Clark of Words

Arthur didn’t linger at home after he’d deposited his groceries. Instead, he exited his apartment block almost immediately, and had the misfortunate to encounter Barbara Perlmann who was heading in the opposite direction. Her head was bowed and she appeared preoccupied and worried. Even Arthur’s chauffeur outfit didn’t raise a response from her and, despite…

Andy Forrest yanked down the shutters at the front of his electrical goods shop. It was the end of another poor day, with only three people venturing through the shop door. The slits of the metal grill clattered against each other like links of a vast chain winding its way around his neck, choking him.…

Arthur opened his bedroom curtains and regarded the world. Bright sunshine glinted upon a plastic bag as it tumbled along the sidewalk, pushed along by a breeze drawn from the ocean. He was glad the day was less humid than the preceding ones. He absently hummed a few bars of Highland Cathedral. He’d practised the…

Arthur stopped his cab at a set of lights, and recollected how his relationship with Taylor had been due, in part, to a chance comment from a stranger who bore a passing resemblance to one of the ladies he now ferried around. He shook his head ruefully. He wasn’t going to let the memory of…

It wasn’t long before Zander’s taxi was put to use by a muscular Latino man, who flung himself into the back and spread his arms across the back of his seat. He smiled at Zander in a cocksure way that engendered distrust, with Zander’s instinct re-affirmed by the man chuckling for no good reason. Zander…

Manny sauntered down the street towards Taylor’s apartment. The sun was out, the day not yet stifling hot, and his spirits were high. He gazed through the windows of the shops as he passed: there, he leered at a sexy young woman as she slipped a stiletto onto a foot and twisted her ankle to…

Fortunately, the journey to Islip via the Long Island Expressway was quick once Arthur got out of Brooklyn and Queens. Quite soon the nose to tail traffic reduced to the occasional motor car which allowed Arthur to put his foot on the gas. He’d get the women to their appointment in time. He was a…

The three ladies piled out of the trailer in a rush, scurried up the path to the road and leapt into the back of the cab. They didn’t stop to reciprocate the trailer woman’s wave of farewell, or that of her son’s. Instead, Arthur was ordered to ‘Move’ with a bark from Lara, and he…

Arthur crept down the corridor towards Taylor’s apartment, suddenly aware how dark and full of shadows the passage was. It was a windowless lobby with dim yellow lighting, so baleful he was surprised he’d never considered the misery of its outlook before. His breath was shallow, and his heart thumped so fast in his chest…

Manny slipped back into the recess of the doorway to the apartment across from Taylor’s. He’d been at the john in a café several doors down, forced by nature to abandon the watch he’d placed himself on after stirring up Taylor’s home. It was a hazard in carrying out a stake-out alone: there was always…