Free Cold Kill by David Lawrence Page A

know it’s a long shot.’
    Sue started back towards her own desk, then paused a moment; she turned and spoke from where she was. ‘The thing is… you look at Kimber’s pictures – those women being spied on. They don’t know they’re being watched. There they are, wearing their everyday faces. Then you look at the missing persons shots and they’re a section out of a family photo more often than not: a holiday snap or something taken at a party; and they’re laughing or smiling at the camera.’ Stella waited. ‘You’ve got the private face and the public face, haven’t you? They don’t look like each other.’
    â€˜You’re right,’ Stella said. ‘I know you’re right.’ She went back to Kimber’s diary. ‘Keep them at it.’

10
    I will call this one Anthea.
    I will call this one Beatrice.
    I will call this one Cherie.
    I will call this one Davina.
    I could be anyone thats the point. Davina walking down the street she thinks whos following me? She turns around to look. There are twenty people following her. Fifty. A whole streetfull of people. I could be anyone.
    Look at how she walks my Elaine. My Fenella. Look at how things move. You can get in front some-times and watch her go by then drop back again to let her lead the way. You can take risks let her go round a corner and out of sight then find her again.
    She stops for a coffee or she goes to a park with her lunch to catch the sun or she stops to look at something in a shop or she stands by the side of the road waiting for a cab.
    You can be a long way off. You can be almost out of sight. Fast telephoto lens 500mm F4 800 ISO film. Its as good as binoculars you get right up close.
    See her make a cup of her hands to shield the flame when she lights a cigerette.
    See her undo the top two buttons of her blouseand hitch her skirt up to her thigh turning to put her face to the sun.
    See her put out her tongue to catch a drop of mayonase that falls out of her sandwhich down along the side of her hand.
    See her hook back some hair that the wind has blown across her face when she sits with her knees up reading her book.
    The book is called
Experience
thats how good the lens is. Thats how close I can get.
    See how she sits crosslegged in those jeans her hands resting between her legs the croptop the little pucker-up of her belly the silver ring.
    This is where she lives my Gina. My Harriet. Now I know I can come back and find her here. Come back tonight. You need fast film. You need somewhere to stand.
    Important to work out the gography. Wheres the bedroom? Wheres the bathroom? And the timing thats important. When does she go to bed? Does she take a shower in the morning or at night?
    If she lives with a man
    If she lives
    If someone else is around I wait. I bide my time. If she draws the curtains I wait. I bide my time. If she goes out again if she gets into her car if a taxi calls I wait. I bide my time.
    See her in the bedroom as she goes back and forth unbutoning shaking her hair free.
    See her in the bedroom in her panties and her bra deciding what to wear.
    See her in the bedroom turning naked thinking that perhaps she ought to draw the curtains. Maybe coming over to draw the curtains. Now she comes over.
    See her in the bathroom the window a little foggy. The windows not overlooked. Why worry?
    Or you can go up to the Strip. Sometimes I go up to the Strip. The girls on the Strip are okay for some things but theres nothing secret about them. Nothing private. I fuck them. I fuck them really hard and I make them do things and thats OK but you cant really get close to them because they can see you. You can fuck them but you cant get right up close like you can with the binoculars or the supertelephoto. You can fuck them and there giving it come on come on baby thats great and there right in your face but it doesnt matter who you are. Theres one called Nancy is what she says shes