Page 16 of The Bodies

FIFTEEN

Sunday morning at ten thirty a.m., Gabriel Roth drives past his brother’s place on Hocombe Hill without slowing but not without looking.

The houses along this stretch – mansions, most of them – hide behind a thick screen of trees, their canopied driveways allowing only the most fleeting of views. The architecture is eclectic: Modernist, Arts and Crafts, Gothic revival, Art Deco.

As Gabriel passes Thornecroft, the mock Tudor place his brother built after tearing down what preceded it, he sees many of its first-floor windows hanging open. Parked outside are three vehicles, including a white van that might belong to a maintenance company.

Someone is definitely home.

Further up the hill, Gabriel finds a parking spot on a grass verge shaded by elm trees.

Reclining his seat, he pairs the hire car’s entertainment system to his phone and opens Spotify.

The music he selects is ‘Plum Blossom in Three Movements’ by Huan Yi, a musician from the fourth century Eastern Jin Dynasty.

This version is played not on a flute, as is traditional, but a seven-stringed guqin.

Gabriel breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth. He closes his eyes and visualizes: pink plum blossom falling on to the surface of a slow-flowing river. He imagines floating downstream among the petals, the water cool and cleansing against his skin.

When he steps out of the car five minutes later, the world feels no better than before.

He sees no beauty in the lines of the Mercedes, in the overhanging elms touched by summer sun.

Walking up Thornecroft’s drive, he wonders if his appreciation for those things is lost for good.

He crunches across the gravel, climbs the five steps of the front porch and presses the bell.

As he waits, he studies the parked vehicles.

Stencilled on the side of the van is SNOW WHITE CLEANING AND GARDENING SERVICES . A white Tesla is parked beside it. A grey rain cover protects his brother’s wood-framed Morgan Plus 8.

An iron bolt draws back. One leaf of the huge entrance doors swings open. In the half-arch, peering out, stands Teri Platini. She’s small and sad-eyed; a thirty-year-old woman with all the confidence squeezed out of her.

As Gabriel watches, Teri’s heels lift from the floor then reconnect. She reminds him of a prey animal trying to make itself larger – and quickly abandoning the attempt.

Was she always like this? Really, it makes little difference; because however his brother’s women start out, this – invariably, inevitably – is how they end up.

Teri is barefoot, in pink jersey shorts and a ribbed vest. Her nails and make-up are flawless. She’ll have learned that lesson early – and the importance of not forgetting it.

‘Gabe,’ Teri says. When she smiles, she lowers her gaze and shifts her weight to one leg.

He glances at her jutted hip, inclines his head. The silence between them builds. Finally, Teri pulls the door wide. ‘Sorry, I’m sorry. I’m forgetting my manners as usual. You want to come in?’

‘Thank you.’

He follows her along a marble-laid hall and into an orangery the size of a small church. Despite the summer sun blazing through the windows, the aircon is cool enough to raise goosebumps on Teri’s bare skin.

She indicates one of two bamboo sofas and sits opposite. As she draws her legs beneath her she flinches, eyes widening, and begins to stand.

Gabriel waves her back down. ‘Please,’ he says. ‘I don’t need refreshments. We can ignore all that. I just want to talk.’ He looks through the orangery’s windows at the expanse of perfectly manicured lawn rising towards an ancient oak, then back at Teri’s perfectly manicured nails.

It confuses him, all this wealth – at least, the ostentatious display of it. Gabriel is identical to his twin in many respects, but he’s uninterested in material possessions. Everything he owns fits into a single duffel bag.

‘You know today’s date?’ he asks.

Teri nods.

‘You know the date three days ago?’

She blinks five times in quick succession. ‘H … Happy birthday,’ she stammers. ‘I’m sorry, Gabe. I didn’t – w … we didn’t – send a card.’

Hearing her panic, seeing it in her face, Gabriel feels even wearier.

This time, it seems, his brother’s really gone to town.

Teri reminds him of a Jenga tower in the final stages of a game.

The merest touch or sharp exhalation and the entire edifice will come crashing down.

‘I didn’t need a birthday card,’ he tells her.

‘And besides, I was travelling – you wouldn’t have known where to send it.

’ He looks around the orangery. There’s no fireplace in here, no mantelpiece. ‘Did Angus receive mine?’

‘It’s in the living room,’ Teri says. ‘Pride of place.’

‘Tell me, because I’m intrigued, and because I know how hard it must be to find a gift for a man who appears to have everything – and against all logic seems to crave even more. What did you choose?’

She opens her mouth, closes it, opens it again. ‘It’s kind of private,’ she says. ‘Sort of … embarrassing.’

