* * *
“Yes. Yes. Well he couldn’t leave it there, could he! There are children in the neighbourhood! Loaded? I don’t know if it’s loaded, nor would I have any idea how to find out! Well obviously, one could pull the trigger, but that’s not going to happen is it!
“No, I don’t know. Not a new one, I shouldn’t think. All I know is, it’s very heavy. Yes. Wrapped in a flannel and half buried. Yes, the neighbour’s yard. Not in the open, no. Hidden in a patch of choko vine. Why was he there? Well what difference does that make? The issue is, a gun has been found! Having been left out of doors where anyone could stumble across it! Yes, well, obviously anyone who happened to find themselves inside that choko vine. Really, Paul, I don’t understand your obsession with that.
“Talk to them? Really, do you think so? I mean, obviously that was our first thought. But my fear is, you know, that . . . well it’s a wild sort of a family, you see? Anyhow, we think it probably belongs to another neighbour - a returned serviceman who’s actually quite unstable just at present. But if it belonged to the property owners - and we’re by no means insisting that it does, but if it did - there’s always the chance that they have more! And if so, would our disclosure of our knowledge bring us into their firing line . . . so to speak?
“Yes. No. Of course not. Well police aren’t out of the question, certainly. No, it’s safely hidden in the top of the closet at present. Yes, no, well that’s right, it’s not doing anyone any harm while it’s there. Okay, well we’ll give it a few days then and put the query into our prayers. See what eventuates. Right. Thank you, Paul. Yes, we’ll let you know. You too. Okay. Yes. Okay. Bye for now.”
* * *
That was the conversational snippet overheard by Robert and reported back to Cookie.
“A gun?” Cookie said. “A real, loaded gun? In the top of the closet? No way!”
“I’b dot lyi’g,” said Robert. “Dot loaded, I do’t thi’k. But I bet it’s there.”