Tremor of Demons by Frederic Lindsay

Author:Frederic Lindsay [Frederic Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780749017736
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Six

They kept silent on the way back to Edinburgh, each man busy with his own thoughts. It was late, and they settled on calling on Keeley Robertson’s mother the next morning. When he’d dropped the sergeant off, Meldrum took over the driving and was glad to be on his own. On the way down Leith Walk, he pulled in and bought a pie supper with onion rings. He put the heating on in his flat, lifted old newspapers off the chairs and made a pot of coffee, wandering about until the living room felt warm enough to sit in. Three minutes on reheat in the microwave and he emptied the parcel on to a plate and stuffed the crumpled greasy paper into the bin, which he’d forgotten again to empty.

The interview with Keeley Robertson’s father had left his mind full of memories of his own daughter, and it was hard for him not to feel that her life might have been better if he had been more there for her. In the slippery fashion of such self-criticism, he found himself going over her childhood and finding something to blame in himself even in the devotion he had given to his job.

Too restless to settle for the night, he felt a strong need to see his daughter and grandson. A phone call brought his ex-wife Carole to the phone and he asked, ‘Could I speak to Mr Corrigan, please?’ Told the husband was out, he promptly clapped the phone down, put on his jacket and went out. Twenty minutes later, he was at the house in Barnton.

When Carole opened the door, he caught her hesitation before letting him inside. Still in the hall, he said, ‘You look tired. Are you all right?’ Feeling protective towards her was a habit he’d never learned to break.

‘Was that you on the phone?’ And when he didn’t answer, ‘I knew it was. Right in the middle of saying Don was out, I knew.’

‘I just wanted to see Betty and the wee one.’

‘Betty’s out.’

‘Can I see Tommy?’

‘He’s—’ Had she been going to say the child was out, too? If so, she was forestalled.

A small voice drifted downstairs. ‘Gra-a-anny!’

Meldrum made a move towards the stairs, but she caught him by the sleeve. ‘Stay here!’

‘Why?’

‘Please. I’ll only be a minute.’

It would have been easy to take the flight in long strides after her, but his sense of discipline, of what it meant to be law abiding and, perhaps, his pride kept him still until she returned slowly down the stairs and made her way past him into the living room.

‘Can I have a seat at least?’

‘If you want to.’

‘I take it that means Corrigan won’t be back soon.’

As he spoke, he seated himself in one of the plump overstuffed chairs that surrounded the open fireplace. He knew the couple had been at this address for half a dozen years, yet looking round it struck him that the room seemed as fresh and empty of individuality as the furnished room in a showhouse.

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