2007 - The Dead Pool Read Online Free

different in the weeks before it happened. Obsessive, secretive. I should have paid more attention. I thought he might have been going through another stage of grieving over Jean. But, when I think about it now, there was something else bothering him. I don’t know if anything untoward had occurred. But if anyone or anything caused us to lose Jamie before his time, I think we should know, don’t you?’
    Slowly, he got to his feet and wandered over to the window. He stood with his ramrod straight back towards her, a stance which in other circumstances he would have considered uncommonly rude. But she knew he was thinking about more important matters than social etiquette. Still with his back to her, he stared unseeingly towards the golf course, his voice a quivering whisper.
    ‘Frankly, Kirstin, I’ve not had a proper night’s sleep since he went. The thought of him out there, in a place he loved, where he felt happy and secure, suddenly finding himself struggling against the waters, helpless, in terror. It’s left me worried, very worried.’ He turned to face her, eyes pleading, body rigid. ‘And, if truth be known, a bit frightened.’

Three
    T he sun would be setting soon, but Kirstin knew she had time before dark. She paused at the Roseburn Cliff entrance to the river path. She was always amazed at how, within moments of leaving this bustling area of shops, flats and a main road, she could be down on the walkway and enjoying the quiet, riverside bliss. As if she were in the middle of the countryside. From here she could make it to the Cauldron in a few minutes if she hurried. Kirstin breathed in the evening air gratefully, glad to be free of the stuffy golf club atmosphere. There were still a handful of dog-walkers, joggers and evening strollers about.
    The last time she’d been along here had been with Jamie, on a crisp autumn day, so unlike now. After her divorce from Ross and well after Jean had gone. Jamie had enjoyed showing her his latest enthusiasm. His voice had held an almost childish excitement…’ This river work is going to save me from old age and despair. I find it so hard to manage without Jeannie but all this beauty around me, and showing it to others, will help. It’s got to .’
    And had it? Jamie was certainly rejuvenated and enlivened that day, reaching out to her with an intimacy she now missed. He’d shared an acute insight into his son and had been brutally honest as they’d strolled along the riverbank.
    I didn’t want to raise anything like this with you when you were married, but I always thought Ross wasn’t good enough for you. That may seem wrong coming from his father, but… ’
    He’d looked directly at her then. Seeking permission to go on?
    ‘ But I think he’s far more driven than I ever was or, rather, driven by the wrong things. Ambition can be a fine quality if it’s kept separate from ruthlessness and selfishness. But too often it turns into a callous, self-seeking crusade. Not good. I’ve always hoped he’d mellow with time… ’
    The strain of doomed hope in his voice seemed to oscillate round her head as she walked the last few yards to the Cauldron. At this point she had a choice. Turn left over the wooden footbridge and up the steps to the art gallery high above. Or follow the river as it turned right towards the weir. Tonight, like every summer evening, the waters moved sluggishly under the footbridge, coming almost to a complete halt at the Cauldron.
    A shiver suddenly took hold of her. The temperature had dropped. The sun’s rays were hitting the top of the hill above but wouldn’t make it any further down into the river valley tonight. She sat by the pool’s edge, keeping both the glassy smooth surface of the Cauldron and the gentry flowing waters of the nearby weir in sight. But disturbing images of what Donald told her had happened here ate into any momentary enjoyment of her surroundings.
    What the hell had Jamie been doing here? In February. In