Cold Vengeance by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child Read Free Book Online Page B

Esterhazy. “Dr. Esterhazy, do you agree that you are a properly interested person in this matter?”
    Esterhazy nodded. “I do.”
    “And you have declined, of your own free will, to retain a solicitor?”
    “That is correct.”
    “Very well. Before we begin, let me remind all present of Coroner’s Rule 36: an inquest is not a gathering in which any civil or criminal liability can be assigned—although we can determine if the circumstances meet certain legal definitions of culpability. The determination of culpability is a matter to be taken up separately by the courts, if warranted. Are there any questions?”
    When the room remained silent, Ainslie nodded. “Then let us proceed to the evidence. We shall begin with a statement from Ian Cromarty.”
    Inspector Balfour listened as the lodgekeeper spoke at some length of Pendergast and Esterhazy—of his initial impressions of them, of how they had shared dinner together the night before, of how Esterhazy had burst in the following morning crying that he had shot his brother-in-law. Next, Ainslie questioned a few of the Kilchurn Lodge guests who had witnessed Esterhazy’s frantic, disheveled return. Then he turned to Grant, the gamekeeper. As the proceedings continued, Ainslie’s face remained an astringent mask of disapproval and suspicion.
    “You’re Robert Grant, correct?”
    “Aye, sir,” the wizened old man replied.
    “How long have you been gamekeeper at Kilchurn?”
    “Going on thirty-five years, sir.”
    At Ainslie’s request, Grant described in detail the trek to the site of the accident and the death of the search dog.
    “How common is it for hunters from your lodge to venture into the Foulmire?”
    “Common? It isnae common. It’s agin the rules.”
    “So Pendergast and Dr. Esterhazy here violated those rules.”
    “That they did.”
    Balfour could see Esterhazy stirring uncomfortably at this.
    “Such behavior signals a lack of judgment. Why did you let them go out on their own?”
    “Because I recalled them from before.”
    “Go on.”
    “The pair of them were here once, some ten, twelve years back. I took them out meself, I did. Bloody good shots, knew exactly what they were doing, especially Dr. Esterhazy here.” Grant nodded in the doctor’s direction. “If I couldna vouch for that myself I’d never have let them out without a guide.”
    Balfour sat up in his seat. He’d known that Pendergast and Esterhazy had hunted at Kilchurn before, of course—Esterhazy had mentioned as much in one of the interrogation sessions—but the fact that Grant had taken them out and could vouch for Esterhazy’s being an excellent shot was news to him. Esterhazy had always played down his skill. Balfour cursed himself for not having discovered this nugget on his own.
    Next, it was his own turn to speak. Balfour described his arrival at the lodge; Esterhazy’s emotional state; the search for the body and the dragging of the pool; and the subsequent fruitless search of the moors and surrounding hamlets for any sign of a body. He spoke slowly and carefully. Ainslie listened intently, interrupting only infrequently with questions.
    When he was done, Ainslie peered about. “And in the ten days since the shooting was reported,” he said, “the police have continued their searches?”
    “That is correct,” Balfour replied. “We dragged the pool not once, but twice, and then a third and fourth time. We also dragged the surrounding pools. We used bloodhounds to try to pick up a trail from the accident scene. They found no trace, although to be sure there had been very heavy rains.”
    “So,” said Ainslie, “you have found no independent evidence Pendergast is dead, nor any evidence he is still alive. Is that correct?”
    “Correct. We did not recover his body or any personal effects, including his rifle.”
    “Inspector,” Ainslie said, “have you found Dr. Esterhazy to be cooperative in this matter?”
    “For the most part, yes. Although he