Lion's Head Revisited

by Jeffrey Round

  “I wanted to apologize.” Dan smiled. “I couldn’t chat the other day, sorry. I’d also like to ask you a few questions, if you’re not busy now.”

  Horace waved him in and headed to the kitchen. “Welcome any time, young Daniel. You and your lions.”

  Dan smiled at the reference. Then again, he was a biblical scholar of sorts.

  “So the boy came back. Ransom got paid, I heard.”

  “Yes. They were pretty happy to have him home again.”

  “That’s good news. Some mothers would do anything for their kids.” Horace nodded and looked off. “Had breakfast yet? Coffee?”

  “I’m good, thanks. I had a meal at Lucy’s.”

  “Hmm,” Horace intoned. “She still with that bad one? I wish she’d leave him.”

  Dan thought of the server’s harassed look. The question seemed not to require a reply.

  “I’m just finishing up. Come on in while I eat my breakfast.”

  A sweet, oatmealy smell filled the room. Something was baking.

  “Cookies,” Horace said. “Not done yet.”

  Dan waited as he scraped up a forkful of scrambled eggs then slurped his coffee, taking pains not to get any on his beard.

  “I don’t suppose you get to see too much of what goes on around here,” Dan said. “Being so isolated and all?”

  “Are you kidding? I saw your car the other day. I see everything.” The older man pointed with his fork to a window in the back. “That there looks out onto the county roads coming and going in both directions. On a good day, I can see from here clear to the water. What I can’t see, I can hear.” He cocked his head to the window. “Right now there’s a sixteen-wheeler headed here. Flat bed, but heavily loaded. Probably the supply truck from Owen Sound. Comes up the backroads to see his missus.” He winked. “He’ll stop at every two-bit town between here and Tobermory then get on the Chi-Cheemaun and head over to the Sault and on to Thunder Bay. Where he goes after that I don’t know.”

  Dan cocked his head but didn’t hear a thing. After thirty seconds, he made out the low grumble of a big truck coming along the roadway. Sure enough, when it swung into view it was large enough to be a sixteen-wheeler. Horace nodded to a pair of binoculars hanging on the wall.

  “If you want to count ’em,” he said with a wink.

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Dan said. “How’d you know he goes all the way to Thunder Bay? Can you hear that too?”

  “Nope. Guy named Fred. I talk to him. He’s up every week this time.” He grinned. Country life made easy. “See. You just asked the right question. And what I don’t have answers for, the Bible surely does.”

  “‘Ask, and it shall be given you,’” Dan said.

  “‘Seek, and ye shall find.’ Matthew 7:7.” Horace stood and went over to the oven, pulling on the handle. “And just look what we have found.”

  Dan watched as he removed a tray of golden-brown cookies and set it on top of the stove. “Something for every occasion.”

  “You betcha.” Horace grinned. “I like Matthew. He’s friendlier than some of the others. Not too crazy about the Old Testament in general, though. All that killing and smiting in God’s name. Strikes me it goes a little against the grain, eh?”

  “Just a little.”

  “Where are you staying?” Horace asked, returning to his coffee. “Not up to that rich boy’s cottage again. I would’ve heard you.”

  “Not this time,” Dan said. “I stayed in town.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  In fact, Dan wouldn’t have been surprised if Horace could see that he’d slept in his car.

  “You ever see his boat?”

  Horace scraped a knife on the inside of a jam jar, pulled out a dollop of red, and spread it over a slice of toast.

  “Lots of times. Big one.”

  Dan pulled out his phone and flipped through the photographs to the two men in the boat leaving the cottage with the ransom.

  “Is that his, by any chance?”

  Horace leaned in to take a good look then shook his head. “Nah. Too small. His is fancier, with a metal rail around the front. And a flag. That one’s got no flag.”

  “What about the men? Any idea who they might be?”

  Again Horace leaned in, and this time looked longer.

