Chapter 15 #2
Hayley scowled. ‘Is that Shakespeare?’ Bob was known to love the Bard, and could work him into a surprising number of conversations. More conversations than most people had the appetite for.
‘Yes. From Hamlet. She drowned, poor Ophelia.’
‘I’ve seen the painting.’ Hayley’s tone made it clear that that was the end of that discussion, but Bob carried on.
‘It’s not the same at all, of course. Ophelia slipped from the branch of a willow tree, whereas this lady—’
‘Esmeralda Gray,’ said Julia. ‘Her name was Esmeralda Gray.’
‘Right. Well, it seems Esmeralda Gray tripped over, rather than slipped off a branch, and, if I’m not mistaken, that’s an oak tree it came from. Certainly not a willow, at any rate.’
‘Okaayyy…’ said Hayley. She seemed to be wondering where he was going with all of this – as was Julia.
‘Of course, Ophelia drowned. But long it could not be / Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, / Pulled the poor wretch—’
‘That’ll do, Bob,’ said Hayley, sharply. ‘In your opinion, how did Esmeralda die?’
‘Ah, well, we will have to wait for the autopsy, but my guess would be either drowning, like—’ Hayley’s stern look put an end to any more intended Shakespeare references.
Bob tried again. ‘I’d say the cause of death is either the bump on the head which she must have sustained in the fall, or she knocked herself out in the fall, and then died by drowning.
Imagine, going out for a little walk, and…
’ He sighed. ‘Giddy Fortune’s furious fickle wheel, hey? ’
Julia caught Hayley’s eye. They decided, wordlessly, that it didn’t do to encourage Bob. Bob cleared his throat and turned away. ‘I’ll help the chaps get her into the van.’
The others were left standing in silence as the forensic team tended to the body.
‘How are you feeling?’ Julia asked Sean.
‘Okay. Bit rough,’ he said. He had been very quiet since his futile attempts at CPR.
The knees of his trousers were wet and sandy from kneeling on the riverbank.
His face was pale and pained. Julia dug in her bag and found what she was looking for, a half-roll of humbugs. ‘Sugar,’ she said. ‘For the shock.’
She held out the roll of sweets with a shaking hand. Sean took one wordlessly. She took one herself and popped it into her mouth.
‘What do you think, Sean?’ Hayley asked.
He looked at her blankly.
‘About Bob’s theories. Any idea about the cause of death?’
Sean didn’t answer immediately. It was so quiet that Julia could hear the clicking of the humbug against his teeth.
Just when it seemed he wasn’t going to answer, he said, ‘I’m no forensic pathologist, but I doubt the head injury alone would have done it.
I suppose it’s possible that the blow to the head might have knocked her out, and she might have drowned. ’
He sounded unconvinced, even as he said it.
‘So she tripped and knocked herself out, and fell in the river and drowned?’ said Julia. ‘It seems rather… unlucky. Unlikely, even.’
‘It does,’ said Hayley.
‘And isn’t it a strange coincidence that we should have met her yesterday?’ said Julia.
‘Indeed. Very strange,’ the detective said, scowling. Words like ‘unlikely’ and ‘unlucky’ and ‘strange’ and ‘coincidence’ did not sit well with Hayley.
Julia sighed, suddenly exhausted.
‘Oh, about tomorrow,’ said Hayley.
Julia looked at her blankly.
‘Sylvia’s birthday tea.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Julia had received an invitation to come and celebrate Hayley’s girlfriend’s birthday via text a week or so previously. ‘Sorry. I hadn’t forgotten, it slipped my mind for a minute, with what happened to Esmeralda. Two o’clock, right?’
‘Thereabouts,’ said Hayley with what looked like a very small eye-roll.
Julia looked down at her phone and scrolled to the relevant text. She read the invitation Come anytime between 2 and 5.
The invitation had instructed No gifts, but bring something yummy to eat or drink if you’d like to.
‘Bring something if you’d like to!’ Hayley said now. ‘What sort of catering plan is that?’
‘Oh, I’m sure it will all work out,’ Julia said. ‘What’s the worst that can happen? Two people bring sausage rolls?’
‘What about if no people bring sausage rolls?’ said Hayley.
‘That would be a big disappointment, but I suppose we wouldn’t starve,’ said Julia. Although she tried to sound unconcerned, she, too, found the arrangements rather scarily imprecise. Imagine if you ended up with nothing but a packet of crisps and a box of supermarket donuts. That wouldn’t do.
‘Anyway, there will be chocolate brownies. I’ve bought all the ingredients; I’m going to make them tonight,’ said Julia.
Perhaps this calming task would be good for her after the trauma of the day.
Her head was full of images of Esmeralda, her wry humour when they’d met the day before, and then today, her cold, pale face streaked with wet black hair and water weeds.
Julia couldn’t imagine putting on lipstick and good cheer tomorrow after what she’d witnessed today, but she knew she would have to.
‘Perhaps it’s best not to mention all of this death business in front of Sylvia,’ said Hayley. ‘I try not to go on about work too much. The bad bits, especially. It makes her sad.’
‘Me too. Very sad,’ said Julia. She leaned into Sean, feeling the warmth of him against her as he slipped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. ‘I won’t say a word. Promise.’