by A. A. Bell
The elevator chimed and the ghostly doors opened. Out strode the ghost of the killer! He walked through Ben towards the foyer, seeming to stare briefly right at her. He was wearing a fresh jacket.
The invisible fire exit door opened. Mira heard it — just as hands grabbed her and pulled her into the lift.
‘About time!’ Zhou cursed under his breath. ‘Which button closes the doors?’
Mira saw the ghostly version of it — stamped also with Braille — and pushed it.
THIRTY-SIX
Kitching reached the elevator too late. He shouted in frustration and kicked the doors. Staff and patrons peered out from the restaurant, all staring at him.
‘Call police!’ he shouted to the maitre d'. ‘They just killed two of my people!’
His driver jogged into the corridor from the foyer. ‘Sir?’
‘Lock down the building! I want MPs and a spec ops team here, a.s.a.p.!’
Mira hurried through the gymnasium with Ben and the others, and waited at the railing beside the pool, exactly as Ben positioned her, with both hands firmly gripping the steel barrier. Just like the railings at home, she could see the floor that supported her so high in the sky; in this case, five storeys above the alley. Looking down through her glasses, she wasn’t nearly so scared of heights now she could see the structures supporting her. The gap across to the next building seemed only a short skip and leap away.
Ben let go of her hand, and she heard grunts and shuffling. Further away, sirens sounded, getting closer.
‘Are you doing what I think you’re doing?’ she whispered.
‘Stay there,’ he warned. ‘We’re helping Mitch across first, then we’ll come back for you.’
‘But I can —’
‘Stay there,’ Zhou agreed. ‘The building may not have moved in the last week, but you’re still blind to your own body.’
‘Yes, but —’
‘Quiet!’ Ben whispered. ‘Two cops just came into the alley.’
Mira frowned. She waited until she heard the others make it across to the roof of the neighbouring building, then she hurried further along the railing to avoid bumping into them, swung over the safety barrier onto a slim ledge and leapt across the narrow void.
‘Hey!’ Ben whispered.
‘I mightn’t be able to see my body, but I’ve had more than a decade to learn how to handle it.’
‘Oh, yes? And how did you know the cops weren’t looking up?’
‘Oh …’ Her heart sank to think that in trying to help, she might have made matters worse for them. ‘Sorry.’
‘Forget it.’
He ushered her towards a fire exit and she closed her eyes as he led her into a cold concrete stairwell where their footsteps echoed.
‘Ooh! Stairs!’ She skipped down the first flight ahead of them, keen to make Ben proud of her again.
‘Hey, don’t scare me!’ he warned instead. ‘You promised.’
‘I’m being careful, look.’ She patted the rail to show that she hadn’t let go of it, but steadied her pace as well and fell into step beside him.
After three flights, Zhou began to lag behind. ‘My legs aren’t enjoying this.’
‘Slide down the rail,’ Van Danik suggested.
‘What a fun idea!’
‘Mira, please don’t,’ Ben whispered. ‘Karin died saving you back there. Have a little respect, okay?’
‘Died saving me? Why?’
She fell silent, her body still bouncing down the stairs like a ball beside Ben, but her mind numb. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would consider her life to be more valuable than their own.
‘This was a stroke of brilliance,’ Ben said, as if he didn’t realise how hard he’d slugged her emotionally. ‘Who’s the genius?’
‘Private Lockman,’ Zhou said. ‘Before he was reassigned.’
‘Framed for murder, more like it,’ Ben replied. ‘Like we will be.’
‘Not if we skip town on my hog,’ Van Danik said. ‘Just as soon as I can sneak it out from the car park … Oh, sorry,’ he added, as he bumped into Mira. ‘My balance is shot. And these stairs aren’t helping.’
‘Your logic is groggy too,’ Zhou said. ‘There are four of us, and your muffler might as well be a loudspeaker.’
‘I won’t abandon my hog. Not to them!’
‘No choice,’ Zhou argued. ‘They’ll impound it. So we have to contact police first; make sure they know our side of the story.’
‘Are you kidding?’ Ben said. ‘Who do you think they’re going to believe — us or the army?’
