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

now.’
    Zoe wondered where he had got that idea from. ‘I believe there are a few layers of management above him, although he does seem to attend a lot of meetings.’
    Paul coloured slightly. ‘Was the boy dead before he hit the water?’
    ‘I couldn’t find any indications of drowning. And there’s evidence he’d been pushed off the bridge rather than jumped from it of his own accord. But we’ll have to wait for the post mortem to be sure.’
    Paul sighed. ‘He looked so young in the photograph Trent had on his phone. What a wicked world this is when a teenager taking his own life is the least bad alternative.’
    ‘George said he spoke no English, and if he wasn’t living around here, identifying him is going to be difficult. And without knowing who he is, how will the police find out who killed him?’ Zoe paused, aware of the distress which had crept into her voice. She must control these emotions.
    Paul reached out and patted her arm. ‘Now we know we’re not involved, let’s talk about more cheerful things. How’s your building work coming along? Will everything be done in time for the baby?’
    ‘They’ve finished indoors already. This weather’s helped—no days have been lost to rain at all. Outside’s still a mess but that’s hardly a priority.’
    ‘It was a wise decision to stay there.’
    ‘I was lucky Robbie Mackenzie let me have the cottage. Kate says he never usually sells any of his properties. I have her to thank for that.’
    ‘It’s not what you know but who you know round here. And didn’t he fix you up with a good builder too?’
    ‘Better than the one I had before, that’s for sure.’ Zoe’s smile faded as she remembered the steading conversion she had planned to make her home. She was about to return their conversation to safer territory by asking after Paul’s son when a knock sounded on the door and Colin Barclay entered the room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Paul wasn’t alone.
    ‘Sorry for interrupting, Doctors. I’ll come back later.’
    ‘I was about to leave,’ Zoe said, rising from her chair. ‘He’s all yours.’
    ‘There’s nothing you can’t say in front of Zoe,’ Paul said. ‘You look worried. Is there a problem?’
    Colin moved forward, stopping at Zoe’s side and giving her a close-up of the tattoo on his forearm nearest her, an anchor entwined with rope which she knew was matched by a compass on the other arm. She remembered the first time Walter had spotted these and caused such a stooshie—her favourite of the Scots words she’d learnt in the past year—that Margaret had felt obliged to call her out of surgery to calm things down. All of Walter’s prejudices, which had nearly succeeded in blocking Colin’s recruitment, had come to a head and resulted in a ferocious verbal assault against the male practice nurse. Having herself been the subject of Walter’s resentment for several months after joining the practice, Zoe had admired the dignity with which Colin handled the situation. An uneasy truce now existed between the two men, although this worked mainly because they avoided each other whenever possible.
    ‘That dead boy the policeman showed us on his phone,’ Colin said. ‘When I was putting the signed prescriptions into an envelope to take to the chemist I remembered something.’
     

FIVE
    Colin fidgeted with the pen tucked into the breast pocket of his tunic. ‘I said I’d never seen the boy, but now I’m not so sure.’
    ‘You need to tell Sergeant Trent,’ Zoe said. ‘People often don’t remember things when they’re asked. It isn’t till later, when they’ve had a chance to think, that something comes to them.’
    ‘I don’t want to waste anyone’s time. Or look an idiot.’
    ‘Why do you think the police do appeals on the television?’ Paul said. ‘They know it jogs people’s memories.’
    ‘What exactly is it you’ve remembered?’ Zoe asked.
    ‘I think I did see the dead boy, yesterday at the