At three o’clock in the morning, a black car double parked in front of the building where Tania lived. Its roaring motor woke her up and she slid her head between the curtain and the edge of the window frame. An unshaved man got out of the passenger seat. He took a couple of liner bags from the boot and dumped them in the communal waste bin. A few seconds later, the car drove away and Tania went back to sleep.
The following day was a school day. Tania did well in her English test but she received a verbal warning for chatting during her history lesson. Kieron, the lead singer of a local rock band, bought her a cup of coffee after class. They played a game of pool with a couple of his friends and she left as dark was setting in.
Two police vans blocked the main entrance to her building. Mark, her father, opened her bedroom window and signalled her to hurry up.
“Darling, sit down. I have some bad news,” Bettie, her mother, said.
“What’s going on?”
“Mr Rivert has disappeared.”
“What? Where? What is Dad doing in my bedroom?”
“We have reasons to believe he might have been killed by two travellers. Your father mentioned that, earlier this morning, you were witness to an incident involving a black car,” the officer said.
“Yes.”
“We would like to record your account of the event.”
It was past midnight when they left.
As agreed, Tania stopped by the Police Station on her way to school and she signed her statement from the previous night. The waiting room wasn’t big enough to accommodate all the witnesses. Tania left as the butcher was describing the knife he had seen in their car. She met Luke in the street and they walked together.
“So, how are you?” Luke said.
“I didn’t sleep well.”
“Why not?”
“The whole Rivert thing, it’s doing my head in.”
“It shouldn’t, it’s none of your business.”
“What do you know? He’s my neighbour.”
“I know.”
Tania left him at the gate and joined Kieron and his bandmates in the café area.
“Hey Tania, what’s up?”
“Did you hear about Rivert? What a nightmare.”
“My dad is down the station. Those travellers are well dodgy.”
“I’m not sure that’s them to be honest. Rivert is a bit off sometimes, wouldn’t surprise me if he left in the spur of the moment.”
“Without giving his notice at work? I don’t think so. No, those guys are weird. My dad saw them pushing a bunch of stray cats into their car.” Kieron laughed.
“Maybe they like cats?”
“Or maybe they eat them! They never buy any meat.”
“Eek, that’s gross! All I know is the whole thing is messed up. That will keep the police busy for a while.”
“That’s good for us, they won’t bother us about the noise level so much.”
“Do they?”
“All the time. They don’t understand anything about rock music, they are too old.”
“Sounds like my parents.” They both laughed and Kieron brushed Tania’s shoulder.
“So, what bands do you like?” Kieron asked.
“I don’t know. Green Day, Marilyn Manson, Avril Lavigne, Take Back Sunday, The Distillers. There are so many of them. And you?”
“Cool. Do you like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?”
“Of course.”
“You’re cool. You should hang out with us more often.”
“Thanks.” Tania blushed. “So, do you think the travellers killed Rivert?”
“Yeah,” Kieron smiled. “Don’t you?”
“I don’t know.”
The school was filled with rumours. Both teachers and teenagers had an opinion about the disappearance. Tania found herself answering many questions about her missing neighbour.
“Has he got a girlfriend?” the dinner lady asked her at lunch time.
“I don’t think so.”
“An ex-girlfriend maybe? Or is he gay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kim, the new girl in the kitchen, says that the day before yesterday, she walked past their car and it smelt real bad, like rotten meat.”
“They don’t eat any meat.”
“Don’t they? It was real bad she said. Maybe it was a corpse.”
“Or maybe their cats had been sick.”
“There was a blood stain on the ground too. How do you explain that?”
By the end of the day, Tania was an expert on the case. The topic of conversation was much the same around the family table. Mark listed Rivert’s interests and wondered if he might have disappeared on purpose. Tania went to her bedroom. It was chilly so she turned her radiator up. She logged onto MSN; her best friend Jess was online and they chatted for one hour, about Kieron and about Rivert.
A loud noise in the corridor woke Tania. Someone was banging on her door.
“Darling, wake up.”
“What’s up?”
“The police needs you to identify some pictures.”
After rubbing her eyes for several seconds, Tania threw the covers away from her and jumped into a pair of combat trousers that were on the floor.
As she sat down at the kitchen table, a policeman pushed two pictures in front of her.
“Do you recognise this man?”
“That’s the man who threw the rubbish.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Did you notice the tattoo on his neck?”
“No.”
“It’s a swastika. An inversed swastika.”
“Like the opposite of a swastika?”
“No, it’s a swastika, but it’s left angled.”
“What does it mean?”
“We believe this man is a Nazi skin-head.”
“I thought the Nazi swastika was right angled,” Bettie said.
“A swastika is a swastika, Madam, we cannot ignore it.”
“I understand.”
“Can I go back to bed now?” Tania said.
“Yes darling, I’ll wake you up for lunch.”
“Wake me up if Kieron calls, he said he would.”
“Kieron?” Mark said. “I thought we made it clear we don’t want you to go to the gig tonight.”
“But–”
“There is no but!”
“The gig has been cancelled,” the policeman said. “The decision was taken for public safety. We advise everyone to stay at home tonight.”
“Great.” Tania headed to her room.
