Snow Light

by Danielle Zinn

  Sky and her friends were scared of him, but he knew that they sometimes climbed over the fence of the mayor’s garden to throw snowballs at his bedroom window for a dare, only to hear him roar into the darkness.

  “What’s the matter with your tyres? How could that happen?” Thomas had found his voice, and with it had come the anger.

  “Tyres are worn. They don’t have any grip anymore, and the last stretch was just too much for them. I was due to get new ones next week,” the mayor snarled.

  “A tad too late, isn’t it? I’ve informed my sergeant and police from St Anna. They’ll document the circumstances of the accident. I’ve got to get to Turnden Airport to pick up Sky’s dad. I’ll contact you again tomorrow regarding insurance and all the formalities. No insult, but it’s an offence in itself to drive around in this area and its weather conditions knowing your tyres are worn down.”

  The mayor nodded guiltily, but Thomas was not done with his lecture yet. Suddenly, a wave of fury washed over him, and looking at the fat piece of flesh next to him did nothing to soothe his aggression. He leaned into the mayor’s direction and stressing every word, he said quietly, “If the car behind you had not been as strong as mine, it would not have ended so leniently. This isn’t a threat but believe me when I say I’ll make sure this does not happen again anytime soon.”

  With his thumb, he pointed through the rear window.

  “Certainly,” the mayor said meekly. “I’ve put my best police officer and a child in danger. I know this is probably not the right time, so I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I would like to thank you for solving this case so quickly. The most important thing is that the truth was brought to light no matter how ugly it was. What an immense relief this is, not just for me but for the entire community knowing the culprit is behind bars.”

  “She’s currently still in hospital,” Thomas replied, still trying to control his temper.

  “Of course. What exactly happened last night?” the mayor asked incidentally, the skin flap underneath his chin swinging from one side to the other.

  “I’m sorry, but until the case is closed, I cannot tell you any details,” Thomas replied with a sly smile, knowing the mayor’s love of first-hand news so he could spread it in the village; clustering a crowd around him of whoever wanted to listen and adding bits and pieces to the story of his liking.

  “Sure. You said the case was not closed. But why? I thought the teacher killed him? It certainly was a mistake to let an outsider into our close-knit community.”

  Thomas was wondering whether he meant Kate or Dr Lawson, but in the end, it did not matter; he would not tell him anything, regardless of how he tried to milk information from him.

  “Again, the exact circumstances and the motive cannot be shared until the investigation is completed. By me.” He hoped that was clear enough, even for the mayor’s slow and fat-rimmed brain to understand.

  A car snaked up the road and stopped some way below the accident scene. Even in the dim glow of his one headlight, Thomas recognised the red parka-clad figure trying to make her way up the hill.

  “My sergeant.” Thomas excused himself, nodding out of the window, and opened the door.

  The wind made his eyes water instantly, and the sound of police car sirens was blown across the top of the hill.

  “What on earth made you drive up this hill in a snowstorm?” Collins asked, hands on hips and shaking her head at the entangled cars in front of her. “This is so typical.”

  “What is?” Thomas shouted, confused while walking towards her.

  “Thinking you’re the strongest in your unbeatable car.”

  “Sorry, but this was not my fault! The mayor’s car tyres were worn, and he skidded down the hill. Backwards.”

  “So you used yours as a bumper?”

  “I didn’t use it as a bumper; he crashed into it before I could make it vanish!” Thomas yelled over the storm. “Why are you so irritated?”

  He had closed the gap between them and now stood directly in front of her, looking down. “I’m sorry if you’d already made yourself comfortable in front of the fireplace and I chased you out into this weather again. My apologies.”

  She looked up at him coolly. “You can save that. I know why you’ve called me here and what you’re going to ask, and the answer is no. I can take you home, but that’s it. And I don’t care if you complain to Sexton.”

  “Okay, fair enough. Can you tell Sky please? She’s in my car. I’ll talk to the officers and then we can all go home.” He went to walk past her, but Collins held his arm.

