Deep Blue Sea by Tasmina Perry Read Free Book Online Page A

understand it. Life was good. Julian was happy. And the business? Business is good, isn’t it?’
    She looked directly at Elizabeth, who was on the senior management team of the Denver Group.
    ‘Yes, it is. But no one knows what’s going on in someone’s head. Who can say what was upsetting Jules? There were the pregnancies, for example.’
    Diana noted how careful Elizabeth was to avoid the words ‘miscarriages’ and ‘stillbirth’. No one wanted to be reminded of more death.
    Even so, she knew her sister-in-law had a point. Two miscarriages in eighteen months had been hard enough, but then to follow that with the horror of the stillbirth . . . their shared joy of carrying Arthur to twenty-four weeks only to discover that his heart had stopped beating. Diana had been forced to give birth to him and then bury his tiny body, and it had almost destroyed her. A life snatched away before it had lived. And yet through it all, Julian had been her rock, holding her hand, smoothing her hair, telling her it would be all right. He had seemed strong, so strong. Had that all been an act? Had it hurt him as much as it had hurt her? Would she ever know?
    ‘Was there anything else?’ asked Sylvia, looking at Ralph. ‘Did the coroner say anything?’
    ‘Apparently the post-mortem examination showed no signs of a third-party involvement,’ said the old man carefully.
    ‘Third-party involvement?’
    Anxiety fluttered in Diana’s belly. The police had spent at least an hour interviewing her in Notting Hill. She thought it had been to get the fullest possible picture of the night that Julian had died, but had it actually been done with a different agenda?
    Ralph held up a steadying hand. ‘He said that further enquiries should take six to eight weeks, after which they’ll hold the full inquest. Should be around mid-July.’
    Mrs Bills came in with a tray, which she put down on the antique console table.
    ‘So what happens now?’ asked Diana, trying to calm herself.
    ‘The coroner’s office will collect information, make a date for the hearing. Some of us will have to go to court, unless the coroner thinks that’s not necessary, although I have spoken to my lawyer and it’s likely that you will have to give evidence,’ added Ralph, glancing at Diana.
    She looked away, feeling sick. The idea of it, of standing up as a witness to recount the events of that night . . . It was bad enough going over and over it in her own head, but to share it in public, to answer questions about their relationship in front of strangers?
    ‘I can’t,’ she said quietly.
    Ralph looked solemn. ‘I have to say I agree with you. I don’t know what public inquests achieve other than more heartbreak.’
    ‘The point is to get to the bottom of what’s happened,’ said Elizabeth brusquely. ‘Isn’t that more important than some bruised feelings?’
    ‘Elizabeth, please. We know what’s happened,’ snapped Ralph, his cheeks reddening slightly.
    Diana frowned. ‘You know? What do you mean?’ she asked, catching a look of complicity between father and daughter.
    ‘Julian’s depression,’ said Elizabeth flatly.
    Diana could feel the slow rise of panic. ‘Julian wasn’t depressed,’ she replied.
    Ralph met her gaze. He looked crestfallen, deflated. ‘Perhaps it wasn’t obvious at the time, but yes, Julian had depression,’ he said.
    ‘I think I know my husband.’
    Ralph looked across at Sylvia. ‘Could you give me a moment alone with your daughter? Elizabeth, you too.’
    Elizabeth looked reluctant, but finally she and Sylvia left the room. Ralph pushed himself up on his walking stick and came over to sit next to Diana.
    ‘Julian suffered from depression,’ he said softly. ‘Before you.’
    Diana didn’t know how to react. It was as if Ralph was talking about someone she didn’t know. She had always felt like an outsider in this family, and even now, even after Julian’s death, she was discovering that she had been