Read Online Indian Summer by Elizabeth Darrell - Free Book Online Page A

there. I never questioned what he told us to do. Seemed OK to me.’
    â€˜And you?’ Heather asked Rick Beavis, another dark-haired man.
    â€˜I trusted him. He was a born soldier. His problem was his missus, so far as I heard. Tried to stop him being deployed out there.’
    â€˜Wanted him to come out altogether,’ added Kelly. ‘Stupid cow! What else could he do that would give her a place to live in and all this base offers? He loved the Army.’
    â€˜He talked to you about his private affairs?’ asked Heather dryly.
    â€˜Look, it’s different out there. You’re in it together; living, sleeping, fighting in close proximity for six months. You can’t have a can or two, you can’t have a session with a girl. So you get very close, help each other, get your probs out in the open around a camp fire when there’s nothing but miles and miles of dark desert in every direction. You become a family out there.’
    Heather had heard this before. ‘So Flip Keane was in an aggressive mood over his wife’s demand?’
    Beavis smiled. ‘He was in an aggressive mood over the Taliban, who disturbed our peace.’
    Kelly replied more seriously. ‘He was real choked-up when we left here. A lot were. Saying goodbye to weeping wives and girlfriends. You know. The Corp had kids. He probably cared more about leaving them than getting away from Starr.’ He frowned and glanced at his friend. ‘Most guys are OK once they’re on their way, but he . . . we both thought he took a little longer to settle in than the others.’
    â€˜That’s right,’ agreed Beavis. ‘He was morose, edgy for several weeks. Did his job, but seemed to be fretting about something back here. Spent a lot of time calling home.’
    â€˜He was very nervy, at first.’
    â€˜That all changed when we ran into an ambush. The setting sun was in our eyes; couldn’t see the buggers moving around,’ Beavis explained. ‘It was a tricky one, Sergeant, but he got us out with whole skins. After that he always pulled out all the stops. Got us through anything, cool as you like.’
    Heather finished writing a note, then looked up. ‘You’ve described a man with courage, expertise and assurance, someone you liked and trusted, yet somebody killed him yesterday in a most specific way. Can you guess why, or who might do that to him? Had he enemies in the platoon, in B Company, or even in the battalion that you know of?’
    â€˜No,’ they said together.
    â€˜Can you think of any link Corporal Keane had with jellyfish or ocean creatures?’
    Kelly put forward an opinion. ‘Wasn’t it just a case of being convenient?’
    â€˜Unpremeditated murder is usually committed with the weapon nearest to hand in a sudden loss of control. That synthetic thing in a tank of deep water wouldn’t be the most convenient means of strangling a victim.’ She held up her hands. ‘These would be.’
    â€˜You’re saying someone planned it?’ asked Beavis. ‘It’s weird . He’d been in the desert for six months, nowhere near the ocean.’
    Realizing she was allowing the interview to run away from her with these pleasant young men, Heather fired a more pertinent question at them.
    â€˜What did you do yesterday from mid-morning until midnight?’
    They both looked startled. ‘You can’t think we killed him,’ cried Kelly.
    â€˜I need to know your movements during the Open Day. We’re checking out anyone who knew Keane in case they noticed anything that’ll lead us to the killer. Did either of you see him yesterday?’
    â€˜No,’ said Beavis. ‘We slept in late, then spent the morning running over the details and timetable of our trip, checking our gear, emailing Rob’s sister who we’ll be staying with for the first three days.’
    â€˜Then we had a late lunch and