Enemy on the Shelf

“Things like that just don’t happen out here, poor kid” Jimmy lamented. He shoved a pile of cow dung with his heavy work boot and a few maggots crawled out. “Darn shame that, she was a nice girl.”

“Well I s’pose that’s what ya get if……… Ah never mind,” Ed trailed off mid-sentence. They both knew what he was thinking though as they stared quietly out over the new lambs frolicking in the lush green grass that flowed across the paddock.

“I tell you what though, I hope that so and so gets what’s comin’ to him.”

Jimmy just nodded in silent agreement with Ed. They turned in unison and walked back to the ute scuffing the dry gravel and sending up small clouds of dust as they went.

The radio burst to life as the engine turned over and the newsreader droned, “Today in Newtown a young woman was found deceased in a Turner St apartment, police suspect foul play. Both the victim and suspect are known to police.” Before the news reader had a chance to go any further the radio was hastily flicked off and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

“Thanks for the lift mate, like I said, it’s a damn shame about Mary, she shouldn’t’ve ever got herself mixed up with that bloke. He just wasn’t right in the head you know?” Jimmy pushed the door of the ute closed with one thick ruddy hand and tipped his worn suede hat with the other. Ed gave one single nod and drove off.

Inside the smell of a lamb roast and baked vegetables filled the house. It always reminded Jimmy of his grandmother when his wife cooked lamb, something about its homely fatty scent that filled his nostrils took him back to more innocent days when he and his cousins would go for Sunday lunch at his Nan’s place. They all lived further out west then. They played tag, hide n’ seek, swam in the dam, scared each other with dead rats or snakes and just mucked about in general. Ah, those were the good ole days. Most of his cousins lived in the big smoke now and even Jimmy himself lived a bit closer to civilization than he would’ve liked. Jean was his only cousin that stayed out west. Poor little Jeanie.

Jean; Mary’s mother. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t shake Mary’s face from his mind, he imagined her laying cold and lifeless, the colour drawn from her skin. He began to imagine getting hold of that smug little bastard and removing the life from his body. He saw himself holding him around the throat and shaking him until he had exhausted every last piece of oxygen from within his lungs. Poor Mary. He shook the thought from his mind.

She should have just left, why didn’t she just leave? Jimmy questioned himself. The mongrel had probably hurt her before. She should have just stayed out with her mother at least she was safe there. She still wore her hair in a plait and gingham shirts for goodness’ sake, if that wasn’t country innocence, he didn’t know what was. Ahh, she didn’t have a chance when that sly wolf came into her world and swept her off her feet with promises of the high life and everything she could dream of. All she got for her trouble was a part-time job, which eventually he convinced her she didn’t need of that Jimmy was sure, then he trapped her with no money of her own, and no outside connections. He’d managed to cut her off from her friends, her work colleagues, even her family. Poor darn Mary.

“You have to believe me! I didn’t do it!” Joshua sat slumped over the interrogation table shaking his head that was propped up with his smooth unblemished hands, his eyes were glazed. They’d been questioning him for hours and he was tired. His heart ached for Mary, his beautiful Mary. How could she have taken her own life like that? He just didn’t understand. The thought of her laying alone on a metal slab in a thick black bag, cold and wet was killing him. He just wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

“Look mate, we’ve known your family for a long time, we know you grew up here, but right now you are still the prime suspect. You are not to leave town as long as this investigation continues, right?” The constable flipped shut the computer he’d been taking Joshua’s statement on, then massaged his forehead with his long fingers that had rather pronounced knuckles He appeared to wince in pain and his brow furrowed into a deep frown as he slipped his fingers back through his thinning brown hair. “You’re free to leave. Constable Khan will escort you out, we’ll be in touch.”

Everything Joshua had, his apartment with views almost to the ocean, his big flat screen 4K ultra high definition TV that covered the wall in his media room, his fast car with its silver sleek low profile and V12 engine, his money; all his money, there was so much of it, but he would give it all up if only he could have his beautiful, smart, funny and incredibly loveable Mary back.

He shook his head, “this is all my fault,” he said out loud to himself. If only he had of made her stay at work or forced her to go visit her mother. She’d cut herself off from everyone. He never really understood why. They seemed like nice enough people to him, a little bogan in a country kind of way, but nice enough people just the same. Honestly, he thought she’d taken to her new life like a duck to water. She appeared to have a good relationship with his own family, they had accepted her with open arms right from the moment they’d met her but maybe something had changed, something which he was unaware of had occurred. He pondered the thought as dizzying exhaustion took over him and he nodded off into a heavy slumber sitting crooked in his chair.

Little did anyone know only the day before, Mary floated in the large oval tub filled with rose and gardenia scented water. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift. Somehow, she had let herself become a recluse; she would have to remedy that, she thought as she swirled her delicate hands through the bubbles making trails across her stomach . Maybe this weekend she and Josh could fly back to the country, fill their lungs with the sweet flower-scented fresh air instead of exhaust fumes, or go for a walk down along the river instead of the bustling city street and maybe just exist for a moment in the serenity instead of listening to sirens wail and other chaotic traffic noises. Her mother would probably be thrilled to see her; it had been such a long time. They hadn’t even spoken over the phone for months. Her artistic pursuits had taken up all of her time over the past few years, she hadn’t realized that she was spending nearly all of her time tucked away in a well-lit corner room that Joshua had cleared out for her to use as a studio. She’d sold a few of her artworks, not that she needed the money, they practically rolled in money. Joshua came from money, and he’d done well with his investments, she didn’t want for anything.

Yes, that was what she would do; go see her family, she closed her blue eyes as she let herself slip down into the water, so it covered her face and wet her short strawberry blonde hair. She never even saw the nimble black rat that had gnawed its way through the fly screen earlier in the day that was now skulking across the shelf behind the tub. She didn’t hear it knocking over trinkets as it climbed over and around bottles and seashells. Poor Mary, she never knew what hit her as the rat slipped on some scented bath bombs, fell from the shelf, and landed heavily onto her vintage radio as it played a tune from the 90’s nostalgia hour. Still playing, the radio skidded toward the tub. Mary felt the vibration of electricity sear through her body as the radio hit the water and that was the last thing she ever knew. Poor sweet Mary.