On this particular day, there were four men who were seen in the park who matched the description of the deceased. Mrs. Waters saw two of them. She arrived at the park at 8 am as she always did and sat down on her bench.

She believed the bench was hers because she’d been the one to donate it to the park in memory of her husband Harold: a man whose memory she enjoyed far more than his actual presence.

As was her daily routine, she sat on the bench and observed people walking through the park and playing. That morning seemed to be busier than usual as it was the first sunny day after a long stretch of rain.

Initially, it was mostly the usual morning joggers mixed with families with young kids who had already been up since the crack of dawn.

By about 10 am, a father with his two young sons began to set up their kites. There were two kites, one for each son. One was red, the other blue.

Mrs. Waters noticed the father was tall, although at 5ft 2 most people seemed tall to her. He had dark hair and glasses and he looked like he was in about his mid-30s.

It took a bit of time, but eventually they got the blue kite off the ground. The older one of the boys held tight to the handle holding the string. The kite flapped in the wind swooping and diving. Although the wind wasn’t terribly strong that day, but it was enough to keep the kite in the air.

They managed to get the red kite off the ground in half the time and Mrs. Waters smiled as she watched the kids. The father stood behind the younger boy and together they held the string. However, as kids are want to be, the boy saw his older brother managing quite fine on his own and wanted to show he was capable too. He pulled away from his dad, who reluctantly acquiesced and in seconds the kite was free, flapping across the greenspace towards the edge of the forest. The father and younger son immediately took off running after it. Mrs. Waters laughed appreciatively remembering her own children’s antics when they were that age.

She found it decidedly less funny when she later learned of the tragedy and fervently hoped that he was not the man who’d died.

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