Cold Heart by Lynda La Plante Read Free Book Online Page A

the edge of the garden, so I called Harry, wondering if he was messing about.’
    ‘Messing about?’
    ‘Yeah. Sometimes he’d take pot-shots at the birds. It used to make me mad as hell, because once he killed one.’
    Lorraine doodled on her pad as Cindy went into a long monologue on how she loved all of nature’s creatures. Finally she interrupted, ‘You know, Cindy, if you’re found guilty of murdering your husband, you’ll be locked up in a prison and you’ll be hard pushed to hear a single tweet. Now I know it may be tedious, but I have to ask all these questions so I know exactly what I should—’
    ‘I never killed him,’ the girl said, red-faced with anger.
    ‘I know you didn’t, but you’re to stand trial for it, unless—’
    ‘I never killed him. I found him, that’s all.’
    ‘So, will you close your eyes and tell me exactly what you did, from the time the noise woke you to the moment you discovered your husband’s body?’
    Cindy covered her eyes with her hands. ‘You mean, like creatively visualize?’ Clearly this was something she was familiar with.
    ‘Just tell me what happened.’
    ‘After the bang, I called out his name,’ Cindy began. ‘When I got no reply, I picked up my towel, and my sun creams and my straw hat. I went into the bedroom and decided I’d have a swim. I didn’t have anything on – I sunbathe naked – so I put my swimsuit on and got a big outdoor towel. Then I heard another bang – I was pretty sure it was a gun this time, so I put on my mules and went downstairs . . .’ She withdrew her hands from her face, and her big blue eyes stared ahead. ‘I went to the pool and put my towel on the chair by the table. I saw Harry’s towel, his sandals, and his cigarette packet. I looked around because one cigarette was smoked down – there was a long line of ash on it.’
    Cindy blinked, and Lorraine noticed that she was looking at herself in the mirrors again as she spoke.
    ‘I was about to dive in so I went to the deep end. First thing I noticed was the water was kind of pink, and then I saw him. I called out his name – he was lying face down, arms outstretched – but I knew something bad had happened, and I started to scream. I screamed and screamed.’
    ‘How long was it before someone came out to you?’
    Cindy stared at herself and Lorraine had to repeat the question.
    ‘I don’t know, it seemed a very long time. Then Juana came out, with Jose just behind her, and she said to me, she said . . .’
    For the first time since they had come into the gym Lorraine saw some emotion. ‘She said to me, “Holy Mother, Mrs Nathan, what have you done?”’
    Lorraine waited, watching Cindy closely. The girl’s breathing had become irregular, and she was swallowing rapidly. ‘Go on, Cindy. Then what happened?’
    ‘Jose jumped into the pool, and he said, “She’s shot him! She’s shot him!’” She gulped air into her lungs, her chest heaving. ‘They dragged him to the shallow end. I could see white bone . . . and they couldn’t lift him out.’ She shuddered.
    Lorraine tapped her notebook. ‘Go on.’
    ‘They called the police, I guess.’
    Lorraine looked up. ‘But Cindy, you told me you called the police.’
    Cindy blinked. ‘Oh, yes, that’s right. I did.’
    Lorraine made a note that the call to her office had come in at just after eleven o’clock. If Cindy couldn’t recall contacting the police, maybe she couldn’t remember calling Lorraine either.
    Cindy continued, ‘I called Mr Feinstein, because the next thing the garden was full of people and someone brought me some brandy. I was still by the pool, but sitting on one of the wooden chairs, and all I could think of was that he’d been sitting where I was sitting, smoking that cigarette. Then Mr Feinstein said to me, “Cindy, they want to take you into the station to ask you some questions,” and that it would be best if I got dressed.’ Cindy began to twist a strand of her blonde hair