‘But our polygraph —’ Zhou began.
‘Belongs to him now. And even if it didn’t, you have to face facts,’ said Ben. ‘You just sided with an ex-con and an inmate from Serenity. You’ve blown your credibility.’
‘What?’ Mira cried. ‘I’ve blown their what?’
‘Believability,’ Van Danik said, his voice strained with pain.
‘But that’s not fair! I didn’t want any of this to happen!’
‘We’re not completely defenceless,’ Zhou argued. ‘Mira can help us find out who Kitching has been selling our research to, and who else is in it with him.’
‘I wish I could help now,’ Mira said, ‘but he was alone when he killed Sergeant Hawthorn. If only I’d looked up when I had the chance. Maybe someone else was watching from a window or rooftop?’
‘Don’t punish yourself,’ Zhou said. ‘We’ll make sure you get a second chance. We just need more time to play with different lenses.’
‘Like Corporal Duet’s?’
‘Indeed.’ Zhou began to puff as they descended past the door to the second floor. ‘If the ones you’re wearing now allow you to see things from earlier this week, and Duet’s allowed you to see yesterday, it would be handy to find a set that falls somewhere in between. Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long.’
‘I wish we still had his lenses,’ Mira said. ‘I could see what happened here today — tomorrow — after the police are gone.’
‘Yesterday,’ Van Danik corrected, his voice still noticeably louder than everyone else’s. ‘Tomorrow, today will be yesterday.’
Mira paused for a step and scratched her temple. ‘Yes, I think that’s what I meant.’
‘See, Zan?’ Van Danik said. ‘I’ve still got a firm grip on logic.’
‘You need stitches,’ Zhou told him. ‘I didn’t want to worry you, but half your eyebrow is shredded.’
He asked Mira to stand clear while he opened the fire exit door at ground level, then declared it safe to leave. ‘There’s a taxi rank across the street and a water taxi to our left at the pier. No sign of police yet. They must be focusing on the alley and inside the hotel.’
‘We could heist a yacht,’ Van Danik said as the wail of more sirens rose across the city. ‘Anybody know how to sail?’
‘Sure, stealing a yacht will go down well with the pigs,’ Ben replied. ‘I vote for the taxi rank across the street. A cab can let us off anywhere, but a water-taxi has to stick to set routes.’
Mira saw two taxi-catamarans at the pier as she emerged onto the sidewalk behind Ben, and a much longer line of cabs waiting across the street. The young boy and his mother were already climbing into the back seat of the first car; the boy poked his tongue out at her as they drove past. That still left four taxis to choose from … almost a week ago.
Ben clasped her hand, led her briskly across the bitumen and held her aside while he opened a door, but as she fumbled to find the opening with her hand, she realised the taxi she could see and the one she could feel weren’t parked in exactly the same place. The ghost car was parked about half an arm’s length behind the invisible car, overlapping in time and space, so she had to clamp her eyes shut to avoid the unsettling sensation of sitting inside the driver and the padding of his seat. Except this driver was humming — and sounded female.
‘No time to wait for a second cab,’ Zhou said. ‘Mitch, guard your wound from the camera and get in front.
’
‘What happened to you?’ asked the cabbie as they climbed in. ‘I don’t take brawlers.’
‘I slipped on the stairs,’ Van Danik replied. ‘Just drop me off at the hospital.’
‘Likiba Isle first,’ Zhou said. ‘It’s on the way.’
Mira frowned. ‘Why can’t we stay together?’
‘Technically, Serenity is a hospital,’ Ben suggested. ‘There’s a doctor on duty twenty-four-seven.’
‘I’ll look after Mitch,’ Zhou said. ‘You take care of Mira.’
‘But I don’t have to be back for hours!’ Mira complained.
‘You’ll be safest there,’ Ben whispered. ‘As a ward of the state, there isn’t a court in the country that can touch you once you’re institutionalised. Not even for cops or military.’
Mira sniffled as she climbed out of the taxi with Ben at the gates to Serenity. Inside, the festival was in full noisy swing.
‘Can’t I go with you to hospital?’ she pleaded.
