Стивен Бут - Fall Down Dead

He checked the back door and examined the porch for leaks, though there had been very little rain. Then he went into the kitchen and opened a tin of dog food for Jess.

‘You’re really at home here, aren’t you?’ said Chloe.

‘It was my home for over twenty-five years.’

‘No, I mean really at home, not just in a place where you used to live.’

‘It does mean something special,’ admitted Cooper. ‘So many memories, I suppose.’

‘Good and bad?’

‘You can’t separate them, can you?’ he said. ‘Well, I can’t anyway.’

Even as he said it, the memories came crowding round him, reminding him of all those years he’d spent growing up here. His father was there in the sitting room, occupying his favourite armchair, still in his uniform shirt and trousers, his sleeves rolled up on muscular arms, and his tunic hanging on a hook in the hall, where his sergeant’s stripes always seemed to gleam as they caught the light. His mother was in the kitchen, humming to herself in a cloud of steam and there was the aroma of roast beef, which always seemed to ooze through the door when he came home from school. He saw his grandfather there too, out in the yard at the back in his flat cap and tweed jacket, whistling for his dog, while Matt followed behind him, trying to copy the way Granddad walked, splashing through a cowpat in his wellies, so that he’d come in smelling of manure again and get shouted at by Dad.

Cooper felt dizzy for a moment under the barrage of memories, until Chloe put a hand gently on his arm.

‘So,’ she said, ‘there’s something that’s been puzzling me. You avoided giving me an answer.’

‘An answer to what?’

‘It’s probably not important.’

‘No, go on.’

‘Well, you never finished telling me about the cat. You didn’t say what name she originally had at the rescue centre when you collected her.’

‘Oh, that. You’re right — it’s not important.’

She laughed. ‘Now I really want to know.’

Cooper hesitated. But he knew she wouldn’t give up on the subject now.

‘The cat was called Diane,’ he said.

‘Diane? Are you kidding?’

‘No, it’s true.’

Chloe let her head fall back. ‘Yes, I see. There’s no way you could have lived with a cat called Diane. Imagine you going outside and shouting for Diane to come home. She would never have done what you told her.’

‘She doesn’t now,’ said Cooper. ‘She just carries on doing exactly what she wants and gets herself into all kinds of trouble.’

Chloe glanced at him, still smiling. ‘Now I’m not sure which one you’re talking about.’

‘Me neither,’ he said. ‘I’ll just check upstairs.’

‘I’ll come with you.’

He turned on the bottom step. ‘There’s no need.’

She held his eye and smiled again. Cooper suddenly realised what she meant.

‘I’ll come with you,’ she repeated.

He took her hand and they walked upstairs together. Cooper pushed open the door of the spare bedroom, the room he’d once slept in as a teenager. Sunlight streamed in through the window. In the distance, the Peak District hills shone like precious stones.

Well, that was one way to dispel old ghosts. The best way to wipe out old memories, and to replace them with entirely new ones.

Many thanks to my editor Ed Wood, all the team at Little, Brown, and everyone who helped to bring Fall Down Dead to fruition. A special mention must go to a wonderful surgeon, Mr Keshev Nigam, who got me back in action so quickly when the book was delayed by my illness last year (you can hardly see the scars!). Thanks particularly to my agent Teresa Chris, who has been such a champion of the Cooper and Fry series from the start.

In 2017, following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London, which claimed seventy-one lives, a group called Authors for Grenfell ran an online auction to raise money for bereaved and homeless families. Canadian reader (and former Manchester musician) Robert Farnley was the winning bidder to appear as a character in Fall Down Dead . I hope he enjoys his appearance! Many thanks to Robert for his generosity, and to everyone else who made bids in the auction.

A big ‘thank you’ also to everyone whose donations helped to fund the vet bills for Dolly, the Kinder Mountain Rescue Team’s search and rescue dog, who should now be back in action saving lives in the Peak District.