  “Hard to say with those glary glasses, but I can tell you they’re not local to here or I woulda run into them at some point. No, they’re not our boys.” He paused and looked at Dan. “They bad?”

  Dan nodded.

  “I see. Sorry, but I can’t say who they are.”

  “Okay. Thanks for that.” He put the phone away. “I have to thank you for something. The other day when I left, I went to the caves you mentioned. I found something in one of them that might help solve the case.”

  Horace looked impressed. “Is that right? I told you it was the caves you wanted.”

  “Yes, you did. What I’m wondering is if there might be more caves around here, possibly with stalactites.”

  Horace looked to the window and seemed to see something on a far horizon, gazing off in the distance.

  “Down the road in the other direction, along the shore, there’s Greig’s Caves. That’s private property. No stalactites, though.”

  “Big enough to hide a child in?” Dan asked.

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t see how. They’re not deep at all. Besides, you can’t get in without paying. Charges too much, that boy.” He shook his head. “The only other caves around that I heard tell of are in the conservation area near Wiarton. Those are pretty shallow too. More like holes in the rocks than actual caves. No, in my opinion you already saw the best of the best, young Daniel.”

  Dan smiled.

  “What keeps you out here, Horace? If you don’t mind my asking? I had a blissful moment this morning where the sun shone on my head and all I could hear was the wind on the lake and the birds twittering in the trees. If I could keep that moment going forever I might move here. But I doubt I could sustain it. How do you do it?”

  Horace turned back to look at him and pushed his plate aside. “Come with me,” he said, wiping his lips on a napkin.

  He struck out across the field in his hobbling walk, managing to outpace Dan as he headed for the trees. Hay bales had been rolled into wheels, standing upright, rather than in flat rectangles. Easier to move, probably.

  “Don’t worry about Old Dobbins,” Horace called over his shoulder. “He’s in the other pasture.”

  Dan could see them before they reached the end of the field. Two mounds. Two crosses. The birth dates were different, but the end dates were the same: February 27, 1999. Florence and Adeline McLean. Mother and daughter, Dan thought. Above: And death shall have no dominion. Not the Bible. Dylan Thomas.

  Horace stood there wringing his hands, making murmuring noises. “My family.”

  “I’m sorry,” Dan said.

  “Happened out on the old county road. Drunk driver. I was here waiting for them. They never came home. Some things stay with you forever, eh? I could never leave them. Not till I’m ready to join them, that is.”

  He closed his eyes and began a low crooning. It might have been a prayer or a hymn.

  When he opened his eyes again he said, “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ Revelations 21:4. That’s what I’m waiting for — for the old order to pass away.”

  “Could be a long time coming,” Dan said.

  “I got patience. ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’ That’s Matthew again.”

  “Don’t you get lonely?”

  “All the time. Eats at me like acid in my soul.”

  In the distance, Dan saw the bull come up to the fence and turn its bulky head in their direction. He hoped there wouldn’t be any burnt offerings while he was there.

  Horace looked up the hill in the direction of Dennis Braithwaite’
s cottage. “Drives a grey Porsche, that rich boy. Nice little number.”

  Dan pictured Dennis Braithwaite’s desktop, the Porsche key sitting beside the photographs.

  “Have you seen it recently?”

  Dan waited. Horace was looking off into the distance again, his face an enigma. There was no forcing a biblical prophet.

  “‘And Lot went up from Zoar, and his two daughters with him. For he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.’ That’s Genesis.”

  “You seem to know the Bible inside out.”

  “It keeps me company.” He looked off again. “‘Thorn and thistle will grow on their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, Cover us! And to the hills, Fall on us!’ That’s from the Book of Prophets.”

  He watched Dan out of the corner of his eye, his face a stone.

  “There is no Book of Prophets,” Dan said. “Even I know that.”

  “Sometimes I make them up.” Horace winked. “Yes. He comes up here. I see him. He thinks I don’t see him, but I do.”