‘We’ll be back later,’ Zhou promised. ‘Just as soon as Mitch has had his head examined. We’re booked in for the black-cane dinner tonight anyway, so we can ask Matron Sanchez then about postponing your surgery.’
‘Thanks … I guess.’
She listened to the sound of the taxi driving them away, although through the sunglasses the driveway already looked as empty as she felt.
‘They won’t be back, will they?’
Ben didn’t hear her. He was asking the cheery gate guard if she could page the matron.
‘No can do, sorry. She’s in B-block for the midday play and her pager’s off.’
‘But this is urgent. We only need to see her for a moment.’
‘Well, according to this schedule, she’s also mistress of ceremonies at the black-cane luncheon in the dungeon, so you might catch her on the stairs between events.’
‘I thought the play and dinner were on tonight?’ Ben asked.
‘Booked out, so Matron whipped together another two sessions. You’re not in luck for tickets though.’
‘You realise we’re not just public?’ Ben asked. ‘She’s a client — Mira Chambers — and I’m returning her.’
‘Really?’ Mira heard papers flipping and the snap of a clipboard. ‘Oh, so she is. You’re back early, Mr Chiron.’
‘That’s why we need to see Matron Sanchez, but only briefly, I promise.’
‘Very well. Sign here. There’s no need for visitor tags today; and just as well or we’d have run out this morning.’
Mira trudged behind Ben, dragging her heels all the way to B-Block. A riot of voices from the main recreation room indicated the play was in full swing.
‘So quick, bright things come to confusion!’ shouted the crowd as one voice. The actor repeated that line even louder, winning their cheers.
‘This way,’ Ben said, leading her through a door that brought them closer to the stage. ‘If the matron is mistress of ceremonies in here, she should be somewhere near the front.’
Mira could sense the enormous crowd, breathing and murmuring like a huge unsettled beast. Through her sunglasses, though, she could see only a small cluster of purple ghosts at one side of the stage, clad in an assortment of bedsheets, fairy wings and creature costumes.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, she read from their lips as they practised their lines.
‘I can’t see Matron Sanchez anywhere,’ Ben said.
‘Let’s try downstairs.’
‘In the dungeon? Can’t we wait until she comes back up here?’
‘It hasn’t been used as a dungeon for nearly a century, Mira. There’s nothing to fear.’
‘But I’ve never been underground before. What if I lose my glasses? What if the dungeon wasn’t there a hundred years ago? I’d be buried alive!’
‘So don’t lose your glasses.’ He took her hand and led her out of the recreation room and towards the stairs. ‘I’m not sure what it looked like on Monday, but tonight it’ll be dolled up for a feast.’
Her heels clumped heavily as she trudged down the ancient cobbled stairs behind him.
‘Halt!’ squeaked a female voice as they neared the bottom step. Her voice came from Mira’s knee height, as if she was very short, and sounded like a squirrel caught in a drainpipe. ‘Who goes there?’
‘Visitors,’ Ben replied, ‘for Matron Sanchez.’
‘Join the queue, friend. There are already three too many in there.’
‘Another two won’t hurt then, surely? We’ll only be a few minutes.’
‘You need an escort through the dark …’ She tapped plastic against stone twice. ‘… and they’re all busy.’
‘Are you blind?’ Mira asked.
‘There’s no need to be rude!’
‘I’m not being rude. I just thought I heard two taps of a GPS cane.’
‘You’re blind too?’
‘Sort of.’
‘If you’re blind, how come I didn’t hear your cane as you came down the stairs?’
‘Freddie Leopard broke it.’
‘Oh, that rebel! He’s broken three of mine this year. Did you hear what he did to the flagpole this morning? He tried to sabotage the dinner settings down here too. Now he’s disappeared, and good riddance to him, I say. What about you, though? Are you new?’
‘Not really, I —’
‘Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself first. I’m Petal Price; blind since birth. Born a heroin addict and I have Fragile X, but that’s all my mum’s fault. She’s dead now. What’s wrong with you, huh? Leopard got your tongue as well as your cane?’
‘I’ve got Fragile X too,’ Mira confessed.
