Last to Die: A totally gripping Scottish crime thriller (DS Malkie McCulloch Book 2) by Doug Sinclair

Author:Doug Sinclair [Sinclair, Doug]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2024-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-FIVE

Malkie parked outside the Lothians Ex-Services Outreach Centre on the north side of Airngath Hill. He forced himself to stop, to make the effort to enjoy the simple pleasure of the stunning view, clear and bright across the Forth Estuary to the low hills of Fife. He watched the shadows of clouds roll across their mottled and muted green and brown slopes. For a few seconds, he lost himself, let his eyes wander across the vista. He considered getting away with his dad, across the bridges and north-west, maybe a cabin on the coast, spend the days walking and the evenings doing jigsaws with pieces missing eating rubbish and watching the sun set on the other side of the massive grey Atlantic. It had been too long. The last time, it had been the three of them, but he and Dad had to start facing up to the future at some point.

Investigations during his previous case had led him here to the Outreach Centre in a search for Walter Callahan, a troubled ex-squaddie with PTSD who ended up on the run and getting shot for something he didn’t do. The cruelty and injustice of that case, still raw and painful from only three months ago, haunted Malkie, and always would. The wrong man dead and in the ground and the man who should be there walking around free. Malkie had interrogated himself many times since that case was closed, and rated his performance during the investigation somewhere worse than woeful.

He promised himself he’d take some leave and get him and his dad away for some peace and quiet and restorative boredom. Just as soon as he found little old Lillian Crosbie. When he’d broken his jinx and finished at least this job with the right result.

He turned to face the main building. Set into a high drystone wall was an iron gate, its glossy black paint glinting in the lunchtime sunshine. The impressive lady who ran the place, Dame Helen Reid, had told him he was welcome to visit the private cemetery that lay beyond that gate as often as he wished. Malkie couldn’t bring himself to believe she thought he’d done all he could to save Callahan, but she’d made the effort to let him know at least that she didn’t blame him.

He climbed out of his car and stood for a while, one elbow resting on the top of the open door. He watched the zinc and glass front of the modern annexe built onto the side of the original Edwardian pile which he knew from two previous visits housed the admin and medical departments and the residents’ rooms. The new annexe held the dining room and physiotherapy suite and a hydrotherapy pool.

He took a long, deep breath that did nothing to calm his nerves. As much as he wished he could, he allowed himself no illusions; he wasn’t here to make abject apologies to the man he’d failed to save from an armed police officer’s bullets. At least, not only for that reason.

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.