Dreaming of the Bones

do, probable heart attack.”
    ”Oh, no,” breathed Gemma, shaking her head. ”It’s so hard to believe. She seemed so well on Sunday.”
    ”I don’t believe it, Gemma.” Sid put his ears back, affronted, and Kincaid made an effort to lower his voice. ”It’s just too much bloody coincidence.”
    Warily, Gemma said, ”What are you talking about?”
    ”If you discount all the suicidal trappings, Lydia Brooke died suddenly and unexpectedly of heart failure, too.”
    ”But Lydia had a heart condition,” protested Gemma. ”Her heart failure was brought on by an overdose of her own medication.”
    ”And what if the suicide was manufactured? What if someone gave Lydia an overdose of her medication? That’s what Vic suspected, even though she tiptoed round the obvious.”
    ”But why? Why would someone kill Lydia ?”
    ”That’s what Vic was trying to discover. And I didn’t take her seriously.” Kincaid finally looked at Gemma, and saw the truth of it reflected in her eyes.
    ”You couldn’t have known,” Gemma said softly, but they both knew it didn’t absolve him. ”This is all speculation. And Vic didn’t have a heart condition, did she?”
    ”Now you’re arguing against yourself. That makes it all the less likely that she would die of heart failure, and it wouldn’t keep an overdose of heart medication from doing the damage.”
    ”No, I suppose you’re right,” Gemma admitted. ”But you can’t be sure of anything until the toxicology scans come back.”
    ”Bloody Alec isn’t even treating it as a crime scene.” Kincaid moved restlessly, causing Sid to stir in his lap. ”You can’t very well blame him, under the circumstanc—”
    ”I can and I will, if the PM results come back positive. It’s sloppy police work, and you know it.” He glared at her, then, seeing her expression, said contritely, ”I’m sorry, Gemma. I don’t mean to be churlish. It’s just that...”
    ”Do you want me to go?”
    He stood up, dumping Sid unceremoniously to the floor, and went to the French windows. He looked out onto the darkened balcony, and after a moment said, ”No. Stay. Please.” Turning to face her again, he asked, ”What about Toby?”
    ”Hazel offered to keep him for the night,” she said, then frowned. ”Duncan, what about Kit?”
    ”That’s another thing.” He came back to the sofa long enough to retrieve his glass, then began to pace. ”No one seems to know how to contact his father, so he’s gone to his grandparents.”
    ”So?” said Gemma, sounding puzzled. ”I’d think that would be the best thing.”
    ”You don’t know them,” he said vehemently, and felt surprised at the bitterness in his voice. ”Oh, I suppose you’re right, and I’m letting my dislike of them color my judgment. But Kit was sa... desolate.” He cleared his throat. ”I shouldn’t have let them take him away.”
    ” Duncan , don’t be absurd. What else could you have done?”
    ”We keep coming back to that, don’t we? Nothing, nothing, and nothing! But I feel so bloody useless!”
    They stared at each other for a long moment, then Gemma sighed. ”I think I’ll go to bed. Leave you on your own for a bit. All right?”
    He nodded. ”Sorry, love. I’ll be along soon.”
    She came to him and laid her hand lightly against his cheek, then she turned away and went into the bedroom.
    Kincaid listened to the click of the door closing, and in the silence that followed he heard the cat begin to purr. Sid had jumped into Gemma’s spot on the sofa, and stood kneading his paws against the warm cushion, his eyes slit-ted in pleasure.
    ”You’re easy enough to comfort, aren’t you, mate?” Kincaid asked softly. ”Maybe I should take lessons.”
    Tipping Gemma’s untouched whisky into his own glass, he went to stand at the window again. He saw his own reflection, distorted by the lights in the house opposite, alien and unfamiliar.

10

    In the sweet gloom above the brown and white
    Night benedictions hover; and the winds of night
    Move gently round the room, and watch you there,
    And through the dreadful hours
    The trees and waters and the hills have kept
    The sacred vigil while you slept,
    And lay a way of dews and flowers
    Where your feet, your morning feet, shall tread.

    RUPERT BROOKE,
    from ”The Charm ”

    Gemma woke suddenly, her heart thumping in the darkened room. It took her a moment to realize that she was in Duncan’s bed, rather than her own, and that she was alone. He had