a love heart on the front, with matching bottoms. She squirmed as she considered the man who’d been lying next to her only hours before; they’d just built a rapport and now they were potentially back to an awkward square one.
She showered, dressed and made her way down to the restaurant for breakfast. The buffet had been sitting under the heap-lamps for a while; the mushrooms were wrinkled and the egg yolks dry. She opted for the continental option and helped herself to yoghurt and fruit, before taking a seat beside a window, feigning interest in the view of the grey car-park like it was some Floridian seaside resort.
Out of the elevator, Darnell appeared in the lobby. Vanessa lowered her head behind a copy of The New York Times which had been left on her table by its previous diner. She picked it up and pretended to be engrossed in the headlines. It was too late, he’d clocked her, spotting the red high-heeled shoes which he’d reminded her were inappropriate for the police force. ‘Imagine you had to chase a suspect.’
If she was attempting to go unnoticed, her dress certainly didn’t show it. She’d picked out a yellow floral dress with a bright red cardigan and had caught the eyes of a few guests who were drawn to her colourful presence like a peahen responding to a peacock’s seductive display.
‘Hey, I knocked on your door but you weren’t there. I assumed you’d overslept.’ Darnell pulled down her newspaper to talk to his colleague.
‘Morning!’ Vanessa said, feigning a gasp as if she was surprised by his presence. ‘How are you?’
She was astonished by his perky tone; even without the overwhelming weight of guilt regarding his marital deceit, the hangover alone was enough to dampen anyone’s spirits.
‘I’m good thanks. Coffee?’ he asked and she responded by raising a full cup. He browsed the buffet and picked up a few items before taking a seat across from her. ‘Listen, thanks for last night.’
‘It’s….’ Vanessa paused, trying to establish what he was thankful for. ‘No problem.’
‘I’m just glad we didn’t go through with it. Thanks for being so understanding.’
Vanessa waved her hand to signal her breeziness.
After they entered her bedroom the evening prior, they had rumbled about on the bed, kissing, fully clothed. Vanessa unbuttoned her top and waited for Darnell to do the same. Except he didn’t. He twisted the top button, hovering beside the bed, staring down at his belly. He sighed before making his excuses to leave, dabbing his forehead with a cotton hanky as he ran out of the door. Vanessa changed into her pyjamas, wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling herself into a foetal pose, and buried her head in her knees before she finally passed out.
‘You won’t say anything to anyone, will you?’ Darnell pleaded. Vanessa shook her head; she wouldn’t be telling anyone about this and it certainly wasn’t for his benefit. He really wasn’t her type.
‘What happens in Indiana…’
‘Or what didn’t happen,’ Darnell corrected her, shooting an index finger towards her, and she winked back. A sigh of relief almost blew the hovering discomfort away. ‘They’re still working on the car but it should be fixed by the time we check out. The engine just cut out, it needs a new injector. It won’t take long. ’
‘So what’s the plan for the day?’ Vanessa changed the subject; she didn’t know what an injector was and she wasn’t going to give her colleague more leverage to tease her. ‘Back to Springfield?’
‘I thought we could go down to Evansville, check out the Lincoln site seeing we’re only a short drive away.’
‘You had a change of heart?’ Vanessa asked, her enthusiasm suddenly boosted.
‘Well it’s so close and we’re clearly on this trail. I’m in certainly no rush to go back home.’
‘You know you’ll have to face your wife someday, Darnell.’
‘Yeah I know. But we might as well take the opportunity to visit Lincoln’s childhood home while we’re here before this crook inevitably leads us back. I’d rather avoid the drive.’
The detectives collected their belongings and checked out of the hotel. They set off in the car and braced themselves as Darnell turned on the ignition, whooping as the Mercedes played its healthy tempo.
Evansville, like the State Capital of Indianapolis, was a commercial hub, full of large businesses and low-rise buildings. They drove past the Ohio River, which Lincoln sailed along, and into the National Park, which paid homage to the former president.
The site had a visitor centre and a mock-up of his boyhood home, which mirrored the cabin they’d seen in Kentucky. They learned that Lincoln began his political career here, giving speeches to local people regarding his future vision for the state, and indeed the country.
‘It was here that Lincoln lost his mother,’ Vanessa said, reading from one of the information pamphlets which she’d collected at the entrance. ‘Nancy died of Milk Sickness, which gave her the shakes and constant vomiting.’ They moved on to see another cabin, much larger than the modest home they’d seen in Kentucky. ‘And then Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush. A wealthy widow supposedly. She raised the children.’
‘Sarah was described as a proud and energetic woman.’ Darnell read out the literature on a display sign beside the farm house. ‘After the death of her first husband, she purchased a
