Too Soon a Death: A Scottish mystery where cosy crime meets tartan noir: Borders Mysteries Book 2 (26 page)

‘Forgive my ignorance, Sergeant, but where’s Bearsden?’

‘Posh part of Glasgow.’

‘This doesn’t make sense. Why steal someone’s identity just to commission their family tree?’

‘Does Kate only work for people who want their own family’s ancestors uncovered?’

‘I have no idea, though I assume so. It’s quite a personal thing, isn’t it? And not cheap. He doesn’t have a brother, does he?’

‘We thought about that and the answer’s no. Just a sister.’

‘Only a lot of Kate’s clients get it done as a gift for someone else in the family, and of course they have to provide a certain amount of information for her to get started, like parents’ or grandparents’ names and dates of birth. It would help if we could find out what the bogus Simon told Kate when he gave her the job.’

‘Unfortunately that information’s lost with everything else.’

‘Is anyone in the family famous?’

‘You think the chap you met could be a journalist trying to dig up some dirt? It’s a stretch.’

‘A stretch?’ Zoe felt her face begin to smart. ‘Actually, the idea of someone trying to kill my best friend, a woman without a mean bone in her body, is completely un-bloody-believable!’

Trent jerked back in his chair.

‘Sorry.’ She brushed a few stray hairs off her face. ‘I’m too involved to look at this dispassionately.’

‘You have every right to feel that way,’ Trent said. ‘Which is why I’m reporting to another DCI on this case. You’re not the only one whose emotions are running high.’

‘At least you’re not putting it down to my hormones.’

‘Learnt my lesson the other day.’

They exchanged smiles and Trent closed up his laptop.

‘So now you have two impossible cases in the Borders,’ Zoe said. ‘A murder where you can’t identify the victim let alone his killers, and an arson attack by a man who isn’t who he said he was.’

‘I can’t remember a victim remaining unidentified for ever. Trouble is, the public expect us to solve cases as quickly as they do on the TV. Real-life policing takes time.’

‘It’s human nature not to want to wait for anything. I have the same problem with patients who decide a week’s course of medication I give them isn’t working after two days. And if—’

Trent’s mobile started to ring.

Whoever the caller was, the policeman’s expression told Zoe he hadn’t expected to hear from them. He stood up, said, ‘Could I ask you to hold on for a moment?’ then shot an apologetic look at Zoe and started to walk down her garden. She busied herself clearing away their glasses, frustrated at not being able to hear even one side of the conversation. Just before ending the call, Trent extended his arm to look at his watch. Whoever the caller was, he’d made an appointment to meet them.

‘I’m going to have to go,’ Trent said when he returned to the patio.

‘Something exciting’s happened?’

‘Interesting, anyway.’

‘But you can’t tell me what it is.’

‘Sorry, no.’ He picked up the laptop. ‘But I can tell you this. If the person who just rang me is genuine, one of our impossible cases is starting to look a lot more promising.’

TWENTY-NINE

Margaret waved energetically to Zoe from behind the reception desk. ‘Guess what! Doctor Hopkins has taken himself off to Wales again. And he didn’t look too pleased about having to go.’

‘Wasn’t he in this morning?’ Zoe asked.

‘Yes, but I took a call for him during surgery. The man had a Welsh accent, asked for Walter to ring him back as soon as he could. Not long after I passed on the message he rushed out, hardly taking the time to tell me you’ll be covering for him.’

‘First I’ve heard of it.’

Margaret tutted. ‘I thought that might be the case. What a way to behave.’

‘We won’t have to endure him for much longer.’

‘Unless his plans have fallen through.’

Zoe put on an exaggerated look of horror, making Margaret chuckle. ‘Away with you, Doctor. If anyone saw us they’d think we come to work to have a good time.’

Smiling, Zoe walked along the corridor to her room, where she found a pile of insurance forms Walter must have dumped on her desk before rushing off. She looked up when she heard a light knock on her door a few minutes later.

‘Hello, my dear. What news on your friend Kate?’ Paul moved across the room and sat down. His cheek bore another small cut.

‘They’re starting to bring her out of sedation.’

‘That’s excellent news.’

‘Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. She stopped breathing in the ambulance, I don’t know how long for.’

‘Are you worried there may be lasting damage?’

