Lost River - Stephen Booth 3 стр.


Frustrated, he walked slowly back to the police vehicles. The River Dove was returning to its normal state after the excitement. Small brown birds with white bibs hopped from stones and plunged into the water after food. Dippers, they were called. It was said that crayfish and freshwater shrimps lived in this river. The water gave life to so many creatures. But it could take life away, too.

DC Cooper, are you okay? asked Wragg.

Yes. Why wouldnt I be?

Youre shivering.

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Youre shivering.

Oh, Im just cold.

Wragg stared at him with a baffled expression. He wiped the sweat from his own face with a handkerchief and squinted up at the glaring sun.

Oh, yeah. Chilly day, isnt it?

Cooper didnt reply. He couldnt tell Wragg what he really felt. It sounded too ridiculous. But right now, he felt chilled to the bone.

3

And that was it. The entire operation blown in a few seconds of inattention. Fry turned off the engine of the Audi, got out and stood on the pavement, waiting for Murfin and Hurst to join her.

What went wrong, boss? asked Murfin. He looked exhausted and irritable, perspiration standing out on his forehead.

I missed the signal, said Fry.

Thats tough.

He exchanged glances with Hurst, who stood in the background, unsure of her position, or what she was expected to do now. And who could blame her, when she was given this kind of poor leadership?

Fry couldnt stand the quizzical look the Murfin was giving her. As if she never made mistakes like everyone else. Well, she had to admit this was going to be an expensive mistake. Expensive in time and resources. And even more expensive in terms of damage to her career, when Detective Superintendent Branagh got to hear about it.

From the moment she arrived in E Division, Branagh had made it clear that she wasnt DS Frys biggest fan. Now she had just proved to the Super that she couldnt even organize a simple drugs surveillance. Piss-up and brewery would be words on Branaghs lips. Damn it, this was the worst thing that could have happened. And it was all Ben Coopers fault.

Emily Nield had been taken to the Royal Derby Hospital, which had a new Accident and Emergency department off the Uttoxeter Road, just outside the city. Cooper found her family sitting in A amp;E. Through a window, he could see a doctor already speaking to them, with that practised shake of the head that conveyed bad news. In this case, probably the worst news it could possibly be.

Cooper waited a few minutes, watching hospital staff come and go. He was unsure of his reception, and didnt want to rush in where he wasnt welcome. But he needed to know the worst. And somehow he also needed to make contact.

The father of Emily Nield had his back to the window, but Cooper could see he was a man in his forties, with short dark hair turning grey at the temples. He was dressed in the style that some politicians adopted when they were trying to look casual for the cameras. A blue shirt with the cuffs turned back on strong-looking wrists, cream chinos that were now stained around the knees. The mothers face was red and puffy, half hidden by a tissue. Cooper wondered where the boy was. Hadnt there been a teenage boy with them?

He caught the attention of the doctor as she came out and identified himself.

Yes, Im afraid Emily Nield was declared dead on arrival. Very sad.

Thank you. Can I speak to the parents?

If theyre willing.

Finally, he judged the moment was right, and went into the room to introduce himself.

Im very sorry, he said.

There had been so many times that those three words had seemed to convey very little. They were said without sincerity, with only self-interest in mind. But right now, they seemed to mean no more than the amount of breath hed used to inhale before he said them. What words could you say to parents whod just seen their youngest child die in front of their eyes?

He always hated meeting people for the first time in circumstances like these. It was impossible to know from looking at them what sort of people they had been before they were broken, before their world was turned upside down for ever. They might have been people full of joy, the kind who took the greatest delight in life, their expressions always lit up by smiles. No one would know that from their faces now. In just a couple of hours, the pain had been etched too deeply into their faces, the light in their eyes had been dimmed too far. Sometimes that light never returned.

It was always worst for parents, too. No parent should have to be present at the death of a child. It was contrary to the natural order of things. And Emily Nield had been, what eight years old? To Cooper, it felt like a tragedy beyond measure. He had no words that could express to the Nields the way he felt.

Mr Nield stood up and shook his hand in an awkward, solemn way. Nield was a tall man, an inch or two taller than Cooper when he was standing. The slight hunch of his shoulders suggested he was uncomfortable about his height.

We need to thank you, he said.

No. Theres no need, sir. I did nothing.