  “Was he here the weekend the boy disappeared?”

  “Oh, sure. That car was up here that weekend. Didn’t stay long, though. All that way just to leave again? Thought it strange at the time, but not my business really.”

  He looked back to the house.

  “Cookies’ll be ready now.”

  Dan suspected he’d get no closer than that, but it was something. Dennis Braithwaite’s car had been up to the Bruce Peninsula the weekend Jeremy went missing. Janice said he hadn’t replied to her text asking for the use of the cottage. He, on the other hand, claimed he told her she could use it while he was getting high in Toronto. Why lie unless you had something to hide? The only question was what was he hiding?

  He had just pulled off the 401 and merged onto the DVP when he called. Dennis picked up on the first ring.

  “You lied, Dennis. You were in the Bruce Peninsula the weekend Jeremy went missing.”

  There was a long pause. “Unless you have proof of that, you better not make any public accusations. I assure you my lawyers don’t scare. They go in for the kill. And mine are the best in the country.”

  “Your Porsche was seen at the cottage.”

  “Doesn’t mean I was driving it.”

  It was a feeble response, not even a denial.

  “I had every gas station CCTV pulled all the way up to prove you were there that weekend. And guess what I found?”

  Another long silence. Dan saw him calculating the odds on that one. He was willing to take the chance. Big engine, full tank, no stopping. But chances were.

  “What did Janice tell you?”

  A good guess then.

  “She said she never got your reply saying she could use the cottage that weekend.”

  “That’s a lie. I sent a text. It’s still on my phone, if you want to see it.”

  “So why did you go up?”

  “Am I being taped?”

  “No. This is between you and me. Off the record.”

  “I went up to talk to her. She knows I don’t like Ashley — for obvious reasons. I thought from her text that she and Jeremy would be there alone.”

  “What did you want to talk to her about?”

  He hesitated. “About us. Getting back together. I told her before if she wanted to use my insurance for him then she had to come back to me. I thought I could convince her.”

  Dan thought of the photos on Dennis’s desktop. Happier times. Just as he’d told Nick.

  “And what did she say?”

  “I never saw her. I drove up late Saturday night and left again the next morning. I thought she’d changed her mind and wasn’t coming up after all. I tried her cell, but it was out of range. If she was even there. Which I wasn’t sure she was.”

  “But she was.”

  The city’s skyline zoomed into view, the towers rising in the distance as he headed south.

  “Obviously. Look — I want her back, all right? I’m not ashamed to admit it. And Janice knows it. But she keeps toying with me. So there you have it. But I didn’t kidnap that kid of hers.”

  “So you keep saying.”

  “Why would I?” Dennis’s reply was a snarl.

  That’s what I keep wondering, Dan thought. Why would you?

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Flip

  KED WAS HEADING BACK TO BC the next day. Kendra had planned a party for him. Barbecue smells pervaded the backyard, laughter and fun. The air was filled with the doohf! doohf! doohf! of club music. Dan’s choice would have been jazz. Music ought to have melodies, lightness, lift, he thought. Places where people can enter. Not just heavy thuds. Branding him from another time altogether.

  A number of Ked’s high school friends were there, along with his girlfriend, Elizabeth. The gang was fleshed out with Kendra, Lester, Donny, and Prabin. All the usual suspects, as Dan liked to joke. All except one.

  “You can’t force it to happen,” Kendra told him.

  “I’d hoped he’d be here. It would make him feel more like family. Donny still doesn’t want to know him and Ked hasn’t really had a chance. They’ve been like oil and water all summer.”

  “Well, I like him if that’s any consolation.” She took his arm and pulled him away from his grill duties. “Come on. Let’s take some photos.”

  They lined up and took turns being odd-man out while taking the shots. Ked and his friends made a pyramid of bodies on hands and knees, the ones on the bottom grunting and groaning as the others climbed on top. They managed three rows before the weight threatened to collapse the entire lot. Dan caught the effort just in time.

