BOILER

Chapter 21

The file on Derrick Bost had little to offer Toland. He shut it and threw it on his desk, and then he noticed the mess on Charlie's. He found a box and spent some time packing away Charlie's personals. He collected an assortment of pen caps — sans their pens. He read through the last bits of information Charlie had scribbled down in his notes, almost hopeful he'd come across the name of his killer there and then. He found a rabbit's foot Charlie must never have used. May came into the office with a list of names connected to Bost. She handed it to him, saying, 'Parents are dead, but he's got a half-sister in town.'

Toland set the box on the floor by Charlie's desk, went back to his, and put the rabbit's foot away in a drawer.

***

There was a cathedral and when the bell rang people came out and wandered about on the grass and mingled under black trees. Pigeons strutted about the steps, proud and fat. The cathedral faced a big domed building where a man played an acoustic guitar. He wore a colourful bandana and wax coat. The sun wasn't shining, but he was wearing round black glasses. Some change had collected in the bottom of his open guitar case and a photo of him on a beach was pinned to the top. Toland watched him wrestle with a high note from a bench near the grass. A woman was sat next to him, picking at a bread loaf and throwing pieces to the birds and bothering every passer-by. She glanced up at the act and said, 'He's got about four good songs in him. The rest are shit.'

Toland got off the bench and walked to the high domed building. The dome was built to cover a marketplace and give small traders a dry and secure space to operate from. Inside was always cold and the lights hanging from the top of the dome had the effect of turning skin pale blue. The air had a faint smell of fish which got stronger as you walked to the centre because that's where the fish stalls were, and all of it was organised in a grid. None of that was helping Toland find a burger. He stopped at a gift shop and got some gestures and directions to a caravan that had all the comfy stuff swapped out for a big grill where he ordered a burger and a coffee and went out of the market. He got rid of the sauce on his face and dropped the napkins in the trash outside Cash Traders.

The door wouldn't close all the way, even with him pushing it. There were dents in the frame at the bottom of the door and the glass was riddled with fractures that looked like a spider web, and he was spilling his coffee trying to close it.

'Just leave it.'

He turned around and saw a young woman sitting at the back of the shop. She'd been reading until he came in. 'It's being changed this week,' she said. 'Just leave it alone.'

The woman smiled. Her hair was blonde and short, and a band was keeping it off her face. Her eyes were brown and set on high cheekbones. She wore a cardigan full of holes that were quite deliberate with a black T-shirt under. She went back to reading when Toland left the door alone and stopped again when he picked up a complete Rubik's cube. He put the cube back. She looked him up and down. 'Is there something particular you're looking for?'

'No,' Toland said, 'I'm just trying to figure out how to go about this.'

'Is it about Derrick? Because I heard already.'

Toland apologised. 'Were you guys close?'

'No. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was him that did that to my door.'

'You think he'd do that?'

'He would absolutely do that. He would steal from anyone. You don't have to be a stranger.'

'Well, that's fair of him.'

'Are you a bounty hunter? You got that look about you.'

'I'm a detective.'