People Watching

Mike and Suzie watched the strange couple  approach them - a tall, gangly American male with a strange gait and a prim and proper Basque girl, firey red hair tumbling down her shoulders – they were chatting away amicably but there was something strange about their body language.

‘First date?’ Mike said quietly, almost under his breath. ‘And not going well.’

Suzie smiled, they were in people watching mode and they were both experts. ‘Nah, he thinks it’s a date she thinks it's a walk.’

‘Could be.’ Mike nodded at Suzie’s version of events.

The odd couple were getting close enough to hear the conversation. It was the American doing most of the talking.

‘Yeah I love nature, so I’d really like to get out into the mountains while I am here.’

‘They are beautiful,’ the girl said ‘I can help you.’

‘That’d be great,’ there was maybe just a little too much enthusiasm in his voice.

‘I can’t go with you, but I can show you the best places to go.’

‘Ouch’ said Mike, that’s got to hurt.

‘Yep she slapped him down,’ agreed Suzie.

‘I reckon he only wanted her to go to the mountains so he could kill her.’ Mike added after a few seconds of silence.

‘No, he doesn’t look like a murderer - he's just a bit odd, but I don’t blame her for not going into the mountains with him.’

‘No mark my words he’s a killer, he’ll have to change is plan now, I reckon  she’ll be dead and buried within the hour. Remember that strange walk for when the police question us.’

The couple drifted off to be replaced by a man in glasses and a cactus on his t-shirt and Mike and Suzie changed the focus of their commentary to him.

Two days later Mike and Suzie could not get back to their special people watching bench as the whole area was a hive of police activity.  They stood and watched the commotion. There were police in Scene of Crime outfits, sniffer dogs, and one of those black morgue ambulances that are used for carting away bodies.

Suzie approached the copper on the edge of the cordon and in her best Spanish asked what was going on. Mike, who didn’t speak Spanish,
watched as they spoke in this alien language, the policeman was nodding and looked to be describing someone.

Suzie turned back to Mike.

‘They’ve found a body, girl, twenties… red hair.’

It was then that Mike uttered the words that would live for him forever, the words that would pop into his head as he was trying to sleep give him cold sweats all over again. The line that Suzie would never tire of reminding him about.

‘Yesssss! I told you.’