The Mute and the Liar (18 page)

28
th
February
2011

Crime:
At
6:30
AM
on
the
15
th
February,
Antoinette
Harper,
a
27-year-old
athlete
from
Sheffield,
went
for
a
morning
jog
around
the
city
centre,
because
she’s
one
of
them
obsessive
health
freaks.
Anyway,
before
she
reached
St.
Phillip’s
Road,
CCTV
camera
caught
her
being
attacked
by
an
unidentified
cloaked
figure
and
abducted.
Ha,
sound
familiar,
Alicia?
Well,
sort
of.
Anyway,
she
was
found
alive
two
days
ago
but
with
serious
leg
injuries.

Interesting
Details:
They
say
the
attacker
was
a
guy
because
of
his
stature,
(no,
he
was
a
guy
because
beating
up
innocent
joggers
is
a
manly
thing
to
do)
and
has
a
slight
limp.
Also,
he
kept
her
alive?
What’s
the
point
of
kidnapping
someone
if
you’re
just
going
to
let
them
go?

Jayce’s
Answer:
I’m
no
expert
on
running,
but
I
don’t
think
those
leg
injuries
are
going
to
do
her
career
many
favours.
I
did
a
bit
of
Googling
on
my
phone,
and
I
think
she
was
attacked
by her ex,
Tyrone
Clarence.
He
used
to
be
an
athlete
too,
but
got
into
trouble
with
some
drug
dealers
and
got
beaten
up
one
day.
It
left
him
with
a
permanent
limp,
which
forced
him
to
quit
his
job.
My
guess
is,
he
couldn’t
stand
watching
her
doing
everything
he
loved,
so
he
thought
that
by
attacking
and
injuring
her,
she
would
have
to
leave
her
job,
but
by
keeping
her
alive,
they
could
get
back
together.
See?
There
are
people
in
this
world
that
are
more
insane than
I
am.

Verdict:
Isn’t
it
obvious,
Alicia?
HARPER
FELL
IN
LOVE
WITH
A
LIAR.
Pray
to
God
you
don’t
do
the
same.

10:32
PM

S
orry
if
my
writing
is
all
shaky.
We’re
still
in
the
car.
We
have
been
driving
for
about
two
hours.
There
has
been
no
conversation,
only
the
odd
swearword
escaping
from
Nick’s
mouth
to
curse
a
particularly
bad driver.

At
first
I
looked
out
of
the
window
for
a
bit,
but
I
got
bored
of
seeing
nothing but lights, trees and cars.

I
crane
my
head
to
look
out
of
the
window,
but
it’s
already
been
hours
since
the
last
of
the
sun
dipped
away,
leaving
only
inky
black
above.
There
are
no
stars
because
of
all
the
streetlights.
I
might
have
been
disappointed,
but
for some reason,
seeing the empty
black sky
calms me.
I
imagine all
these
problems,
everything
that
has
happened
today,
just
slowly
floating
into
the
sky and slipping into the blackness.

So
now
I
am
talking nonsense.
Well,
I
already
knew
insanity
would
kick
in
sooner
or later from
all
of
this.
It was
only
a
matter
of
time.

I’m still
trying
to
decipher
Jayce’s
message.
There’s
got
to
be some kind of
meaning.
There
has
to
be
a
reason.
He
cannot
just
twist
the
only
thing
I’ve
loved
doing
and
throw
it
right
back
in
my
face.
Is
this
all
just
a
way
to
scare
me? To convince me to jump from the cliff
of sanity?

I
have
to
get
away
from
here.

I
don’t
even
want
to
run
away
now.
I
just
want
to
breathe
in
fresh
air.
I
just
want
to
know
that
outside
the
world
is
still
the
same,
and
that
I
am
still
trapped
under the same sky.

How
could
my
life
change
this
fast,
this
sudden?
This
morning,
my
only
concern was walking
to
school
without
bumping into
Mrs
Dane’s
 
carnivorous
, demon-possessed
cat.

Come on.
There’s
got
to
be something
I
can
do.
You know, you could
always…

No.
It
will
never
work.
But
I
want
to
go outside.

It’s
a
long
shot.

You
might
as
well
give
it
a
try.

I need the
toilet.

Okay.
Hopefully
this
will
work.
It’s
a
chance
in
a
million,
but
at
least
it’s
still
a
chance.

I
am now shoving that
message
in Jayce’s
face.
He
seems
a
bit
shocked, or
just
pleasantly
surprised.
Probably
because
he
never
thought
I
was
actually
going
to
try
and
make
contact
with
him.
For
a
moment
there
is
hope,
but
then he goes
and
runs
over
all my dreams
with
a
bulldozer.

“
No. That’s
the
oldest
trick
in
the book.
”

“
What
does
she want?
”
asks
Nick, peering
into
the
rear-view
mirror.
“
Ladies’ room.
”

“
If
she
needs
to
go,
I’ll
take
her.
We’re
approaching
a
service
station
now.
”

“
Nick,
”
Jayce
sighs.
“
Obviously
your
pea-sized
brain
is
too
small
to
register
the
fact
that
this
is
clearly
a
trap.
She’s
obviously
going
to
ask
someone
for
help,
use
their
mobile
phone,
call
the
police
and
put
us
in
prison
and
give
herself
a
big
old
pat
on
the
back.
”

“
Congratulations.
She
probably
wasn’t
thinking
of
doing
anything,
and
now
you’ve
just
given
her
a
load
of
ideas,
”
Nick
grumbles,
and
I
smile
to
myself.
He’s
absolutely
right.

“
She’s
not
going
and
that’s
final,
”
Jayce
states,
with
the
air
of
a
stubborn
toddler.

This
is
ridiculous.
Why
am
I
being
forbidden
to
go
to
the
toilet?
What
is
with
these
people?
Do
they
want
me
to
pee
on
the
car
seat?
Not
only
that,
but
I’m
also
incredibly
hungry.
I
should’ve
taken
some
of
the
lettuce
when
I
had the
chance.

I
lift
up
this
notebook,
and
almost
smile
at
the
confusion
on
Jayce’s
face,
and
even
more
so
at
the
pleasant
smack
that
chimes
when
I
whack
it
over
his
head.

“
Stop
hitting me!
First
with
a
cactus,
now this?
”
I
look
up
at
him with big,
innocent
brown
eyes,
and
his
serious
expression
softens.
“
Fine.
But
if
you
even
try
to
disappear,
I
will
see
to
it
that
everyone
you
have
ever
known
disappears
as
well.
”