Lake of Sorrows

Cadogan had just climbed out of the Nissan when his mobile began to ring, and he answered with an exasperated sigh: “What now?” He listened for a moment, then said, “Hang on a minute, Aileen. They’ve got nothing. No, they don’t know anything; they’re just—”

Again he listened; then he took the phone away from his ear and kicked the car tire savagely. “Fuck!” He kicked a few more times, letting out a stream of curses with each blow, until his anger was spent; then he put the phone back to his ear. “Do you realize what you’ve done, you stupid—Ah, Aileen, don’t cry. Jesus…No, I’ll think of something. Listen, I’ve got to go now—right.” He pulled the phone abruptly from his ear, switched it off, and landed one last savage kick. Then Cadogan rounded the car’s boot and opened it with a key. He leaned into the dark space and pulled out his heavy bundle, which they could see clearly now was the precise shape and heft of a body. He lifted the bundle to his chest, cradling it in his arms, but it sagged and slid down to his knees; he struggled, trying to maintain his grasp. Nora felt Cormac’s grip on her shoulder tighten, and felt his breathing stop as the heavy bundle slipped into the water without a splash. Cadogan stood on the bank for a few seconds as it sank, until the only sound was the swishing sigh of the wind in the tall reeds. Then he turned on his heel, climbed into the car, and drove away, his tires spitting gravel in their wake.

As soon as he was out of sight, Nora went to the water’s edge, overgrown with grass and weeds that were bent and broken where Cadogan had dropped his bundle. Without hesitation, she jumped over the bank into the opaque green water, not even bothering to remove her shoes. Cormac was left to watch from the bank as she gulped a deep breath of air and dived beneath the surface.

She emerged a few feet away, gasping, her hair and face streaming with water and algae. “He’s got it weighted down—you’ll have to help me.” She tried lifting one end of the bundle by the ropes that tied it, but couldn’t manage to shift it. “It’s too deep,” she said. “I can’t get a foothold.” She was too far out from the bank, as well; there was no way he could reach her. “Hang on,” Cormac called. “I’ve got a rope in the car. Don’t let go.”

He scrambled up and ran headlong for the jeep. Nora tried to hold on to the heavy bundle, but she couldn’t help coughing and spluttering as it kept pulling her under. Cormac backed the jeep into position and rummaged through the supplies he kept in the back until he found a coil of rope. He tossed one end to Nora and quickly looped the other end to the car’s frame. “Tie this to it, and hang on to the rope if you can,” he shouted down at her. “Let me know when you’re ready. Make sure you have a good grip; try and walk up the wall if you can.”

She dived under again, tied the rope through the chain that circled Cadogan’s bundle, and came up spluttering. “Okay, ready. Go ahead.”

Cormac climbed into the driver’s seat and inched the jeep forward until the bundle came up over the canal bank, with Nora trailing behind it. When she was safely over the bank, she let go of the rope and fell upon the large bundle, tearing at one end of the black plastic. Her body was filled with pounding dread as she anticipated finding what Cadogan had secreted inside.

When the plastic finally broke open, what came spilling forth was not what she had expected, but a mass of loose brown peat. Nora pulled at the twisted chains and tore at the plastic until she’d completely opened the length of the bundle: peat, only peat. Dizzy with confusion and relief, she started digging through it with her hands, just to be sure, and felt something solid beneath the surface. She brushed away the covering peat and extracted a rolled-up sheepskin. Inside it she found a handful of silk scarves, a velvet hood, several feathers, and a bright pair of nickel-plated handcuffs. Nora sat back and stared at the strange array of items laid out before her.

“Well, thanks be to God,” Cormac said, coming around the side of the jeep. “I thought it was—”

“A body,” she said. “So did I.”

Cormac crouched down beside her and picked up one of the scarves, apparently just as mystified as she was. The scarf was still dry; the canal water hadn’t had time to soak through the peaty bundle. “I can’t see anything here that’s even remotely incriminating,” he said. “So why would Owen Cadogan go to such lengths to hide this stuff?”