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Back A Change of Circumstance
Chapters (67)
  1. Cover
  2. One
  3. Two
  4. Three
  5. Four
  6. Five
  7. Six
  8. Seven
  9. Eight
  10. Nine
  11. Ten
  12. Eleven
  13. Twelve
  14. Thirteen
  15. Fourteen
  16. Fifteen
  17. Sixteen
  18. Seventeen
  19. Eighteen
  20. Nineteen
  21. Twenty
  22. Twenty-One
  23. Twenty-Two
  24. Twenty-Three
  25. Twenty-Four
  26. Twenty-Five
  27. Twenty-Six
  28. Twenty-Seven
  29. Twenty-Eight
  30. Twenty-Nine
  31. Thirty
  32. Thirty-One
  33. Thirty-Two
  34. Thirty-Three
  35. Thirty-Four
  36. Thirty-Five
  37. Thirty-Six
  38. Thirty-Seven
  39. Thirty-Eight
  40. Thirty-Nine
  41. Forty
  42. Forty-One
  43. Forty-Two
  44. Forty-Three
  45. Forty-Four
  46. Forty-Five
  47. Forty-Six
  48. Forty-Seven
  49. Forty-Eight
  50. Forty-Nine
  51. Fifty
  52. Fifty-One
  53. Fifty-Two
  54. Fifty-Three
  55. Fifty-Four
  56. Fifty-Five
  57. Fifty-Six
  58. Fifty-Seven
  59. Fifty-Eight
  60. Fifty-Nine
  61. Sixty
  62. Sixty-One
  63. Sixty-Two
  64. Sixty-Three
  65. Sixty-Four
  66. Sixty-Five
  67. Sixty-Six

‘He won’t have meant to kill himself. Either he had a contaminated batch of heroin, and whatever was in it caused his death, or he may not have used for a while, so his system had been without a heroin fix for long enough to react massively when he did inject again. I’m pretty sure this was unintentional, Lynn.’

‘We won’t know, will we? We won’t ever know.’

‘I’m sorry. Listen, there are people you can talk to about this . . . you should think about getting some kind of help. It can be just a phone call or two. Don’t let it overwhelm you . . . you’re going to grieve, of course you are, but things can fester if you let them. If you want me to put you in touch with someone, give me a call, email me. I have to go but don’t forget. And thank you again for doing this. You’re very courageous.’

She was still standing beside her own car, staring at nothing, when he drove away.

Eleven

There had been a frost the previous night, and a thaw during the day, so that Starly’s pavements were slick and black, and as he turned to lock his car, Serrailler slipped and went down on his back, stunned for a moment, feeling a pain in his lower vertebrae which did not bode well. His height meant that he had suffered intermittently from back pain since his late teens and it had worsened in the last year. He could still walk long distances but his climbing days were numbered. He could still do most things but he suffered for it afterwards.

He was so used to his prosthetic arm now that he forgot it most of the time. It did not greatly hamper him and though he had played his last cricket match he was happy to umpire. But as he tried to get to his feet now, he put his weight on his left arm and slipped again.

‘Have you hurt yourself? Bloody potholes in these paths.’

The man looked no younger than seventy.

‘Thank you, that’s kind, but I’m fine.’

‘You don’t look it. Here, hold on to me and let me take your weight, use your other arm to steady yourself.’

He did so and was upright in three seconds. His coat was muddy and his trousers wet but otherwise he had got off lightly. He simply felt a bloody fool to have needed help from an old man with a stick, who was now walking away without fuss.