Too Soon a Death: A Scottish mystery where cosy crime meets tartan noir: Borders Mysteries Book 2 Read Online Free PDF

said, ‘You had your fill of policemen last year. If I’d been on the desk, I wouldn’t have let that laddie near you this morning. I’ve told Penny she should have made him wait for Doctor Paul. A dead body wasn’t going anywhere.’
    ‘I didn’t mind.’ Zoe’s mobile rang. She pulled it out of her bag. ‘Excuse me, I need to take this.’
    She knew who was ringing her but still hadn’t settled on what to call him. ‘Hello.’
    ‘Hello, Zoe. Can you speak?’
    ‘Yes. I’m at the health centre but not taking surgery. How are you?’
    ‘Well, thanks.’
    ‘And Helen?’
    ‘Oh, you know how it is. She has good days and bad. Today’s not one of her good ones.’
    ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
    ‘I was just calling to say I’ll be later than planned tomorrow. Have to wait for the MacMillan nurse to arrive. Can we say twelve o’clock rather than eleven?’
    ‘Of course, not a problem. We can make it even later, if you want.’
    ‘No, I can be there for midday. Have a safe journey over.’
    ‘Thanks. See you then.’
    Margaret’s head turned away just a little too quickly when Zoe looked over at her, but unless her lip-reading was even better than Kate’s, she couldn’t have known what Zoe was saying, let alone who she was speaking to.
    Paul’s consulting room door was wide open, signalling he didn’t have a patient with him. Zoe gave a start as she entered the room and he looked up at her.
    ‘Your beard’s gone.’
    ‘Hello, my dear.’ He ran a hand down one side of his face. ‘Come and sit down. Yes, for the first time in about twenty years.’
    ‘Did you get too hot?’
    Paul cleared his throat. ‘No, I just thought it was time for a change.’
    Unconvinced this was the real reason but not wanting to pry, Zoe said, ‘It suits you.’
    ‘Thank you. I think I owe you an apology. It should have been me who went with the policeman this morning. I heard you had to clamber down a steep path to the river’s edge, which couldn’t have been easy, given . . .’ His voice trailed away.
    ‘Given I’m so huge now,’ Zoe said, smiling. ‘It wasn’t easy but I managed. The annoying part was I couldn’t help them once I got there. And I made myself unpopular with Doctor Ferguson, the police doctor.’
    ‘I heard that too, but don’t worry. We’ve all had spats with him.’
    ‘Sergeant Trent suggested he isn’t the easiest person to handle. Even so, I can’t believe he managed to fall out with you.’
    ‘We worked together years ago and he hated how I did things. Accused me of being a pushover, said I needed to be less familiar and more assertive with the staff. As if that was the secret to getting the most out of people.’ Paul straightened his trademark tartan tie which, despite the heat, was still firmly knotted around his collar. ‘I suppose we should make allowances for him. He’s never been the same since his wife took off with her gym instructor.’
    After allowing a moment’s silence to signal her sympathy for Ferguson, Zoe asked, ‘How much did Sergeant Trent tell you when he came here?’
    ‘Only that the body of a young Asian boy has been found on the bank of the Tweed near the Chain Bridge and he had a piece of paper with our address and phone number in his back pocket. You didn’t recognise him but his hands had been professionally bandaged, so the chances are he’s been here for treatment.’
    She shook her head. ‘I’ve just come from speaking to George Romanes. He’s the one who bandaged the boy’s hands. He also gave him the note because the burns were so bad he thought a doctor should treat them. He’ll have spoken to Sergeant Trent about it by now, so we’re out of the loop.’
    ‘What a pity you had to be dragged into the situation at all.’
    ‘My only concern is that the police find out who the boy was and why someone killed him.’
    ‘DCI Mather thinks it was murder, then?’
    ‘He wasn’t there.’
    ‘Oh. I thought he ran things down here