ass that time. You was brave. They were going to hurt me bad if you hadn’t been there. That dark nigger, he was mean.’
He was slightly stunned that Duval had said ‘nigger’. ‘I didn’t do that much.’ He paused, finding himself drawn in by memories, none of them nice. ‘Did I ever tell you they came back?’
‘No.’ Duval seemed startled. ‘When?’
‘About a year later. I wasn’t so brave that time.’
‘They hurt you?’
‘They did their best.’ He smiled insincerely, and Duval laughed.
He realised someone was at the door – it was Dorothy. She must have been listening, though she made a show of knocking on the open door to announce herself. ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ she said, and looked over at Duval.
He felt he had to introduce them. ‘Dorothy, this is Duval Morgan.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Dorothy said crisply. Duval didn’t stand up, though he managed a thin smile. Robert watched, intrigued, as they gave each other long appraising looks, some kind of weighing-up going on that he didn’t understand. He felt effaced by this exchange, like a referee in a boxing ring after he’s made the fighters tap gloves before the opening bell rings, then moves away, suddenly invisible.
At last Dorothy turned to Robert. ‘I spoke with the coach. I’m seeing him next week.’
‘Oh, good,’ he said, though the memoirs of Bud Carlson seemed less urgent right now. ‘Let me know how it goes.’ She nodded, taking a final look at Duval as she left the room.
Duval asked in a semi-whisper, ‘She work here?’
‘She does.’
‘You a lucky man,’ Duval said, in a richly lecherous voice. And Robert was so struck to think someone actually fancied the woman he considered such a pain in the ass that he found himself joining Duval in raucous laughter, which must have travelled down the hall to Dorothy’s office.
5
Two days later Robert’s phone rang as he was getting ready to go home early for the weekend. It was raining hard, heavy drops smeared the windows of his office, and would no doubt snarl up the Friday-night traffic on the Drive. He planned to leave early to beat the rush.
‘Hey, man, it’s Duval.’
‘You okay?’ he asked, trying to keep impatience out of his voice.
‘I’m all right. Might have me a job.’
‘Glad to hear it. Doing what?’
‘I’ll tell you if it comes through. Don’t want to jinx my chances.’
Robert was about to suggest meeting the following week – anything so he could get away – when Duval said, his voice turning husky, ‘Bobby, you remember what I said when we were leaving the coffee shop?’
‘I do.’ The last thing he wanted to get into.
‘Well, you see, I’m going to need a lawyer if I’m going to get anywhere with this. Do you think you could find me one?’
‘I don’t know, Duval. I’ve only been back—’
‘You must know some lawyers.’ No note of pleading to the voice, just a flat statement of fact.
‘The thing is, Duval, I’m not sure how much a lawyer can do. I’m worried you’ll just be disappointed.’
There was a long pause. ‘Let me take that chance.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’ It seemed impossible to say no.
‘I could find him a lawyer,’ said Anna. They were in bed that night, the lights off, lying half-wrapped in each other – it had been weeks since they had last made love. The rain had stopped, replaced by a warm muggy front, and they had pushed the blankets down, leaving only a sheet for cover. Through the screened open window a mild breeze off the lake cooled the room like a low fan.
‘I don’t want to encourage Duval – he’d just be wasting time and money.’
‘If he’s not working much, time isn’t a problem, is it?’
‘He needs to get on with his life. Not go backwards. What difference would it make now?’
She put her head on his arm, her soft hair splayed out over one side of his chest. ‘I had a look at the file, you know.’
He sighed. ‘What was in it?’
‘Not a lot. The names of witnesses, and lawyers, and the name of the judge. Arthur Bronstein. He’s dead – I found an obituary in the Tribune archive.’
‘You went to the archive?’ He knew he sounded irritated, but he was.
‘No, I Googled him. And I didn’t have to go to 26th and California for the file. They were willing to fax me the contents.’
‘Anyone else listed?’
‘The witnesses. Mainly cops – I suppose the ones who first found the girl and then the ones who interviewed her