Next to Die by Neil White Read Free Book Online Page A

mess.’
    ‘You don’t like her much.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘You love her, but I’m not sure you like her much. Perhaps you even hate her.’
    ‘Not enough to kill her.’
    Joe scribbled some notes. ‘I’ve had a quick look at the file, at the summary. Someone called Terry Day told the police about the arguments. Who is he?’
    ‘Our landlord. He lives on the top floor. Creepy bastard. Was always hanging around at the front of the house, just watching the street. He couldn’t wait to tell the police he heard us arguing.’
    ‘Don’t call him a creepy bastard in your trial,’ Joe said. ‘You can’t afford to sound vengeful. It’s got to be a wide-eyed plea that it’s all a misunderstanding.’
    Ronnie nodded and said, ‘We shouted at each other, and then I left for work.’
    ‘Where were you working?’
    ‘Why don’t you know all this?’ Ronnie looked across at Monica, and then back to Joe. ‘Didn’t Mahones tell you?’
    ‘I want to hear it from you. I won’t be there to hold your hand in the witness box. You’ve got to do the work.’
    ‘You’re trying to trip me up.’
    ‘You haven’t seen anything yet, Ronnie. Wait until you get into that courtroom and the prosecution barrister rips into you. Pack in the self-pity and tell me the story.’
    Ronnie folded his arms. ‘You don’t believe me, I can tell.’ He turned to Monica. ‘What about you? Do you think I could kill someone?’
    Before Monica could say anything, Joe leaned forward across the table and lowered his voice. ‘It doesn’t matter what we think, Ronnie. I could believe that you were nothing but a cold-blooded murderer and I would do the same job for you. I’m not interested in making you feel better in your cell. I’m interested in defending your case.’
    ‘That’s what the man from Mahones said.’
    Joe got the hint – that the last person to say it lost the case. He got to his feet. ‘It’s time to go,’ he said to Monica, and so she stood as he put the papers into his briefcase.
    ‘Where are you going?’ Ronnie said, his eyes wide.
    ‘If all you want is someone to hold your hand and tell you how unlucky you are, find someone else. You might have a long time to regret that.’
    ‘Wait!’ Ronnie said.
    ‘Don’t start pleading to be believed. I’m interested in defending your case and nothing else.’ He indicated to Monica that they should leave.
    Before they could, Ronnie reached out and put his hand on Joe’s briefcase. ‘Please, don’t go.’
    Joe paused. He’d bluffed and won. ‘Those are my rules,’ he said. ‘You listen to my advice. I’m your lawyer, not the voice of your conscience.’
    Ronnie sulked for a few seconds, and then said quietly, ‘All right, I’m sorry. I was working where I do every day, in a packing factory, on a production line. It doesn’t pay much, which was why we were in that crappy flat.’
    Joe looked at him and then sat down. ‘Keep going.’
    Ronnie stared, his mouth set, and then he said, ‘My line manager said I seemed distracted.’ The words came out with a little more snap.
    ‘Were you?’
    ‘Sort of.’
    Joe sat back and threw his pen onto the desk. ‘You don’t sound like you’re doing that well here. Go on, tell me what “sort of” means.’
    ‘You sound just like them.’
    ‘Them?’
    ‘The police,’ Ronnie said. ‘I kept on dropping things, that’s all, not getting the boxes on the line in time, so they kept on having to stop the line. We got behind in the order and so the line manager got stressed.’
    ‘That doesn’t sound good. They’re building-blocks for the prosecution, you being distracted.’
    ‘I was upset. We had been shouting at each other before I went to work.’
    ‘I thought you were always shouting. Why was that morning any different?’
    Ronnie looked at the table and rubbed his hands together. His teeth clenched and unclenched. Eventually he looked up and said, ‘I shouted that I wished she was dead and, well, I