The Soft Centre

‘But you didn’t, Chris,’ Val said gently as she moved to a chair by the bed and sat down. ‘You mustn’t worry.’

‘That’s what Gustave keeps telling me. So… all right I’m not worrying.’

She watched the nervous tick that kept twitching at the side of his mouth.?‘Chris … do you want to come back to the hotel?’

He shook his head.?‘I’m quite happy here. Gustave seems sensible. I rather like him. It would be better for me to stay here.’

‘I thought you liked the hotel,’ Val said, trying not to sound desperate. ‘Can’t we go back there together. This well, as you said, it was unlucky.’

‘How’s your father?’ Chris asked, looking away from her. ‘I suppose he knows about this?’ Val hesitated, then said, ‘Oh, yes. He’s downstairs talking to Dr. Gustave.

The glazed eyes moved in her direction.?‘You don’t mean he has dropped all his important work to come down here? How odd! He must be having a whale of a time. How he must hate me now!’

‘Of course he doesn’t,’ Val said a little sharply. ‘You mustn’t …’?‘Oh, but I’m sure he does. He’s as bored to death with me as I am myself. Your father is a remarkable man, Val. He hasn’t got this soft centre that I have. You know what I mean … a soft centre? It’s something that can happen to anyone who is just ordinary. You think you are all right; that you are making a big success of life, that you have all the confidence, ambition and determination to beat the best, then suddenly the hard core that is in you … the hard core that you just must have if you’re to get anywhere in this life … suddenly turns soft. That’s what’s happened to me. It could never happen to your father. His core is made of steel.’

‘Please, Chris,’ Val said, her hands turning into fists. ‘You had this accident and you …’?‘If it had happened to your father, he wouldn’t be acting the way I’m acting,’ her husband said.

‘Val, I’ve been thinking. We’d better part. I mean this. It would be better for us both if we got a divorce and you forgot about me. I know this is what your father wants and he is absolutely right.’

Val sat motionless for a long moment while Chris stared impersonally at her.?‘Could we wait a little while?’ she said finally. ‘I don’t want to lose you, Chris. I think if we both have patience, it’ll work out.’

‘That reminds me,’ Chris said and he rubbed the back of his hand across his eyes, ‘I’ve lost that cigarette lighter you gave me. I had it with me at the hotel. I’m not all that far gone not to remember that. I had it in my jacket pocket. When the police brought me here, they tell me I wasn’t wearing a jacket, so I suppose I’ve left it somewhere. I’m sorry about that lighter.’ He looked away from her. ‘I’m sorry about everything. You’d better not keep your father waiting. You leave me here, Val. I’ll be fine. Talk to your father about a divorce. He’ll fix it. There’s nothing he can’t fix.’

‘I don’t want a divorce,’ Val said quietly. ‘I want to be with you always.’

‘That’s odd … most girls would jump at the chance of getting rid of me. You think about it. I expect you’ll change your mind. I’m sorry about the lighter. It had memories for me. I remember when you gave it to me. We were happy then, weren’t we?’

‘I’m still happy,’ Val said.?‘That’s fine. So long as one of us is happy. I want to sleep now. Do you mind? You talk to your father … he’s a wonderful fixer.’

He shifted further down in the bed and closed his eyes. Val remained still, watching him. The man she was looking at wasn’t the man she had married; now he was a complete stranger. After a few minutes, she saw by his regular breathing that he was asleep.

She got silently to her feet and left the room.?*****

‘Let’s see what we’ve got,’ Terrell said.

He and Beigler were in one of the vacant motel cabins. On the table was the blue and white suitcase.

Latimer, one of the Homicide men, had just completed an inventory of the suitcase’s contents. He stood back while Terrell and Beigler examined the various articles laid out on the table. They were few: a pair of green nylon pyjamas, stockings, underwear, a contraceptive and a green and gold embossed address book.

Terrell sat down with the address book. Beigler tossed the articles back into the case, closed it, then went out to see how the rest of the team was progressing.

Ten minutes later an ambulance arrived and two interns went into the murder cabin. They came out within a few minutes with the dead woman, covered by a sheet on a stretcher. The stretcher was loaded into the ambulance while the group of staring tourists watched from a distance. The doors were slammed and the ambulance drove rapidly away.