At The Old Swimming Hole – Sara Paretsky

I was sitting on a wooden seat at the University of Illinois indoor swimming pool, and I was not enjoying myself. The air was hot and wet, the seats were hard and the noise was terrible- shouts fromthe swimmers, the officials and the public were making my head ache.
I had come to watch a swimming competition organized by Chicago business, to collect money for sick people. A number of companieshad sent team, and she had asked me to come and watch her swim. I came, because she was an old friend- though we didn't often meet now, as we had different interests.
At school Alicia was interestedin only two things: swimming and engines. She studied engineering at University, and then she joined Berman Airplanes Company and worked on the design of planes. And me? I'm private detective. Mybusinees is crime.
Six competitors were standing at the end of the pool, ready to start the first women's event. From where I sat it wasn't easy to recognize Alicia. I knew she was wearing a redswimsuit, but there were three swimmers in red. The pool was divided into seven lanes. My programme said that Alicia was in lane two.
The woman in the first lanes was complaining about something. Theorganizer changed the swimmer's positions, leaving the first line empty. Now one red suit was in lane two, one in lane three and one in line six. I didn't know which one was Alicia.
The starting gun wasfired, and six bodies threw themselves into the water. There was a perfect start in lane six - that must be Alice.
The woman in lane two seemed to be having problems. What was wrong? The water aroundher was turning red, I pushed through the crowd to the side of the pool, kicked off my shoes and jumped in.
I swam under the water to the second lane and pulled the woman to the edge, qhere someonelifted her out. No, it wasn't Alicia. I shouted to an official to telephone for an ambulance, and knelt down beside the woman. The blood seemed to be coming form her back, below her left shoulder. She...