‘I’m trying not to think about that possibility.’ Zoe took a deep breath. ‘Anyway, I hear Walter’s gone to Wales again. Do you know why?’

Paul shook his head. ‘I got a text from him saying he’d be back by the weekend and you’d cover for him. I assumed he’d spoken to you.’

‘I only heard when I got in a few minutes ago. What a charming way to treat his colleagues. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I can’t wait till he goes for good.’

‘Few here will disagree with you, although we need to keep a united front for our patients.’

‘I know. What did your solicitor say about challenging the partnership agreement?’

‘First of all, he gave me the telling-off I deserved for not consulting him before I signed it, then he warned me it’s couched in such ill-defined terms that Walter’s reasonable say in who becomes the next partner could mean anything. And finally, he suggested I offer Walter a sum of money to relinquish his influence. This could be a cheaper option than challenging him legally.’

‘Are you going to do that?’

‘What, reward his underhandedness? I don’t think so.’

Paul looked and sounded uncharacteristically fierce; Zoe didn’t know how to respond. A year or even only six months ago he would never have stood up to Walter like this. Whoever was encouraging him to adopt a hard line, she’d like to meet her.

Unfortunately, he seemed to take Zoe’s silence for disapproval. ‘Or am I the one being unreasonable?’

‘Far from it. I’m just sorry this situation has arisen because of me. Have you met the doctor Walter wants to take over from him? He might be perfect for the practice.’

‘Zoe, my dear, you’re the one who’s perfect for the practice. And you’re already here. This isn’t your fault.’

After another hour of paperwork, Zoe went home, gave Mac a short walk and settled down with Patrick’s book, eager to stay awake long enough to finish it. Her peace was interrupted by the arrival of two texts. In the first, Andrew confirmed his wife’s funeral was to be held on Friday and repeated his wish that Zoe could be there although he knew this was impossible. The second came from Douglas, saying the doctors had started to reduce Kate’s sedation but she hadn’t woken during the first of their mother’s twice-daily visits.

Mac’s barks woke her from an unintentional nap in the late afternoon. She thought he was agitating to go out for another walk but snapped awake when she looked blearily out of the front window.

Erskine Mather’s faltering steps into the hall, the dark circles under his eyes, and the sweat patches at his armpits told Zoe he wasn’t there on official police business. She stared at him in shock, until he said, ‘Sorry for just turning up but I didn’t know where else to go.’

Zoe’s legs threatened to buckle under her. ‘Has something happened to Kate?’

‘She’s no worse, if that’s what you mean.’

Zoe briefly closed her eyes. Thank goodness
.
‘Let’s get a drink and sit down outside.’

Conscious of repeating what she’d done that morning with Sergeant Trent, she led Mather through the cottage and out of the French windows. ‘Tea, coffee, juice or something stronger?’ she asked.

‘Coffee’s probably best. I’ve already had a couple of whiskies.’

If she needed proof of Mather’s desperation, this was it. With Scotland’s alcohol limit for drivers lower than anywhere else in the UK, he’d risked his job coming here. What was going on?

Mather threw himself into one of the garden chairs and stared towards the field while Zoe went back inside, returning a few minutes later with a cafetiere of strong coffee and a jug of milk. She sat down and waited for him to break the silence.

‘See this?’ he said eventually, pointing at his pink-and-cream striped shirt. ‘Kate bought it for me a few weeks ago. I haven’t worn it before but I thought it would be nice if it could be one of the first things she saw when she woke up. I went back to the ICU not long after her mother left. She was starting to stir, so I sat holding her hand, ready to shove my ugly mug in front of her as soon as she regained consciousness, to let her read my lips while I explained why she was there.’

‘What happened?’ Zoe asked gently.

‘Her eyes gradually opened, she looked at me, and then all hell broke out. She started to thrash about, tried to pull the drip out of her arm and the tube from her neck. It was like she was having a fit. Alarms went off and they asked me leave. I think they were planning to sedate her again.’

‘That’s awful, though it’s not unusual. She’ll have been very frightened, especially as not being able to hear would hinder her working out where she was. She may have been trying to speak, but the tube in her throat would prevent her from even doing that.’

‘She didn’t seem to recognise me.’