  “That is emotional blackmail, and you damn well know it!”

  “I didn’t know there was anything to blackmail.”

  “Just because you get all the electronic equipment you need, a company car, insurances, and God knows what else like this,” she snapped her fingers, “doesn’t mean I do, too. I’ve worked long and hard to pay this car off, and I certainly won’t risk ending up in a roadside ditch or wrapped around a tree in the middle of freaking nowhere, in a snowstorm that will probably last forever!”

  Thomas had never seen her so furious, and he had not thought a car of all things meant so much to her. But he knew Collins had had a rough start in life, and even though she was protected by Sexton, it did not mean that he covered her personal expenses.

  He held up his hands in defeat. “Okay, I’m really sorry. I know I can’t expect you to give us a ride to the airport. It’s just…” He let his hands drop to the side. “Look, I only have this one car, and right now, I can’t really ask Richard to borrow his. It’s Sunday evening, and it’ll take hours to organise a rental from somewhere, and it’s still the kid’s birthday, and she hasn’t seen her dad in a month. I feel I owe her. On top of the fact that her teacher pointed a gun at her yesterday, and she nearly got squashed in a car some twenty minutes ago.”

  The next seconds seemed to last forever and the left side of his face, where the wind hit him with all its might, had turned numb.

  “Is your friend as tall as you are?” Collins asked finally.

  Thomas smiled. “He’s two inches shorter.”

  “Fine. Here are the rules: I’ll drive at my speed, no throwing up inside, one of you guys has to sit in the rear seat on the way back, and only a small bag of luggage is allowed.”

  Thomas looked past her towards the red Mini. It offered two doors at the front and was not very high in general, but it would do. “The boot doesn’t look too small, though,” he replied.

  “But my winter equipment is inside already.”

  “Which consists of?” he asked curiously, only carrying as much as an ice scraper himself.

  “Shovel, salt, grit, blankets, scrapers.”

  “We can send David’s luggage home by courier.”

  “Fine. I’ll tell Sky,” Collins replied, marching past him.

  “Thanks, Sergeant.”

  But she had already vanished into the darkness.

  He instructed the officers to tow his car to a garage in St Anna to ascertain the damage, and he would write a protocol of the sequence of events leading up to the accident first thing in the morning.

  Ten minutes later, Thomas sat in the passenger seat of Collins’s car more comfortably than he had initially thought. He had to push his seat back to the limit to get his long legs in and the car would certainly be crammed on their return journey, but at the moment he was just happy that they were finally on their way to the airport.

  36

  AS it would take a while to get Thomas’s and the mayor’s vehicles off the road, they had to drive the longer route to Turnden.

  Collins sat hunched over in the driver’s seat, clutching the steering wheel tensely with both hands, and Thomas feared she’d be stiff to the bone by the time they reached the airport. It was obvious she was not used to driving in these weather conditions, but his offer to drive was out of the question.

  He decided to keep talking to her, mostly so she would not fall asleep from
the monotony of the oncoming snow but also to try and relax her. “Have you spoken to Mrs Myers?”

  “Yes, I went there, but she has lent the car to her nephew for a ski trip. She said they’ll be back on Wednesday. Can’t do anything until then.”

  Thomas nodded. “Okay, hopefully there’ll be some traces left.”

  “If there was anything there in the first place.”

  “True.”

  It was six-thirty now, and according to his fax, David would arrive in an hour, which was simply not doable — not even in the brightest sunshine. But adding up all the times he’d had to wait for his friend, it seemed only fair to let him stew just this little bit longer.

  “Forgot to tell you,” Collins started, “remember those Bohemian receipts we found on the victim?”

  “Yes, what about them?”

  “I finally got the video tapes from the supermarket. The snack bar doesn’t have any surveillance. Anyway, the coverage is a blurred black and white but guess who can be made out?”

  “Ms A.,” Thomas replied, looking away from her and out the window.

