He found his car parked in the last space and sobbed, letting the last few days consume him.

Chapter 23

Sunday

The frost was thicker even than the morning before and Richard was thankful that he had remembered his gloves this time. He had put them to use scraping the thick frost from one side of the bench so he could sit. He had his flask too, the one his wife had bought for him when he had got his new job at the DIY store. He had filled it right to the top, an amount that used to last him a whole day at work. He didn’t know how long he was going to be here today but he fancied it would be a while. He had a lot to talk about.

‘Morning, my love. A fresh one today!’ Richard used to talk to his wife no matter what, but today checked he was alone first. He didn’t want to be the sad, lonely old man sitting on the bench talking to the ghosts of his past. It was just gone 7 a.m. When he had stepped off the glistening path to walk the short stretch through the grass to his bench there had been no signs of any disturbance in the frost. No one else was about. Just him and his ghosts. Just how he liked it.

He pulled the lid from his flask. The centre popped up to steam instantly. The steam increased as he poured, enough to coat his glasses in moisture. He put the coffee down next to him to wipe the lenses.

‘I hoped you would be here.’ The voice came from behind him. Richard spun to a wide outline, a figure dressed in dark clothing, of which Richard could make out a long, smart jacket. Richard went back to wiping his glasses. When he put them back on, the man hadn’t moved and he could see better, enough to recognise the same man who had been a visitor the previous morning. The private investigator with no tact. He must have come back for another go.

‘Can’t say I was thinking the same about you. This is not the time or the place, sonny. You should have more respect for the dead.’

‘The dead don’t need or want anything. It’s the living that I concern myself with.’

‘You mean me!’ Richard’s laughter was a tight ball of mist that quickly dissipated. ‘Who even are you?’