Phosphate Rocks Chapter 14: Air Horn

Inside the police interview room, John picks up an air horn from the tray of evidence, one of ten objects found beside a dead body, identity unknown. 

A canister of compressed air, the size of a beer can, with a red funnel. Designed for use at sea, the tin is decorated with simple coloured blocks representing a ferry, a yacht, and an inflatable life-raft. 

‘Don’t…’ The detective inspector begins, but it is too late. 

She clasps her hands over her ears as a blast of sound pierces the air and echoes from the walls. 

‘Sorry,’ John says, but he is not sorry. It is a good sound, the sound of safety, the sound of disaster averted. A sound that once resonated from the eastern corner of the fertiliser factory. Of course, it sounds quite different in the police interview room, harsh and strident without a huge metal bell to soften and temper it. But it is a sound that brings back good memories.