  “You can say her name; I don’t mind,” Sky chipped in from the back.

  He turned around and blinked at her. “This isn’t for your ears.” Looking back at Collins, he continued. “So, she put those receipts into Lawson’s pockets knowing that the Bohemian boys pushed drugs in the forest. It would have been perfect blaming it on them. A drug deal gone wrong.”

  “She even got hold of the drugs. Remember, the boys said they heard someone in the woods. I believe, when she was spying on Lawson, she watched them put the stuff into the tree trunk; then she took it out again and placed it into the flowerpot.”

  Thomas nodded. “She thought she’d outsmarted us, but then someone else ruined her perfect plan by simply moving the body.”

  “The night guard,” Collins whispered in a ghostly voice.

  “Who is the night guard?” Sky asked quietly.

  “Nobody,” Thomas replied, but Collins was concentrating on the road so hard that she did not catch the look on his face.

  “That’s not exactly true. In the short time I was at home, that is before I was called out into the stormy night again, I read something interesting… actually, where will I sleep tonight? I assume your friend would like to stay at his house?”

  “I’ll kick Sky out tonight, and then I’ve got three bedrooms available for you to choose from. Or you go back to the lovely County Inn.”

  “Or I’ll just stay in Turnden. Welcome back to civilisation.” She smiled to herself.

  “Sexton made it clear that you’re not to leave this place until the case is closed. And we’re miles away from closing.”

  “What interesting thing did you read about the night guard, Ann?” Sky could not keep the question to herself anymore, and promptly received a stern look from Thomas in the rear-view mirror.

  “Sky, I don’t want to say it again. This conversation isn’t for you to be part of.”

  She avoided his eyes in the mirror and instead looked out of the window into the black night, pouting.

  “It’s all right. It’s not scary or anything. We already know that the night guard had quite an important job to do — namely to keep everything peaceful and quiet in the streets or warn the citizens about fires or other catastrophes. Most of the time, he was alone… awake when everybody else slept. An outsider. In the literature, however, the night guard often plays the role of a satiric commentator of world events… also an outsider, but constantly reminding people of the truth, holding a mirror up to society, and thus criticising the ruling system. Because of that, there is a reinterpretation of the figure of the night guard — he who is actually supposed to keep peace and order becomes a rebel, a troublemaker… revolting against authority. Or a fool, a laughing stock. Depends on people’s opinions.”

  “The question remains, though, who is the night guard?” Thomas said thoughtfully.

  “Sorry, but the article wasn’t that specific,” Collins replied irritated.

  “It tells us that there are two types of night guards: the real ones, or the good ones, who keep peace and the literary bad ones who cause trouble. So, what kind of night guard are we looking for? Someone who takes the job seriously and wants to protect the village or someone who stirs up trouble?”

  “If you’re out in the dead of night and move a body instead of calling the police, I would rather guess we’re looking for a troublemaker,” Collins countered.

  “Okay, but who is the troublemaker in the village? Lawson was not a very welcome resident. If he had not been the victim, I’d have bet on him… or a drug dealer? Or Myers as police officer? Or Kelly as embittered old man? In the end, it could be anybody who held a grudge against Lawson and wanted to pillory him,” Thomas said.

  “Maybe we’re just interpreting too much when it comes to this whole night guard thing. We’re probably walking in the wrong direction,” Collins said.

  “Hmm, no, I don’t think so. Lawson was not placed there by accident. Not in that specific position. I’m wondering whether the person who moved him there knew about his past. Making him kneel there states something like, ‘There you go! The culprit is caught. Peace has returned.’ But it takes someone with a big ego to usurp that role. Who feels responsible for safeguarding peace in a village that is so tranquil already, that a stolen milk bottle causes five days of ruckus? Except for this case, there has never been an issue with someone stirring trouble.”

  “Our mayor!” Sky peeped.

  Thomas turned around, bugged. “Can’t you listen to some music or text your friends?”