His thanks made Coopers throat tighten with a surge of emotion that he struggled to hide.

You tried, said Nield. You did your best for our little girl. Yes, you did your best. No one can say more than that in this world.

Cooper smiled. But when he looked the man directly in the eyes, his smile faded. He recognized him now. This was the man hed seen on the bank of the River Dove, hands raised as if in blessing. Yet a few minutes later, Nield had been standing in a little group with his family. Cooper wondered if his sense of time had been distorted during the incident. He would have to find out from Sergeant Wragg how long it had taken from the girl entering the water, or from the alarm first being raised. Possibly events had seemed to happen much faster than they really did.

Im Robert Nield, by the way, said the man. This is my wife, Dawn. Our son Alex is here somewhere. I think one of the staff took him out of the way ofWell, theyve all been very kind. They couldnt have treated us better.

Im Detective Constable Cooper.

Youre a policeman. We actually didnt realize that, did we, love?

Mrs Nield shook her head. She hadnt spoken yet, but at least her face appeared briefly from behind the tissue.

Im a detective with Derbyshire Constabulary.

We know a few of your people, said Nield, but I dont think Ive come across you before.

Im based in Edendale, sir.

That would explain it. Were Ashbourne people.

Yes, I know.

Nield looked at him curiously, as if he too was searching for an elusive memory, a connection that he wasnt quite making. Cooper was used to that look from people hed never met before. Often theyd known his father, a long-serving police sergeant of the old school whod practically been the centre of the community in Edendale. Sergeant Joe Cooper was known to thousands, even now. And those whod never met him in life knew of his death.

Well, it would come to Nield later, when he was thinking straight again. He could deal with it then.

I dont know what arrangements have been made, but I could run you home, said Cooper. My car is just outside.

Thats good of you. Id completely forgotten, but I left our car behind when we came in the ambulance.

In the Dovedale car park?

Yes.

If you like, we can drop your wife and son home, then Ill take you to pick up your car. How does that sound?

Excellent.

As long as you feel up to driving. If not, I can arrange for it to be taken care of.

No, Ill be fine. Well find Alex, and we can be off.

I keep thinking if only we could turn back the clock, said Dawn Nield as they walked to Coopers Toyota. Just a few minutes, or a few seconds. If only Id been watching Emily more closely, if we hadnt been throwing the stick for Buster, or wed chosen to go somewhere else that day instead of Dovedale. Robert said it would be crowded on a bank holiday. That was why we went early. If wed set off a bit later, we might not have been able to park the car, or there might have been more people around when it happened

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I keep thinking if only we could turn back the clock, said Dawn Nield as they walked to Coopers Toyota. Just a few minutes, or a few seconds. If only Id been watching Emily more closely, if we hadnt been throwing the stick for Buster, or wed chosen to go somewhere else that day instead of Dovedale. Robert said it would be crowded on a bank holiday. That was why we went early. If wed set off a bit later, we might not have been able to park the car, or there might have been more people around when it happened

Love, theres no point in tormenting yourself, said Nield.

No, youre right.

Dawn wiped her eyes and looked briefly at Cooper. He read everything in that fleeting glance. While she might tell her husband he was right, those were no more than the words that came automatically from her mouth. What was happening inside her head was a whole world away. He knew she would never stop tormenting herself, could never rid herself of the endless what ifs. That list of possibilities would run through her mind in a constant loop, the moments when history might have been changed, playing over and over again like scenes from a film she had never actually watched. For the rest of her life, she would still be asking herself: What if?

The drive back to Ashbourne on the A52 took only twenty minutes. Cooper was glad it wasnt a longer journey. The atmosphere in the car became uncomfortable as the Nields fell silent, each of them absorbed in their own thoughts. Hed tried to fill in some of the silences himself, but there was a limit to how much you could say in these circumstances without starting to sound ridiculous and insincere.

Ashbourne was a town built mostly of red brick, which made it look totally different from the limestone and millstone grit of Edendale to the north. This was clay country, softer than the White Peak, less forbidding than the bleak moorlands of the Dark Peak.

At school, in Geography lessons, Cooper had learned the significance of the boundary of Red Triassic rock which ran from Ashbourne to Thorpe, leaving the limestone gorge of Dovedale in startling contrast on the other side.

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