Leave Her Hanging: A Noir Thriller

Chapter Sixteen

It was past noon on Saturday when I finally dragged my arse out of bed. I felt like I’d spend the night swigging tequila, which wasn’t fair since I hadn’t even had a drop to drink. There was a lump on the back of my head and my abdomen was even more painful than last night. At least the swelling on my face from where Jeremy tagged me was finally going down, the bruise fading to a sickly yellow. I felt like I could eat three horses and polish off a few chickens for dessert. I checked my phone to see if I’d slept through any calls or texts from Alex, but there was nothing. Not unexpected, but I was still a little disappointed.

I took a shower. The hot water was heaven to the aches in my bones and the bruise on my head. I dried off, put on a clean t-shirt, and started to make my way downstairs to find some food I could demolish. But when I reached the top of the stairs, I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking.

“…just routine enquiries. We’ve been backed up and it has taken us a little longer than we’d like to finish up our investigation.”

“Of course, of course.” That was Leanne’s voice. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some tea or coffee?”

“No, but thank you, ma’am.”

I slowly descended the stairs, my stomach growing a new pain that had nothing to do with the bruises.

Dad and Leanne were sitting at the kitchen table, mugs of coffee untouched in front of each of them. On the other side of the table was a solidly-built Maori guy, maybe thirty-five years old, in a grey suit and a striped tie that didn’t quite match. All three of them turned to look at me as I came down the stairs.

“There you are,” Leanne said. “We thought you were never going to get up. Are you feeling better?”

“Huh?” I remembered the story I’d given about being sick so I could hit the hay early last night. “Oh, yeah. Much better now. It was probably nothing. What’s going on?”

“Jack, come take a seat,” Dad said. There were dark circles around his eyes. It was unusual for him to be up this early, even on a Saturday. “This is…what did you say your name was?”

The other man smiled, stood up, held out a hand the size of a pizza dish. “Daniel Reihana. I’m a detective with the Criminal Investigation Branch.”

I took his hand and squeezed. I would’ve needed both my hands to get all the way around his palm. There was a lump in my throat I couldn’t swallow. I wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Is something wrong?” I said.

The man smiled, but I didn’t like the way his eyes bored into mine, never leaving my face. “No. As I was saying to your parents, I’m just here to ask you a few questions about Miss Lewis. Please, take a seat.”

“Jack, why didn’t you tell us Ella passed away?” Leanne’s voice was even higher than usual.

I sat down. “She didn’t pass away. Sick people pass away. Grandma passed away. Ella died. There’s a difference. She killed herself.” I forced myself to meet Detective Reihana’s eyes. “Didn’t she?”

The man studied my face for a moment, silent. The cops who’d interrogated me after the thing with Ella’s dad were the same. Suspicious of everything. I’d think it was a hell of a way to live a life if I hadn’t been doing the same the last couple of days.

“Yes,” Detective Reihana said finally, “we’re treating her death as a suicide. But we still have to investigate and report our findings to the coroner. At the moment I’m interviewing her friends and family to try and establish her state of mind. I know this must be a difficult time for you.” He said it like he was reading lines off a script. “I understand you and Miss Lewis used to be in a relationship?”