This story was first published on the public fiction section of Square Pegs (squarepegs.overspillers.net) by DiggoryVenn

Harry was in the pool at the local leisure centre, enjoying a relaxing swim. There was a commotion at the far end of the pool, and the attendants, walking quickly along each side, ordered everyone to get out of the water and return to the changing rooms. As he did so, Harry saw one of the staff in the water, alongside the motionless figure of a woman in a red and black patterned swimsuit. He knew that costume, with its decorative red bow at the neckline. It was Melanie. She must have been swimming that morning, though amongst the noise and movement of a fairly busy pool, Harry hadn’t noticed her.

Melanie had drowned. Back in the changing rooms, staff told everyone to wait for the arrival of the police. Two constables came and took people’s names and addresses and after a quick initial enquiry, told each swimmer to come to the police station the next day to make a statement. When Harry told the police that he knew Melanie, they kept him there for a little longer and asked him some further questions. As he hadn’t even known she was going to be there, and hadn’t noticed her in the water, Harry was only able to offer limited information.

The police enquiries revealed no information about anyone seen in the pool with Melanie and it seemed that her death had been a tragic accident. At the inquest, there was no evidence to suggest any other cause, and the coroner brought in a verdict of accidental death. The only additional information that came before the inquest was that she was pregnant.

Harry and Melanie had been more than just friends. Not long before, they’d had a brief affair lasting just a few weeks. She’d ended it and had gone back to her long term boyfriend; not because she loved him, but because she was frightened of him. Tim was a control freak and a violent man, though he was not known to the police. Melanie had tried to break away with Harry, but in the end she couldn’t.

Harry wondered if the baby had been his. He’d fallen for Melanie in a big way. Their lovemaking had been wonderful, like a Beethoven symphony performed by the London Philharmonic. Now she was dead, he would never know about the baby.

But there was more that he didn’t know. Tim had found out about the baby, and had questioned Melanie until she told him about Harry, and admitted that the baby was Harry’s. Tim had coldly plotted revenge on them both. It was Tim who had killed Melanie; it was no accident.

He’d lingered in the small learners’ pool, pretending to be a non-swimmer. When some kids came in and started shouting and bombing, as they often did, the attendants moved across to tell them off. The commotion gave Tim his chance. He had taken hold of the bow on her costume, and had swum down to the bottom, pulling her with him. Because he was an unusually strong man, with the ability to hold his breath for much longer than the average person, he’d been able to accomplish the crime without leaving any bruises or other marks that might indicate violence rather than an accident. He’d got out of the pool before the body was discovered, and out of the building before the police came. No-one saw him, and he’d left no evidence of his crime.

All Harry knew of Tim, from a few things that Melanie had said, was that he was an unpleasant character. But when he received a note through his letterbox asking him to meet Tim, he felt that he must go. Perhaps there was something important that he could learn. Tim’s message told Harry to bring the note as identification, as they did not know each other. They met in the poorly-lit car park of the Blue Boar, a pub which Harry had never visited before. Once they had introduced themselves, Tim told him the full story. He seemed very emotional and said that he wanted to confess, and asked Harry to go to the police with him.

Harry was completely taken aback by Tim’s contrite manner. The feeling of satisfaction at Tim’s confession, and the prospect of justice for poor Melanie, was all he could think of. Those thoughts formed the second-last emotion of his life. His very last sensation was terror, coupled with an excruciating pain, as Tim slipped a knife between his ribs.

Tim removed the note from Harry’s pocket. There would be no evidence of this murder, either.