‘Who are you looking for, dear?’
‘DI… er… Mr Manson.’
‘The foot or the elbow? They’re both Mansons.’
‘Eric, the foot. Is he all right now?’
‘Fine. Everything’s under control. He’ll be out in the next day or so. You’ll find him in the second to last on the left.’
Bag swinging uncomfortably, Alice made her way to the bottom of the ward, but stopped a few beds away from the man. He was lying asleep, snoring gently, with both his hands above the covers, his wife holding each of his in hers. It was a picture of marital devotion, and one she was reluctant to disturb. So she handed her gift to an auxiliary and left the hospital, deep in thought, wondering if she would ever be loved as he appeared to be. All imperfections accepted.
‘Everything done?’ Ian Melville asked, opening the car door for her.
‘Everything done.’
‘To the beach, then?’
‘To the beach. The beach at Tyninghame.’
About the Author
Gillian Galbraith grew up near Haddington in Scotland. She worked for many years as an advocate, specialising in medical negligence and agricultural law cases. Before qualifying in law she worked for a time as an agony aunt in magazines for teenagers. She was also the legal correspondent for the Scottish Farmer and has written law reports for The Times. Her first book, Blood in the Water, An Alice Rice Mystery, was published in 2007, and this was followed in 2008 by Where the Shadow Falls. A third Alice Rice mystery, Dying of the Light, was published in 2009. She lives deep in the country near Kinross with her husband and child, cats, dogs, hens and bees.