Gabriel remains silent. With people like Teri, it’s often his preferred strategy.

‘I had a … I organized … well … I think they’re called boudoir shoots.

’ Teri glances at her lap. ‘It’s not porn.

Nothing like that. Glamour photography is sometimes what they call it.

Except … maybe it was a bit more than that.

I had one of the images blown up and framed for him. To go above our bed.’

Gabriel considers this for a while – and how his brother might have reacted. ‘You let another man see you naked? Take intimate photographs of you?’

Blanching, Teri shakes her head. ‘It was an all-female team. I would never …’ She takes a breath. ‘I would never .’

Gabriel suspects that Teri’s gift would have symbolized, to his brother, the final surrender of her dignity; would have demonstrated that the game was effectively over, because nothing remained worth playing for – because, to Angus, the only thing less interesting than a slave is a willing slave.

‘Well, it was certainly thoughtful,’ he says. ‘Did he take you to dinner afterwards?’

‘Thursday night?’

‘Thursday night.’

‘Thursday night, I think he was …’ Again, Teri’s eyelids stutter. This time, a single tear spills down her cheek. ‘I think he was with one of the others.’

From his pocket, Gabriel retrieves a handkerchief and offers it. ‘I’m sorry. That must have been tough. I’m guessing things have been difficult for a while. Has Angus stopped paying you as much attention? Stopped trying to make you happy?’

Teri dabs at her eyes, careful to avoid her mascara. Finally, she nods.

‘Who was the girl?’

‘Someone new, I think. Someone younger than me. A lot younger.’

‘Where’s my brother now?’

‘I’m guessing he’s still with her.’

‘You haven’t seen him since Thursday?’

‘No.’

‘Have you heard from him?’

‘Not yet.’

Plum blossom falling on to slow-flowing water. Cotton-white clouds passing over Mount Huangshan. Gabriel breathes long and slow. ‘Have you tried to contact him?’

Teri shivers. Again, she shakes her head.

From outside comes the buzz of a leaf blower. A muscular-looking guy in overalls appears around the side of the building. As he passes the orangery, he glances through the windows at Teri. When he spots Gabriel on the opposite sofa, he quickly averts his eyes.

‘I don’t know if you’ve heard this story,’ Gabriel tells her.

‘Maybe you have, but I think it’s worth repeating.

One year, when we were a lot younger, Angus was in Panajachel, Guatemala, on our birthday.

He was out of money, had nothing of value to trade.

He found a fisherman with a mobile phone on Lake Atitlan, but the man wasn’t willing to hand it over.

Angus beat him bloody and used the phone to get in touch. ’

Gabriel grimaces. ‘I can never decide if that’s a story about savagery or love, but that’s not really why I’m sharing it. The point is, every year since our lives took separate paths, Angus has always made contact on our birthday.’

He pauses, lets that sink in. ‘Most people understand that the bond between twins is something special. But when those twins grew up in care, as we did, that connection eclipses everything. You know what Angus said to me Thursday night?’

‘No.’

‘He said nothing, Teri, because he never called.’ Gabriel searches her expression. ‘What do you make of that?’

‘I’m sorry, Gabe, I—’

‘Please. You don’t need to keep apologizing. I’m not holding you accountable. I see you, Teri. I see what Angus has done to you. I know you’re not capable of hurting anyone, but I do want to know my brother’s whereabouts.’

‘Gabe, I don’t know .’

‘And I understand that, I do, but you likely know something, even if you haven’t realized it. Something that might point me in the right direction.’

When Teri starts to respond, Gabriel holds up a hand. ‘Listen,’ he says. ‘I know you’re frightened. And I can understand why. But Angus is missing and I intend to find him – because my brother is all I have. And if he’s come to harm …’

Gabriel’s hand grips the sofa arm, crushing the bamboo.

For a while, he cannot continue. He blows out his breath, tries to slow his heart.

He knows through brutal experience what can happen when his blood is up.

Gradually, the pulse in his ears surrenders to the whine of the leaf-blower.

At last, it’s safe to continue. ‘You said you thought he was with someone Thursday night. Someone a lot younger. What made you say that?’

Teri scratches her cheek hard enough to leave track marks. ‘I sneaked a look at his phone. While he was in the shower.’

‘You saw messages between them?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘This was on … Messenger? WhatsApp?

‘WhatsApp.’

‘You saw a photo?’

‘Yes.’

‘Can you describe her?’

‘I can’t … I mean, it was only a tiny picture. She … Well, she was pretty, obviously. Blonde hair. Eyes, I couldn’t say.’