Free Does Your Mother Know? by Maureen Jennings

shoulder and I guessed the ambulance men were bringing down MacAulay’s body. Andy and Coral-Lyn didn’t notice, since she was busy whispering comforting words into his ear.
    I brought Lisa’s attention back to me. “How soon after you came into the house, did you go upstairs?”
    “Not right away. There was a dreadful smell, and I thought something had been left in the rubbish bin and gone rotten. I went into the kitchen to look, but the bin was empty. I threw open some of the windows.” She bit her lip. “I realized the house was unnaturallyquiet. Tormod always played his radio or sometimes the television, but I couldn’t hear anything. I called out to him a few times, but of course there was no answer.”
    She paused and I could see her remembering what happened next. I nodded sympathetically.
    “I went up to the bedroom.”
    Andy and his fiancée were both listening now.
    “As soon as I opened the door and saw him on the bed, I knew he was dead. I ran back downstairs and telephoned Dr. MacBeth. Tormod’s been ill for a little while, you see, and Dr. MacBeth was his doctor.”
    “What did you do after that?”
    “I telephoned Andy on his mobile phone and asked him to come at once.”
    “We were still at the airport,” said Coral-Lyn. “We knew something was dreadfully wrong and we got here as fast as we could. By the time we arrived, Constable Fraser was here.”
    “Dr. MacBeth told me to telephone the police,” interrupted Lisa. She was anxious to show Coral-Lyn she had done all the right things, but I could sense the antagonism between them.
    “Did you go upstairs?” I asked Andy, wanting to get an answer out of him that wasn’t monitored by his fiancée.
    He shook his head. “The constable confirmed that Granda was dead and recommended we come outside and wait until Dr. MacBeth arrived. Coral-Lyn was feeling quite sick because of the ... because of the odour.”
    “I’m very smell-sensitive,” interjected Coral-Lyn as if it were a mark of virtue. She got the conversation back from Andy.
    “We were completely devastated, of course. I mean, we knew he wasn’t in the best of health, but when Andy saw him last, which was Thursday afternoon, he was quite well, wasn’t he, Honey?”
    “Oh yes.”
    She touched Andy’s head. “He’s so upset because he usually comes to visit Granda on Fridays, but he had a meeting that kept him late at the church, so he couldn’t come. He thinks that, if hehad been here, he might have been able to do something. Isn’t that right, Honey?”
    Andy nodded.
    I gave that a respectful beat, then asked, “Did he say anything about expecting visitors the following day?”
    “No, not at all.”
    Andy blinked, averted his eyes, and touched his finger to the bridge of his nose. Coral-Lyn kept her eyes fixed on me. “Why do you ask?”
    “The nearest neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. MacLean, said they saw a car coming from the direction of the house on Friday night.”
    The door to the patio opened and Gillies came out.
    “Your granddad has been moved to Stornoway, Andy.”
    Coral-Lyn jumped up. “We’d better get going then. We have a lot of arrangements to make. Come on, Darling. I’ll drive us.”
    Andy got to his feet and she took his hand. He let himself be led out like a small boy.
    As soon as the door closed behind them, Lisa said, “I don’t know about you both, but I could stand a strong cup of tea. Shall I mash some, Gill?”
    “Please.”
    “How about a drop of malt in it?”
    “Great. We could do with it.”
    Actually, he looked fine, but I sat down on the iron bench, aware once again of his tact.
    “I’ll be back in a tick,” said Lisa. She seemed revived at having something to do, and also, I guessed, because Andy and Coral-Lyn had left. It was my turn now to stare towards the grey sea.
    If you ask me, she’s at the bottom of the Atlantic.
    I couldn’t absorb the notion that my mother, after surviving all the years of turbulence and heavy drinking,