Free I Saw You by Julie Parsons Page B

Induces severe hallucinations, what could be called temporary insanity, similar to
schizophrenia. Given the combination of drugs she’d ingested, she would also have had bouts of nausea, followed by intermittent unconsciousness, leading to depressed breathing and eventually,
possibly, death. So she was definitely out of it.’
    ‘But not so out of it that she wouldn’t have been able to get herself into the boat? If she was that bad I can’t see how she could have rowed out into the lake. She must have
gone quite a distance because otherwise she would have drifted into the shore close to the house. Where was the boat kept?’
    ‘There’s a photo somewhere. It was usually tied up at the jetty close to the house. But I doubt she would have been able to row from the house nearly the length of the lake. It must
have been somewhere else that night.’
    McLoughlin picked up a magnifying-glass and studied the pictures of Marina’s head and face. ‘And where did the dinghy end up?’
    ‘Umm, let me see . . . Here.’ Harris rummaged through the pile. ‘Yeah, here. It got stuck at the top of the rapids, jammed up against the rocks. So they were both caught in the
same current.’
    ‘But would she really have been able to manage in the boat? I would have thought she’d have passed out, and the boat would have drifted back into the shore, or even if it had ended
up stuck on the rapids, she would have been found under a seat or something. From the amount of alcohol in her system it seems to me, the humble layman, that she might have died anyway from alcohol
poisoning, but she wouldn’t have drowned. What do you reckon?’
    ‘Well, I reckon that what you say makes sense except for one thing. Have a look at the photo of the dinghy again. See there – what’s that?’ Harris took the
magnifying-glass from him and angled it over the shiny black-and-white print. ‘What is it?’
    ‘Yeah, a bottle of Smirnoff. So what you’re saying is that she got into the boat, rowed herself out, was probably drinking at the same time, and chucked herself over the
side?’
    ‘Well, that’s consistent with the blood analysis. The fact that her blood alcohol concentration was so high suggests that she died very soon after drinking it.’
    ‘And what about the others at the party that night?’
    ‘I’m not the person to ask, Michael. You’d better go and talk to Brian Dooley. I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting his files.’
    ‘But why suicide, Johnny? I can see accidental, all right.’
    ‘You’ve read the note, haven’t you? I’ve read it. I’ve read lots of those notes in my time. It rings true.’
    ‘Not to her mother, it doesn’t. And I wasn’t convinced either.’
    ‘Well,’ Harris began to gather up the photographs, ‘it’s the coroner’s call, not yours or mine. From the physical evidence, she got into that boat on her own, she
rowed herself out as far as she could, she got herself into the water and she drowned.’
    ‘OK, you’re the expert. I’m sure if there was force involved you’d have found signs of it. So . . .’ His voice trailed off.
    ‘Anyway,’ Harris rocked back on his stool, ‘what are you doing getting involved in all this? I thought you were on your way to Brittany or somewhere.’
    ‘I’m waiting to hear the details. Paul Brady is to call me about it. In the meantime I thought I’d keep myself busy. Old habits die hard, you know.’ He slid off the stool
and picked up the plastic bag. ‘Here,’ he held out the bag, ‘I’ll leave you some of the goodies. Half of everything. The hummus, the olives and the bread. You take them. You
look like you could do with feeding up. You’re as skinny as hell, Harris, my boy. Take, eat and enjoy.’
    The two men walked outside into the sunshine. McLough-lin’s car was parked beside Harris’s Range Rover, which looked as if it could do with a long session at the
car wash. It was mud-spattered from top to bottom. Harris pulled