‘Coming out of an induced coma can be like waking up from a bad dream, feeling disoriented, unable to tell what’s real and what isn’t.’ Zoe poured out their coffee and put a cup in front of Mather. He ignored it. ‘This isn’t unusual,’ she repeated.

‘It’s is all my fault,’ Mather said.

‘You’re not suggesting your wife had something to do with setting the fire, are you?’

‘No, of course not. But what you don’t know is Kate texted me after Ken had left on Friday evening, asking me to go round. Even though I knew she was upset, I said no, because I had too much work on. I’ve always got too much bloody work on.’ He put his head in his hands.

Zoe took a sip of coffee and said nothing. Mac wandered up to her, tail wagging, and leant against her leg with a contented sigh.

After a short time, Mather lifted his head and breathed out noisily through his mouth. ‘Sorry for getting emotional.’

‘I’ve seen worse.’

‘Yes, I suppose you have.’ He lifted his coffee then put it down again, untouched. ‘My wife liked Kate, you know. Despite the strange situation.’

‘I’m not surprised.’

‘She said she asked to meet her because even though our marriage has ended, she wanted to make sure I’d be happy. Does that sound genuine to you?’

‘Yes it does.’

‘I’m not sure if a man would think like that.’

‘Probably not.’

‘Has anyone told you what a good listener you are, Zoe?’

‘A couple of people, yes.’

‘You’ve made me feel a lot better.’

‘I’m pleased you felt able to come to me.’

‘I’ve not got many friends, probably because I’ve let work consume me. And a man of my age can’t keep running to his mother—not that mine’s ever home these days, anyway.’

Zoe remembered meeting the tall, elegant Bette Mather last November. ‘So she’s keeping well?’

‘Extremely well, thanks. It’s as though surviving the stroke has given her a new lease of life.’

‘Some people react like that to serious illness. They realise how precious life is and resolve to make the most of it.’

‘Kate’ll be like that when she wakes up, won’t she?’ Mather managed a brief smile. ‘Though she already does her best to enjoy life.’

‘Which can be exhausting for the rest of us, but I wouldn’t want her to change.’

‘I’m the one who’s going to have to change. I threw away what we had the first time and won’t risk doing it again.’

‘Are you sure that’s what she would want?’

‘I’m not saying I’m giving up my job. But Dave Trent manages to combine a successful marriage with police work, so it is possible.’ He sighed. ‘I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Kate’s lying in Intensive Care and I’m talking about getting married.’

‘Just make certain she’s properly awake before you propose.’

Mather threw back his coffee in one go and rose abruptly from the garden chair. ‘Thanks, Zoe.’

‘What are you planning to do now?’

‘Go home, get changed then head back to the BGH to see Kate
and
her family. I’m going to stop sneaking around when no one else is there.’

‘Are you okay to drive?’

‘After that coffee, I should be.’

‘I make it strong, I know. But are you sure?’

‘I’ll be fine.’

When they reached the front door, he said, ‘I’m glad to see you have a chain and spy-hole now.’

Zoe patted her stomach. ‘It’s not just me anymore. The new windows are more secure too.’

They embraced awkwardly, then Mather left.

Zoe waited for the inevitable call from Douglas expressing concern about his sister’s condition. When it came, she didn’t mention Mather’s visit but repeated her reassurance about Kate’s reaction to coming out of sedation being entirely normal. If only she could feel as confident as she tried to sound.

THIRTY

Wednesday was usually Zoe’s day off, but Walter’s renewed absence meant she took his morning surgery, much to the surprise of his patients. One middle-aged man refused to confide in her why he was there and left red-faced, but most of the others seemed pleased with the change. According to Margaret, who failed to suppress a smile when delivering the news, Walter’s sudden rush back to Wales had been caused by the buyer of his mother’s house threatening to pull out at the last moment, putting the purchase of his intended new home in jeopardy too.

‘Maybe he’ll decide to stay in the Borders after all,’ Zoe had said, forcing a laugh.

As soon as the last patient had left her consulting room, Margaret rushed in, too excited even to knock. ‘They’ve arrested someone for setting the Tolbyres fire,’ she announced. ‘My Hector’s just heard it on Radio Borders.’

‘Really? They seemed nowhere near finding him when I saw Sergeant Trent yesterday morning.’