Chapter 57
EDINBURGH
‘I thought I was fine,’ Alice told Brodie.
‘But I think I dozed off. Ivy kept playing with the bloody heater, telling me she was cold, even though it was summer. The heat made me doze off more than once, and we started arguing about it. Ivy took a tantrum and turned the heat right up. I dozed off at the traffic light. Didn’t even see the red light. Or the cyclists going through.’
‘It was pretty late at night for cyclists to be out, wasn’t it?’ Lucy said.
‘Later on, my lawyer told me the couple were out late because it was supposedly safer. They were doing a bit of training before going on a touring holiday. The woman was in front, and the man behind, but they were close together and I hit them square on. The car stopped and Moira jumped out. She said she couldn’t be there when the police showed up, because you were a detective and it would look bad for you.
She took off. The woman died, but the man survived, although he was badly injured.
He had a brain injury. Last year, Moira went to Spain with some of her pals.
She didn’t want to be in Edinburgh on the anniversary. ’
‘I remember her going on that holiday a year ago,’ Brodie said. ‘I thought she just wanted a break.’
‘What do you know about the man who was knocked down?’ Lucy asked. ‘And the woman?’
Alice sniffed, like she was either going to cry or her nose needed blowing.
‘They were engaged. They were both wearing helmets but his flew off just before his head hit a stone wall. He had a concussion, a broken hip, and a shattered pelvis, so my lawyer told me. The woman died on impact. I’m so ashamed. ’
‘Was this man called Peter?’ Brodie asked.
‘No. He was a surgeon and he lost his job afterwards. It affected his eyes and he had to wear red glasses afterwards. I’ll never forget that day as long as I live. But his name wasn’t Peter.’