Page 89 of Mann Hunt
Justin stopped speaking for a while. He sat there with his second beer almost finished. Charlie had barely touched his first. Justin looked at his phone. “I should go. I’ve gotta get home for dinner.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“No,” Charlie said. “This one’s on me.”
“Thanks.”
Charlie paid the bill at the bar then walked back to the table. “Hey, I’ve got all your stuff in my car. Let me give you a ride home.”
“You okay to drive?”
Charlie looked at his first half-finished bottle of beer and untouched second. “I’ll be fine.”
As they walked out to the car, Charlie asked for Justin’s phone and typed in his number. “Just in case you want to talk.”
Charlie drove Justin home in silence. He suspected that the house that he dropped him at wasn’t where he lived. As Charlie drove away, he looked in the rear-view mirror and saw Justin walk further up the block.
After he’d dropped Justin off, Charlie texted Declan.
Justin opening up about Ian. Said he modelled for some photos for him. Seemed emotional about what happened. Gave him my number.
A few moments later a text came in from Declan.
Interesting. Be available for him if he needs you. Do you want to meet and have a talk?
Charlie responded.
No, I’m good.
Soon after a message came back.
Great. Treat yourself to a good dinner. I’ll look into the photographs. Then I’ll head back to the office. Talk soon.
Charlie headed back to the pub. He was on his own now.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
On the drive home, Declan pulled into a gas station to fill up, then placed a call to Katherine Mann.
“Declan? Is everything okay?”
“I need your help. You mentioned a series of new photographs that Ian took of a young man. Do you have them?”
“Yes… Do they have anything to do with Ian’s death?”
“I’m not sure. Can I come by and have a look at them? It won’t take long.”
“I’ll have them ready.”
Declan pulled into Katherine’s drive forty minutes later. As he approached the door, it opened.
“I’ve laid them out in the kitchen,” Katherine said. “Can I get you a coffee?”
“I’d love one. Thanks.”
Declan walked into the kitchen and pored over the pictures. There must have been thirty or forty shots. Individual images of a young man in various states ofdress—no nudes—with and without makeup. And not just subtle makeup. Broad character makeup—almost theatrical, accentuating the subject’s physical features while, at the same time, eliminating the signs of an identifiable gender.No.Not eliminating gender, but accentuating both the male and female. Ian was showing the body as a spectrum, not a binary.The model was definitely Justin.
There were also a few photographs that appeared to be selfies showing both Justin and Ian, dressed in similar makeup. In all of the images, Declan saw joy in their faces.
“They’re the best he ever shot,” Katherine said.
