Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay Read Free Book Online Page A

he told them there was this crazy lady in his house, trying to exploit his situation for money?
    Keisha didn’t think so. She’d have heard something if he’d tried that. He was no more than ten feet away the whole time, just on the other side of the wall. Moreover, the door between the living room and the kitchen was open the entire time.
    ‘I’m sorry, what was the question?’ she asked.
    ‘Where do you live?’
    ‘Not far from here,’ she said. ‘The other side of town.’
    He nodded pleasantly. ‘Have you lived here long?’
    ‘I moved up here a couple of years ago.’
    ‘Where from?’
    ‘Connecticut. Near New Haven.’
    ‘Do you have a summer place?’
    ‘I’ve just got the one place, Mr Garfield, and I live in it all year long. Do you want to hear what I have to say, or not? I mean, you’ve paid me. I’m guessing you’d like to get your money’s worth.’
    He gave her a go-ahead wave. ‘By all means.’
    ‘As I was saying, I’ve been seeing some kind of flashes of the car your wife was driving.’ Keisha still had her hands on the robe, occasionally kneading the fabric between her fingers. ‘The silver Nissan.’
    ‘You were saying that the car was not on the road. If it’s not on the road, where do you see it?’
    Keisha closed her eyes again. ‘It’s not in a parking lot. I guess that would still count as being on the road, in a way. I’m not seeing it in a garage.’
    ‘What about water?’ Garfield asked. ‘Do you see any water?’
    Curious, Keisha thought. He’s just asked if I have a summer place, and now he mentions water. She’d been thinking about Florida earlier. Maybe Garfield was thinking the missus had taken off for Miami. Then again, she’d already suggested that Ellie Garfield was very cold, so if she raised Florida as an option, she was going to get caught out because her story wouldn’t make any sense.
    She decided to stick with cold. So if it’s cold, the water … could be frozen.
    She opened her eyes for a moment, then closed them again. ‘It’s funny that you should mention water. I was seeing something, something shimmery, that I thought might be water, but I was thinking maybe it was actually ice.’
    ‘Ice,’ Garfield said.
    This time, she kept her eyes open. ‘Yes, ice. Ice in a glass? Ice at a skating rink? Ice, for example, on a lake? Does ice of any kind have any meaning to you? Does it have any significance as far as your wife is concerned?’
    ‘Why should it mean something to me?’ he said, a defensive tone edging into his voice.
    ‘You were the one who mentioned water.’
    ‘And then you mentioned ice. I didn’t mention ice.’
    ‘But it seems to have some meaning for you,’ Keisha said. ‘I could see it, in your expression.’
    ‘Why would you say ice on a lake?’
    ‘That was just one of the kinds of ice I mentioned. But I can tell there seems to be a connection there.’
    Garfield stood up. He took a few steps to the right of the settee, then turned and paced in the other direction. He was stroking the end of his chin, pondering something.
    ‘What is it?’ Keisha asked.
    He paced back and forth one more time and then stopped. He looked at Keisha, studied her for a moment, then pointed an accusing finger in her direction. ‘Maybe it’s time you were honest with me.’
    ‘About what?’
    ‘About what’s really going on here.’
    ‘I’m sorry, Mr Garfield, but I’m not sure I understand.’
    ‘This whole psychic mumbo-jumbo act of yours is a load of rubbish, isn’t it?’
    Keisha sighed. ‘I told you, if you want to call Nina’s father for a reference, I have no problem with that. I’m happy to give you the number.’
    ‘You’ve got somebody all set up to take the call, haven’t you? Is it someone who’ll tell me what I want to hear?’
    Keisha shook her head and gave him a bruised look. She was trying to appear disappointed and hurt. But what she was thinking was, At least I’ve got the money. The smart thing to do