Monday morning was grim in the schoolyard. Everyone had had a boring week-end indoors with their families. Parents were blamed and the police criticised, but the teenagers turned most of their anger towards the travellers. What had started as a bit of excitement had become a nightmare. Posters showing the pictures Tania had identified were plastered all around the neighbouring villages.
Kieron greeted Tania and planted a kiss on her cheek. She smiled.
“Sorry I didn’t call Saturday. I was stuck all day at the police station and I had a family meal yesterday.”
“It‘s fine. A policeman was around my flat on Saturday too.”
“They showed me pictures to identify the dog.”
“What? Is the dog a suspect now?”
“I saw it chewing on a big bone the day after Rivert went missing. I thought nothing of it at first but then it all clicked.”
“How come you saw them the day after? I thought I was the last one to see them in the village.”
“You are. I saw the dog, not them.”
“They left him behind?”
“Yes.”
“That’s weird.”
“It all clicks together. They dumped parts of the body in your bin and they gave the arms and legs for the dog to eat. They got rid of the evidence.”
“That doesn‘t make sense. Let’s say they did want a dog to eat parts of the body, they could have left it to any dog, without leaving their own dog behind.”
“They needed to make sure the dog would eat it all properly. They could only trust their own dog.”
“My dog used to eat my spinach when I was six, even though it made him sick.”
“You have a dog?”
“I did. He got run over by a truck.”
“Oh sorry.” Kieron put his arms around Tania. “Do you want to see the film about Glastonbury festival after school? They’re showing it at The Little Room.”
“I’d love to. What time?”
“I’ll wait for you by the gate at five, OK?”
Kieron walked away and Tania waved at Luke. “I got a date! It’s a date, it’s a date, isn’t it?”
“He’s a jerk,” Luke said.
“What?”
“He thinks he’s so clever because he’s in a band.”
“You’re jealous.”
“No, I’m not. I don’t want a date with you.”
“I meant jealous you’re not as popular as him.”
“I know you meant that. That’s what I meant too. Anyway, better hurry up, we’re late!” Luke dashed off to the end of the corridor.
“Wait for me! What’s wrong with you today? You’re in such a bad mood,” Tania said.
“What’s wrong? The whole village has gone mad.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s a bit of a frenzy. But the travellers are scary–”
“That’s my point! They are not! I don’t believe any of it.”
“Why not? The police is damn sure.”
“Because it’s an easy option. Find people from out of town and blame them.”
“But everything points to that direction.”
“Did you hear what your new boyfriend said? Giving Rivert’s body to the dog to eat, how stupid is that?”
“Maybe he’s wrong about that. But it’s quite obvious those travellers are involved in some ways.”
“And it’s quite obvious you’re so in luuurve with him that you can’t even use your brain! I thought you were cleverer than that, I really did.”
“Well, I’m sorry but I like him. And I also believe the travellers might have killed Rivert. You’re not making much sense to me, it’s like you’re contradicting me for the sake of it.”
“No, I’m not! Whatever.” Luke took the flight of stairs two by two, leaving Tania trailing behind.
There was a small gathering in front of the police station. Kieron and Tania had to walk around it to get to The Little Room but they were stopped by a police van driving in. A policeman got out of the front passenger seat and cleared the path around the vehicle.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please, stand back behind the line,” he said as he pulled out a roll of white and red tape.
The back door sprung open. Two policemen came out, then the two travellers emerged. One child spat at them as the policemen looked the other way. The travellers were handcuffed and shoved into the station.
“Finally!” a man said.
“I’ve heard they’ve already confessed,” another man added.
“How do you know that?” Tania asked.
“My mate was in the station when the travellers called. They gave themselves in.”
“Good news,” Kieron said. His eyes were sparkling and had an unusual green tint. Tania kissed him on the cheek.
“Hu, huh,” Tania said. They locked lips.
Later that night, Tania walked home with a grin on her face. The film had been a perfect backdrop to their kissing. She turned into her street, nodding along to “Sk8er Boi”. An ambulance was parked in Rivert’s space and a nurse was hugging an old woman. Tania went home.
“Did you hear, darling?” her mother said.
“Yeah, I know. I saw them.”
“Rivert had a car crash on his way to a party.”
“What?”
“They found his car upside down and called the police.”
“Who?”
“The travellers. Lovely people, the police said.”
“But I saw them handcuffed.”
“The police had to check their story was true.”
“So?”
“They confirmed it on the eight o’clock news. Rivert lost control of his car and he veered off the road into a tree.”
“He’s dead?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, darling, come here.”
“I’m fine. Who is the old woman outside?”
“His mother. Poor woman.”
“I can’t believe it. What about the travellers?”
“They are staying at the Doyle’s B & B tonight. The police gave them a public apology.”
“What about the swastika?”
“A sign of good luck in Buddhism.”
“And their dog?”
“Not theirs. They found him hurt on the road and looked after him until he got better.”
“And the blood stain?”
“They ran over one of the stray cats near the petrol station. By accident, of course. These cats run wildly across the road, I almost hit one myself last month.”
“I feel so stupid.”
“We all thought they were guilty. Now, dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Tania texted Luke and arranged to meet him in the morning before school.
