I AM LEFT ALONE IN WILLIAM PACKER'S STUDY SO I LOOK AROUND AND DISCOVER ....
... a Harris tweed jacket waiting on the back of the swivel chair. It has that smell of smoke and tar I have come to dislike. I know the scratchy texture of the garment so well I can feel it scraping at my neck and ears.
… a dark leather-bound Bible on the desk, 'Samuel Skelly' stamped in gold letters on the bottom. A lilac envelope reposes in Matthew 19. It also bears the name Skelly.
... a small brass dish containing a sturdy silver necklace attached to a scratched, dessert spoon size opaque tile bearing the inscription 'holy'.
... a pink blotting pad, a clay coloured fountain pen and a bottle of blue black Quink.
... a sheet of foolscap with the words 'suffer', 'innocence' (slightly smudged) and 'wealth' at the top of three columns.
... a drab looking book: The Craft of the Sermon by W.E. Sangster.
... a briar wood pipe resting on a tin of St Bruno and a box of Swan Vestas next to a heavy glass ashtray with ash and shreds of tobacco.
... all the desk drawers are locked.
... dark green curtains, almost closed, keep the room dingy and mesh curtains prevent me from seeing the garden clearly.
... a small blacked fireplace with pink ash and grey cinders in the grate.
... a brass fender and fireguard with a companion set and coal scuttle.
... a mouse clamped between the teeth of the stuffed weasel. I can clearly see its exposed teeth through the glass case. In my mind's eye I see the stole drooping from the back of our attic door.
... a leather armchair with antimacassar and a collapsed maroon velvet cushion. On the right arm lingers a brass ash tray with a leather strap. It is full of cigarette ends and spent matches. I sit for a moment and contemplate the weasel.
... a standard lamp with a dark red shade. It looks like a veiled, discreet servant.
... a low table with a potted geranium that stands on a chipped off white dinner plate.
... a pair of white, porcelain, stylised dogs on a shelf. One has its brown tail to the right, the other to the left. They have orange muzzles, ochre spots and ears like wings. Their eyes glare yellow.
... a jumble of faded books gathering dust.
... a circular mahogany clock with Roman numerals and the name Walker and Sons, London mounted on the wall next to the door.
... a stride of shoes on the floor indicating the way out.
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