In Loving Memory (Honey Laird Book 3) by Gerald Hammond

Author:Gerald Hammond [Hammond, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2019-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

For the remainder of the evening, Honey was noticeably subdued. Even nursing Minka, which could usually be counted on to make her broody and contented, failed to raise her mood.

Sandy could hardly have failed to guess what was wrong. He decided to be brisk and bracing rather than invite more melancholy. ‘This isn’t like you,’ he said. ‘I thought you’d learned by now to stay detached from the tragedies. In this job, every case has to be a disaster for somebody. Empathizing with the victim only interferes with cool reason. The most you can do is to take comfort from the fact that you may be helping to prevent it happening again. And consoling the bereaved by letting them see retribution in action, even if it is secondary. We’re not in the revenge business, no matter what people think. Our job is to keep the villains out of society, even if society does its best to make the job difficult.’

‘I do know all that,’ Honey said coldly. ‘I’m not entirely an idiot. I know you believe that women think entirely with their emotions.’

‘I don’t think any such thing,’ Sandy protested. ‘If you were strictly honest, you’d probably accept that there are certain topics that the average woman and the average man tend to approach from different angles.’

‘I can accept that if you can accept that the woman’s approach is often the right one.’

‘Granted,’ said Sandy. ‘Provided that we don’t start arguing percentages. Let’s just say sometimes rather than often.’

Honey looked at him suspiciously before deciding to abandon that argument. ‘But I feel that I was getting to know the girl,’ she said. ‘I was coming to like her. She was being given a glimpse of happiness and now it’s over.’

‘And she was dying without regretting its passing. Most people who find happiness will move heaven and earth to keep it, which is impossible.’ Honey moved to interrupt but he hurried on. ‘Either happiness stays or it doesn’t, but the much advertised “pursuit of happiness” is self-defeating. If you chase a fly, you’ll find that it’s quicker than you are, but if you keep still it’ll land on you. Your friend Cheryl had come to terms with the fact that it rarely lasts forever. That was her view, rooted in experience,’ he amended hastily. ‘You and I are the exception that proves the rule. Her writing leaves you in no doubt that she was of a depressive turn of mind. You said that yourself.’ Sandy got up to mix drinks. A stiff brandy and anything could be counted on to improve Honey’s mood. When he was seated and sipping a Glenmorangie, he said, ‘At any given moment there must be in the world say – to pluck a figure out of the air – a million people absolutely miserable. And at the same time there may be another million who are deliriously happy. A month later, many of them may have exchanged moods. You can’t grieve for everybody who’s sad or rejoice for everybody who’s happy.

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