The Green Remains Read Online Free

reporters milling around. Simon will keep them at bay,” Kate explained.
      “Thanks.” Nora put her face in her hands. “I don’t think I could handle reporters right now.” She looked up with a wan smile. “It’s odd because I used to be one and never realized how intrusive I might be.” She shook her head, the reddish waves bouncing. Somewhere in the fuss her clip had come off, and long strands fell forward, partially covering her face.
      “You have every right to be upset,” Kate said. “Poor Keith. His family has already faced so much tragedy.”
      Kate didn’t explain, and Nora was too upset to ask. She looked past the kitchen to the living area, with its cozy fireplace, at the far end of the large room. Two sets of French doors in the wall opposite her led to Simon’s studio and to his bedroom suite. Her own suite was just across a wide hallway. Once it had belonged to the head housekeeper, who had lived at the lodge during the senior Ramseys’ tenure. What had become a haven of comfort for her now appeared unfamiliar and strange.
      She contemplated her cooling tea where she’d set it down. With her huge belly keeping her at a distance from the table, it felt like too much effort to lean that far over to sip it; she didn’t think she had the strength in her hands to pick it up.
      “I keep seeing Keith’s face, at least what was left of it,” she told Kate in a low voice. “I wonder if he committed suicide? Why not try to get out of his scull, if it sprang a leak or started to sink? It doesn’t make sense.”
      Kate shook her head. “I don’t know, Nora. I hope Ian will sort it out quickly. He’s very good at his job.”
      Nora sighed. “Now Keith will never finish his book. Instead he’s out there, waiting for the coroner.” A chill coursed through her body.
      Kate looked up at the clock. “It’s getting late. I have to talk to Agnes about the dinner menu. Do you mind staying here alone, or would you rather come with me?”
      “No, you go ahead.” Nora rested one hand lightly on her belly and remained rooted to the chair.
      “Come on, Darby. Let’s go see Agnes.” The dog obediently followed Kate out through the pocket door.
      The room was quiet. Nora could hear the clock tick. She couldn’t hide any longer from the memories of the night her father drowned. She remembered how her mother’s face, blotched and red from crying, had turned white when they’d been allowed into the emergency room cubicle to say goodbye. Then she recalled her father’s body, cold and slack, his lively, hazel eyes dulled. Closing her own eyes, Nora willed the images back to the dark corner of her mind she rarely visited.
      She couldn’t sit there any longer; she carried her mug over to the sink, pouring out the cold tea. Eventually, she knew, the police would have to interview her. She looked out the window and saw the crowd that the flurry of activity had attracted, along with several news vans already parked along the road. At least they’d had the good grace to arrive after she was safely inside, and she wouldn’t see her face on the evening news.
      The constable at the door saw Nora standing by the window and brought in her own empty mug. She nodded toward the scene outside. “First thing of this kind we’ve had in the area in some time. How are you feeling?” She was a polite girl, with a neatly ironed uniform and hair carefully braided to stay out of her way during work.
      “I don’t know,” Nora replied truthfully. “This feels like a dream, you know—so real it seems unreal.”
      The woman nodded thoughtfully as they watched the photographer packing up, then said, “I expect poor Keith would wish it were someone else’s dream.”

Chapter Four

    “‘My dear Charles,’ said the young man with the monocle, ‘it doesn’t do for people, especially doctors, to go about “thinking” things. They may get into frightful trouble.’”
    — Dorothy L. Sayers,