Deep and Silent Waters

‘Moron!’

‘D’you want a punch in the mouth?’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, shut up, all of you!’ Valerie snarled, and everyone in the cramped, smoky little bar turned to look at her.

‘It’s okay, Val, we’re just having fun. We’re all friends, aren’t we, Joe? You look shattered, though. Why don’t you go back to your place and get to bed?’

Sidney’s voice was gentle but she glared at him, her intense, black eyes all pupil, in her white face. The red scar of her mouth made her look like a crazy clown.

‘Why don’t you mind your own fucking business?’

The others looked down into their glasses.

Sidney said, ‘The strain’s getting to you, you won’t be fit for work tomorrow.’

‘Are you so stupid you don’t know this picture is dead in the water now? There won’t be any work to do tomorrow.’

They avoided each others’ eyes. Sidney said flatly, ‘Of course we know – why do you think we’re drinking ourselves stupid? There’s nothing we can do but wait and see what happens.’

‘You’re ostriches, the lot of you!’

‘Go on back to your room, Val, and get some sleep. If the police let Sebastian go, he’ll want to get on with the schedule. We still have to shoot some street scenes.’

‘Don’t you realise? With her out of it, there’s no picture. He won’t recast, he’ll just junk the whole project.’

‘She may recover sooner than you think—’ Carmen began, but Valerie almost screamed at her, ‘She won’t recover. She can’t. She’ll die. She’s probably dead already, she has to be. There was so much blood—’

They all looked at each other, their eyes startled, wide. Valerie got to her feet and blundered out into the dark of the Venetian night.

Carmen whispered, ‘You don’t think …? She’s so fixated on Sebastian. She wouldn’t – It couldn’t be her, could it?’

Sidney looked round the circle of faces. ‘Where was she when Laura got attacked? You were all in the area, around St Mark’s Square, and those shopping streets beyond it. Did any of you see her?’

‘No,’ Carmen said. The others shook their heads one by one.

Sidney got to his feet. ‘She doesn’t strike me as the murderous type. Don’t let your imaginations run riot. Leave the detection to the cops. And now I’m off while I can still just about make it to my pensione. I’ll pay the bill – it can go on expenses. In the circumstances, I think it will get through. You lot can stay here and drink – but from now on it’s on you. N

ight, everyone.’

Sidney paid with his credit card, and tucked it and the receipt carefully into his sheepskin-lined wax jacket, which he zipped up to his throat before walking out of the bar into the chilly night air.

The snow had long stopped falling. The sky was alive with stars, as bright as if they were almost within reach. They and the Victorian-style street-lamps were reflected in the dark water of the canal. The narrow streets were empty, silent, every window shuttered.

‘I’ll walk along with you, Sidney,’ said Carmen, who was also staying at his pensione. ‘I think I may be a bit tipsy.’

‘Me, too,’ Sidney said, linking his arm with hers in a friendly way. ‘I hate the middle of the night, don’t you? Three in the morning especially. Depresses me, especially when I’m alone.’

‘Me, too,’ she said, swaying and bumping her shoulder against his.

Sidney looked down at her sleepy young face, wishing he was her age again. ‘You’re gorgeous, Carmen – you know that? Why don’t we share a bed tonight? Keep each other warm and safe.’

‘Fuck off,’ she said, without resentment, but smiled, flattered by the pass. She might not fancy Sidney, but he was almost god-like in her eyes. She had known his name, seen his films while she was still at school, and she couldn’t believe she was here, walking arm in arm with him, talking so easily to him.

‘Okay, fair enough,’ Sidney agreed amiably. A look of relief passed over Carmen’s face at his cheerful acceptance of the brush-off. The last thing she wanted to do was offend him.

He said, ‘Darling, remember, I’m old enough to be your father, but I know a thing or two about women, and how to please them, which is more than most guys your age can say. If you change your mind, just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you?’

She put on an American drawl. ‘You just put your lips together and blow.’ And demonstrated but only came up with a faint whisper of sound.