Death of a Valentine Read Online Free PDF Page A

work out some fund-raising scheme and build the damn thing ourselves.’
    There was an excited murmur as the news spread back through the crowd. The local minister, Mr Cluskie, mounted the platform and went to the microphone. He announced that Hamish Macbeth had come
up with a very good idea to save the seawall. He said a meeting would be held in the church hall on the following evening to discuss ideas for the fund-raising. This was greeted with loud cheers.
Then Hugh called for three cheers for Hamish Macbeth.
    Josie stood off to the side. She was a small woman but she began to feel smaller and smaller, diminished, melting in the heat.
    ‘The tiara!’ exclaimed Hamish and set off at a run.
    He knew that the tiara, when the procession reached the town hall, would be placed in a safe and replaced with a gold cardboard crown for the queen to wear for the rest of the
day.
    He jumped into the Land Rover and headed for the town hall in the centre. To his relief, Annie was being helped down from the float. The tiara was put back on the cushion, and Councillor Jamie
Baxter took it off into the hall. Hamish followed.
    ‘I just have to see it’s in the safe all right,’ he said to Jamie’s back.
    ‘Och, man, each year you worry and each year it’s fine. Sir Andrew Etherington’ll be down on the morrow to collect it as usual.’
    Nonetheless, Hamish insisted on supervising the installation of the tiara in the town safe.
    Then he returned to the fair and joined a miserable-looking Josie. After Hamish had run off, the crowd had shunned her as if she had the plague. ‘Let’s go over to the refreshment
tent,’ said Hamish. ‘We need to talk.’
    Josie trailed after him. ‘Sit down,’ ordered Hamish. ‘I’ll get some tea.’
    He returned with a tray bearing a fat teapot, milk, sugar, mugs and two sugar buns.
    ‘Now,’ he said, ‘you have to use your wits. You have to understand the local people. Where those bungalows are on the shore road was once considered a posh bit o’ the
town. Then the sea rose and rose. They got flooded time after time. Times are hard and now the people who own these houses wonder if they’ll ever see their money back. A good seawall would
stop the flooding. The houses could be repaired and be sellable again. Tempers are running high. They feel the provost and councillors have bankrupted the town. It should have been obvious to you
that Hugh was just trying to stop the provost.’
    ‘But he grabbed his chain! If that’s not theft then at least it’s assault.’
    ‘Look here, I go out of my way not to give normally respectable people a criminal record.’
    ‘What about targets?’
    ‘I never bother about government targets. Do you want me to get like thae English – arresting wee kids for carrying water pistols and giving some child a criminal record for carrying
a dangerous weapon, and all to meet targets?’
    ‘But if you don’t get enough targets, you don’t get promotions!’
    ‘I didn’t even want this promotion. I want to be left alone. Now drink your tea, and if you are not happy with the situation get back to Strathbane.’
    One fat tear rolled down Josie’s hot cheek, followed by another.
    ‘Oh, dinnae greet,’ said Hamish, alarmed. ‘You’ll need to toughen up if you want to keep on being a policewoman. It’s not your fault. They’d love you in
Strathbane for any arrest. Things are different up here.’ He handed her a soot-stained handkerchief which he had used that morning to lift the lid of the stove. He had to keep the stove
burning if he wanted hot water from the back boiler. He had an immersion heater on the hot water tank but he found it cheaper to use peat in the stove because peat was free. He had a peat bank up
at the general grazing area.
    Josie sniffed and wiped her face with a clean part of the handkerchief.
    ‘Drink your tea and we’ll go out. Look as if you’re enjoying the fun of the fair and folks will forget all about it. That Annie