Free Among the Dead by Michael Tolkin Page B

daughter were wearing?’
    â€˜I came from work, from lunch, a business lunch, sort of, a friend, an old friend, but it was business.’ There was no reason to say this, but he felt a compulsion to explain why he missed the flight, why he was something of a ghost. ‘I don’t know if Anna changed for the flight. She was probably wearing something black, probably expensive exercise clothing, you know, sweatpants and a sweatshirt – she liked to be comfortable when she travelled. Maybe she wore a skirt, I don’t know, I doubt it. This was a vacation. And Madeleine, I don’t know. I’m sure Anna changed her outfit. She was wearing these green overalls in the morning, but I doubt she had them on for the flight. I can go home and look in her closet for what’s missing, but I don’t know her clothing that well. I’m sorry I can’t be of any help.’
    â€˜The reason we ask is that clothing, even pieces of it, can be tested for traces of chemicals, explosives, if it was a bomb, and by tracing back to a particular seat, we can figure out what kind of device was used, how big it was.’
    â€˜Was it a bomb?’
    â€˜We don’t know. These questions have to be asked, Mr Gale.’
    â€˜How many people were on the plane?’
    â€˜A crew of ten, and a hundred and thirty-nine passengers.’
    â€˜How many children?’
    â€˜Six or seven. There may have been an unregistered infant.’
    â€˜And on the ground? How many were killed in San Diego? Sixty?’
    â€˜We don’t know yet.’ He paused. For a moment he stared at the floor, and then his shoulders relaxed. He looked back at Frank. ‘Mr Gale, I want you to know how sorry I am about this.’ There was a tone of personal responsibility in his voice, he emphasizedthe first
I,
as though others might not want Frank to know about their sorrow, as though by expressing himself, he was already violating the company’s orders. If Modell had bitter children, and they saw him now, trying to be honest, would they regret their contempt for him? He asked if Frank wanted to stay at a hotel.
    â€˜Where is it?’
    â€˜The Sheraton. Two minutes by car. We think it might be a good idea – it gives all of you a chance to help each other through the first hard days.’ And keep us from the press, thought Frank, but he liked the idea of a hotel room. He could tell the desk not to let through any phone calls. He could watch a movie on television. He could order room service. Lowell would be here soon, and they could stay up late and talk and get drunk. If Modell was around the hotel Frank supposed that he could be invited in for a drink, but he thought that Modell would be interesting only in the loose way that all people are sort of interesting if you ask the right questions and find out about their obsessions, even if all that keeps their minds going are a few old insults and family squabbles elevated to the central facts of their lives. But if he started to talk to Modell about music or movies, he knew that the fat man would disappoint him, and with his stupid opinions try to hog the conversation at the same time. So he wouldn’t talk to him once this little interview was over.
    Modell asked him what kind of luggage Anna had taken, and what she had packed. Frank described it as best he could. He thought that these interviews were a clever device; he was talking about the crash in a way that was strictly controlled, and even if this was just the expression of a sinister corporate protocol for disaster management, something developed by psychologists as a good way to get the person with the potential lawsuit to think of the airline as a friend, there was comfort in the process.
    No one had yet introduced any of the survivors to each other, and there were now about fifty in the room. Frank thought that he was the only one who was alone, since everyone else had brought someone for support.
    Ed