Father Confessor by Russel D McLean

Author:Russel D McLean [McLean, Russel D]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Contemporary Fiction, Noir, Thrillers & Suspense, Crime, Crime Fiction, Thriller & Suspense, Literature & Fiction, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense
ISBN: 9781907869716
Amazon: B00943OHMG
Publisher: Five Leaves Publications
Published: 2013-11-06T11:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

We took a coffee in the reception. Standard vending machine fare; sour and unpleasant. Taste didn’t matter, really. Holding the drinks gave us something to do.

“Did you ever meet a colleague of your husband’s; a man named Kevin Wood?”

She laughed. At least I think it was a laugh. A sad little sound, halfway to a cry. “You mean the Deputy Chief Constable for Tayside?”

“Aye, that’ll be the one.”

“You know how much you annoyed George?”

“Probably the understatement of the year.”

She shrugged, as though saying I didn’t know what I was talking about. “Well, you were an annoyance, a pain in the arse… but he hated Kevin Wood. I mean seriously.” She licked at her lips as though they were suddenly drying up. “You know they joined the force in the same year? Only difference was, Kevin liked to play politics. And maybe more.”

“Corrupt?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. George never came out and said it, but then he didn’t like to make baseless accusations.” She smiled. “Maybe that sounds strange to you.”

I thought of the insults he’d thrown my way down the years. Wondered if I could really deny any of them. He used to make me angry, spitting mad. But the truth will do that to you.

I said, “What about Ernie Bright?”

Her forehead creased. She said, “You know how upset George was when he heard about that man’s death? I don’t know that I’ve seen him take anything so hard.”

When I was on the force, I remembered that at best Lindsay and Ernie Bright had maintained a professional relationship. But the tension between them had always been clear to those who cared to notice.

Ernie had once called it a “clash of personalities”, and I think maybe he meant that sincerely. But you didn’t have to like someone as a person to respect them as an officer. The world is more complex than that.

“I don’t remember anything about the two of them.” She shook her head. “After a while, if I’m honest, I forgot the details of what George used to say. Sometimes you just need someone to rant to. Not to remember everything you say to them.” She looked at me strangely. “Are you married?”

I shook my head. “I was engaged.”

She raised her free hand to her mouth. Gesture of shock. Eyes wide. “Oh God, I’m sorry. He told me and… you know he did everything he could to…?”

I didn’t want to hear this. Didn’t want to be reminded. Mrs Lindsay lowered her hand. “When he told me, I wanted to… I don’t know, I didn’t know you and I felt so sorry for you.”

When Elaine died, the worst part had been the sympathy. Words that became a blur of abstract sentiment. People going through motions because they didn’t know what else to do. That somehow hurt more than the memory, the fact that people were walking on eggshells around me, uncertain what to say, as though the slightest thing might set me off.

They meant well, of course.

Like Mrs Lindsay. She said she felt sorry for me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.