  “No, because my phone is still in your car.” She rolled her eyes. “And besides, why do you ask questions when you don’t want an answer?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You asked who felt responsible for keeping peace in Turtleville, which in itself is a really dumb question, if I may say so,” Sky said bravely, expecting another rebuke.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, guess why the mayor looks the way he does? Wart on his face,” Sky pointed to her nose, “hairy hands,” she wiggled her fingers in his face, “fat, wobbly belly, disgusting smell… everybody finds him scary and gross and tries to avoid him at all cost, and that’s why he has to look the way he does. Because when people are scared, they don’t do stupid things, so they don’t have to talk to him and he stays away. That’s why the village is so peaceful. And Ms Adams probably hasn’t been yelled at by him, so she didn’t know.”

  Thomas furrowed his brow. “Obviously I don’t appear scary enough…”

  Collins glanced briefly at him, and even in the darkness of the car, he saw a grin move across her face.

  “And Ann said the night guard can be a laughing stock. That’s the mayor, as well. Everybody makes fun of the way he looks and moves… behind his back of course.”

  “Striking logic,” Collins replied smiling.

  “But sometimes he really does walk through the village when it’s dark!” Sky said in defence.

  “And it’s not forbidden to do so once you’ve reached a certain age,” Thomas replied, but was met with silence. “Oh, come on, both of you. The mayor? Creeping through the village in the middle of the night to move a body? How did he know in the first place that Lawson would be murdered that night?” He lifted his hands in despair as far above his head as the space in the car allowed.

  “Okay, I admit he might not be the prime suspect. But we have the unique opportunity to check his car for blood. Why not use it?” Collins urged him.

  “How many times have you met him?” Thomas asked.

  “Exactly two occasions too many. Fair enough, you know him better than me. What kind of person is he? Ignoring the fact that he is ugly.”

  “Hmm.” Thomas frowned. “He’s just your common mayor.”

  “You’re so difficult to work with. Okay, let’s try this… what did you talk about in his car? After the crash? You should remember that.”
<
br />   He looked at her dumbfounded. “I don’t have senior moments. Not yet.”

  “Good. Then you can answer my question.”

  Thomas took a deep breath and prayed the mayor would be their man so he could declare the case closed and leave Collins in Turnden straight away.

  “He said his tyres were old and worn, that’s why he lost control of the car. He wanted to know what exactly happened last night, but I didn’t give him any details. Basically, he was milking me for information to spread to the village. It’s no secret that he likes to brag with knowledge and gather a crowd around him. Then he thanked us for solving the case so quickly… that the truth was brought to light was a huge relief for the entire community, blah, blah. And he said—” he stopped abruptly.

  Collins looked at him beseechingly.

  “He said…” Thomas began slowly “It certainly had been a mistake to let an outsider into our close-knit community.”

  They both looked simultaneously into the rear-view mirror, where Sky was fiddling with a loose thread on her jumper sleeve.

  Thomas nodded. “Okay, I’ll make the call. And this better not be just a fantasy of the two of you. Otherwise, we’ll see his wart from close up… when he is shouting at us for such wild accusations.”

  “You were the one who started with this whole night guard stuff,” Collins taunted.

  He took out his phone, but the signal went on and off. “You have to stop the car. I’m not getting a steady reception.”

  Collins braked harder than necessary, and the car skidded to a stop.

  “What happened now?” Sky asked, slightly nervous.

  Thomas turned around, facing her. “I just need to make a quick phone call.”

  She rolled her eyes. “If we keep moving at this speed, daddy will have walked home.”

  “You should be a bit more grateful that we got a lift at all,” he hissed, opening the door.

  They had stopped on an open ridgeway, and the storm was ripping heavily on his parka. Thomas turned his back and allowed the natural force to shove him some fifty yards down the road until he had at least three bars on his phone. He pulled the hood over his head, hoping someone would pick up quickly and understand him over the roaring gale.