‘Oh, yeah?’ Petal’s tone brightened. ‘You sound pretty tall, sister. I guess you didn’t get it as bad as me, hey? Tough luck. That means I’m still Queen of FX around here.’
‘We’ve got urgent news for Matron Sanchez,’ Ben persisted. ‘Can you let us through, please, Petal?’
‘Hold your horses, handsome.’ She struck Mira’s knee with her cane, and a second thud made Ben yelp too. ‘It’s pitch dark in there. I need to know if she can handle a broomstick and you or else you might ruin the whole show.’
‘Can we go in, please, Petal?’ Ben asked again.
‘That’s up to Mira.’
‘You know my name?’
‘I’m blind, not deaf. He called you that on your way down here. So how about it, sister? Do you think you can feel your way around with just a broomstick?’
‘Oh, you mean using a broom instead of a cane?’
‘Of course! Are you a numbskull, deaf or just not listening? They stuck garden hoses to the floor so the sighted guests can feel their way to their tables with broomsticks. It’s all about giving outsiders a taste of what it’s like to be blind. Black … cane … dinner. Do you get it now?’
‘Yes,’ Mira replied in the same cynical tone. ‘I’m blind, not stupid.’
‘Good for you. Keep that attitude, sis. It’ll save you.’
The door creaked open and Ben urged Mira towards it.
‘Broomsticks are in a barrel on your left,’ Petal said. ‘Don’t open the second door into the dungeon proper until after I’ve closed this one, or you’ll let in light from the stairwell and ruin the whole mood. Oh, and here’s the secret. The hoses are stuck to the floor in the shape of the word VISION, all capitals not Braille, and the tables are all arranged in and around them. When you open the door you’ll start at the bottom of the N, so you’ll need to work your way around to the top of the V to get to Matron Sanchez’s table. Got it?’
‘Got it, and thank you … sister.’ The final word came with difficulty, but it had no sooner left Mira’s lips than another weight lifted from her shoulders. ‘Maybe one day we can explore the scented gardens together?’
Petal laughed. ‘I gave up boring shit like that in kindergarten. Get a day pass, though, and I’ll take you skydiving.’
The door creaked as Petal closed it behind them. For a mome
nt, Mira stood there dumbfounded.
‘She really likes it here.’
‘Most do,’ Ben said. ‘In fact it was protests from clients like Petal and Freddie that prevented the centre from closing recently. Can you feel the brooms yet? It really is dark in here. Reminds me of my first night in a prison cell after lights out — I just wanted to talk and talk and talk to stop the walls closing in.’
Mira squeezed his hand gently. ‘Seems bright enough to me. This door was open on Monday, and the whole place was floodlit during set-up.’
She plucked two brown handles from a barrel, handed one to Ben and opened the door that already appeared open to her. She was surprised by the volume of chatter from the main room.
‘Uh-oh … I really wish I had Corporal Duet’s yesterday-glasses right now. Whatever time I’m seeing on Monday, there weren’t any hoses on the floor and the tables were stacked in messy piles all over the place. I’ll have to do this with my eyes closed.’
Ben laughed. ‘If anyone else said that, I’d be worried. Lead on!’
He tapped clumsily along the hose behind her, while she slid the broomstick’s tip along in a single stroke, tugging him along by the hand.
‘Sounds like another case of the blind leading the blind,’ chuckled a woman nearby. ‘Where’s my waiter gone?’
Cutlery chinked throughout the dungeon, laughter echoed, and a man swore as he spilled hot soup over himself. Another complained jovially at being unable to find his own mouth.
‘This sounds like fun,’ Ben whispered. ‘And is that … Oh yeah, mmmm! Hot bread.’
‘We’re nearly there,’ Mira said, leading him up the line of the second I towards the V.
‘… unless Colonel Kitching has?’ said a woman a few tables ahead.
‘Not yet,’ replied the familiar voice of Matron Sanchez.
Mira stopped and Ben bumped into her.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘Quiet! I think Kitching is here!’
‘What? How could he —’
‘Shhh!’
‘I’ve got a team en route to intercept the doctors now,’ said the woman.
‘Mira was here last night, General. She couldn’t have been involved in anything at the hotel.’