  “Okay,” he called out, handing back Ked’s phone. “More burgers coming up.”

  His cell rang as he strolled over to the barbecue. It was Nick. “Hey — we’re all here waiting for you.”

  “Sorry, I probably won’t make it.” His voice sounded gravelly with fatigue. “I’m stuck here for at least another hour or two.”

  “Emergency?”

  “No, just a bureaucratic nightmare.”

  Dan eyed the gathering. “Jesus, Nick. I want them to like you. Can’t you get off a little earlier?”

  “Hey! I’m doing the best I can.”

  Dan felt immediate chagrin. “Sorry. Forget I said that.”

  “They’ll get to know me in time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  No, but Ked is, Dan wanted to say. He held his tongue.

  “You’re right. It’s okay. Listen, things are pretty busy here. I’m holding up the burger line,” he said, though there was no one waiting to be fed.

  “I’ll talk to you later. I’ll try my best to get there.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  He was flipping the burgers. Flip, flip, flip. Things happening incessantly, flying out of his control. Flip, flip, flip. Hard to depend on people. Maybe it was the heat, but he couldn’t control his anger. It had stealth. It crept up quietly. Not swift and sudden, like a strike of lightning. It was unpredictable, coming over him like a slow burn, a dull eruption that would last a lifetime, if he so chose.

  Flip.

  Donny came up to him as he was laying another line of burgers on the grill. “So he’s a no-show?”

  “Work.” Dan avoided looking at him. “He got an emergency call.”

  Donny shrugged, as though to say that was par for the course when you dated a cop. “Your son’s leaving.”

  “I know that.” Dan turned, brandishing the spatula. “Do you think you’ll ever give Nick a chance?”

  “Whoa!” Donny held his hands up. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because you have a history of dating losers and lost puppies?”

  Dan felt himself bridle. “Nick’s not like that.”

  “An alcoholic? Tell me about it.”

  “Recovering alcoholic.” Dan fought to keep his anger in check. “I’m a recovering alcoholic too, lest we forget.”

 
; Donny crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. “And one plus one makes two. Do you really think it’s a good combination?”

  “Forget this bullshit.” Dan glanced over to the others. He lowered his voice. “You’re not worried about me. You know I can handle myself. Why don’t you like cops?”

  “Because they’re one step away from criminals. Because they throw their weight around. Only they do it with impunity. They’re really criminals who just aren’t brave enough to be criminals. They want the glory, but not the punishment.”

  “That’s so …” Dan made a face, “stupid. Some of them genuinely want to help people.”

  “Great. I’m sure there are some good ones. But I’d like to see proof that Nick is one of them.”

  “Well, if you got to know him a little better, you might. But until then.”

  “Until then it won’t happen. I hear you.”

  “So what then?”

  “Until then, you’re going to go on resenting me for not seeing things your way. Because that’s what you do. And I’m going to keep on thinking what I think until I see a reason to change my mind. Because that’s what I do. So we need to agree to disagree.”

  “That’ll get tired pretty quickly. Do you dislike Nick for some reason I don’t know about?”

  “Would it make things easier for you if I did?”

  Dan didn’t answer. He turned back to the barbecue.

  “Anyway, you need to trust your judgment and stop worrying what other people think.” Donny pushed off from the railing. “If you love him then stick with him. What I think isn’t going to make one bit of difference in how you feel about him. Sorry for being a drag at your son’s party.”

  He turned and walked away.

  Dan looked over at the crowd. Kendra and Prabin were up on the porch laughing over something. On the far side of the yard, Donny’s adopted son, Lester, seemed to be flirting with two people at once, a boy and a girl. Dan saw Lester give Ked a smile and two thumbs-up.

  Ked nodded back then headed over to the barbecue with a paper plate held out. “Three more burgers, please. I’m taking orders.”

  “Will do. Everybody enjoying themselves?”

  “Seem to be. This was a fun idea.”