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Back Man at the Window Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Thirty-Four
  36. Thirty-Five
  37. Thirty-Six
  38. Thirty-Seven
  39. Thirty-Eight
  40. Thirty-Nine
  41. Forty
  42. Forty-One
  43. Forty-Two
  44. Forty-Three
  45. Forty-Four
  46. Forty-Five
  47. Forty-Six
  48. Forty-Seven
  49. Forty-Eight
  50. Forty-Nine
  51. Fifty
  52. Fifty-One
  53. Fifty-Two
  54. Fifty-Three
  55. Fifty-Four
  56. Fifty-Five
  57. Fifty-Six
  58. Fifty-Seven
  59. Fifty-Eight
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the author

‘You got a brother here, too, haven’t you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Get him to sort it out,’ Darnley said.

‘Yes,’ the boy said but knew he never would, he would confide in Darnley before he would confide in his brother. ‘But he’s busy.’

Darnley laughed. ‘Too busy to look out for you?’ he asked.

‘Very busy.’

Darnley laughed again. ‘You got any money?’ he asked.

‘No,’ the boy said quickly.

Darnley laughed out loud, the boy smiled. He wanted to laugh like Darnley.

‘Quiet,’ was yelled through the door. Darnley made a wanking motion with his hand while staring at the door. The boy shuddered. He felt laughter rising in his throat. He had thought laughter had gone forever and began coughing and spluttering in confusion. Darnley looked at him and laughed out loud. The door opened.

‘That you, Darnley?’ a sixth former asked.

Darnley looked around as though to say, ‘who else could it be?’

‘Why are you here?’ was snapped back at him.

‘Carmody,’ Darnley sneered.

‘Your father out of prison yet?’ the sixth former sneered back. Darnley took a quick glance at the boy. The boy saw Darnley was trapped.

‘He’s never been to prison,’ Darnley bit back.

‘Yeah. So what did you steal this time?’

‘Ask Carmody?’

‘He’s not here.’

Darnley lowered his head and swung it from side to side like the boy had seen a bull do when teased.

The sixth former turned his attention to the boy.

‘Why are you here?’

‘Carmody.’

The sixth former closed the door, Darnley made a wanking gesture with both hands and arms as if he had a penis the size of a lamppost. Laughter broke in the boy’s throat. The door swung open. Darnley quickly dropped his arms.

‘We know who you are, Harper. You disgust us.’ The door closed. The boy’s insides twisted, his breathing stopped. Darnley looked at him in alarm.

‘Hey. Hey. Harper.’

The boy saw Darnley crossing the corridor towards him before a black river caught him.

Forty-Six

FORTY-SIX

Day 19

Taylor’s Farm

6.10 p.m. Thursday, 12th November 1965

Cardilini experienced surges of emotion as he drove from Leggett’s house. I’ll get these bastards, kept running through his mind. The road took him to the town bridge crossing the river to farmland. He knew the shot hadn’t come from there, then corrected himself – he suspected it hadn’t.