Read Online Cast into Doubt by Patricia MacDonald - Free Book Online Page A

eat you’ll feel a bit better.’
    The smell of the soup caused a twisting of hunger in her stomach. Shelby hung her head. ‘Thank you. You’re very kind.’
    Christophe waved away her thanks and began to descend the stairs to the first floor. ‘If you need anything, call the desk,’ he said.
    Shelby closed the door and went out on to the balcony. She sat down in the chair and looked at the simple, lovely tray in front of her. She felt tears rising to her eyes again. Like a dam once breeched, tears trembled at the surface and seemed to spill over at will. Shelby took a deep breath, broke off a golden crust of the bread and dipped it into the soup. After the first bite, she picked up the spoon and began to eat and take a few sips of the wine.
    There was another tentative knock on her door. She turned in her chair.
    ‘Shelby, are you there?’ asked a familiar voice. ‘It’s Rob. Can I come in?’
    She hesitated, then walked over to the door and opened it. Her son-in-law, pale, disheveled and with a heavy five o’clock shadow, seemed to be propping himself up against the door-frame with one arm.
    ‘Is there any news?’ she said.
    Rob shook his head.
    Shelby turned away from the door, leaving it open behind her. She walked back out to the tiny balcony and sat down in her chair. Rob hesitated a moment, and then came into the room, closing the door behind him. He walked out to the balcony also and put a hand on the back of the other chair. ‘May I?’ he asked.
    Shelby nodded, but said nothing.
    Rob sat down gingerly on the small chair and looked at her tray of food.
    ‘Have you eaten?’ she asked.
    Rob shrugged. ‘Someone at the station got me a sandwich.’
    Shelby nodded, and broke off another corner of bread. She stared at it, wondering if she had the strength to chew it. ‘Did they say anything more?’
    Rob shook his head ‘Nobody is stating it outright, but I think they’re ready to rule it an accident. They think that Chloe fell over the railing . . .’
    Shelby glared at him. ‘Because you said she had a drinking problem.’
    Rob took a deep breath. ‘I know it’s upsetting to you, but it’s true,’ he insisted. ‘I’m sorry, but it is’
    ‘I don’t believe you,’ Shelby hissed. ‘My Chloe?’
    ‘Yes. Your Chloe.’
    ‘You made it up,’ Shelby said.
    Rob did not bristle at her accusation. ‘You don’t have to take my word for it. They have a record of the drinks she bought. They have film of her on the boat, buying them. Drinking them. Ask Chief Giroux.’
    ‘I heard all that.’
    ‘Then you know it’s true.’
    ‘A couple of drinks on vacation is not a drinking problem,’ Shelby snapped. ‘You implied that she was a problem drinker before you even went on this trip.’
    ‘She was,’ said Rob. ‘Well, actually I thought she’d stopped. She was attending AA meetings. But obviously she slipped.’
    ‘How you can sit there and say this to me? Chloe’s not in AA. She would have told me.’
    ‘I’m sorry, but she was. Her drinking was out of control.’
    ‘No,’ Shelby insisted. ‘That is not Chloe. She doesn’t do anything sloppy. She likes everything to be just perfect.’
    ‘That was an illusion. An illusion that was too hard for her to keep up.’
    ‘I don’t believe you,’ Shelby insisted.
    ‘Believe what you want,’ he said wearily.
    They sat in angry, uneasy silence.
    Rob sighed. ‘I know it’s a shock, Shelby. Believe me, it was for me, too, when I found out.’
    Shelby glared at him.
    Rob did not seem to notice. Or perhaps, he didn’t care. ‘I’d had my suspicions for a while,’ he said, ‘but . . . there was nothing specific. Then, oh, about a year ago, she went to pick up Jeremy at a play date and she didn’t come home,’ said Rob. ‘It was snowy and I was worried, so I called and she didn’t answer her phone. I went looking for her. I found the car jumped up on the curb in front of a vacant lot. Chloe was passed out behind the wheel. Jeremy