Chapters (156)
- A DATE WITH DEATH
- Also by Mark Roberts
- A Date With Death
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- The Past
- 1977
- Day OneWednesday, 1st December 2021CatoptrophobiaFear of mirrors
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- The Past
- 1979
- Day TwoThursday, 2nd December 2021OneirophobiaFear of dreams
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- The Past
- 1980
- Day ThreeFriday, 3rd December 2021MonophobiaFear of being alone
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- The Past
- 1982
- Day FourSaturday, 4th December 2021ThanatophobiaFear of Death
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- About the Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
‘She must have been offered a lot of money. Or been given a lot of unlikely promises. That’s all I can think.’
‘It’s just while I was waiting for you, I looked at the pictures on the wall of your staff. It’s a pretty stable history.’
Norma smiled but as soon as it surfaced it sank down beneath the grim cast of her face.
‘I pay good bonuses and I’m understanding if people need to stay off when their children are sick. People tend to leave when they retire. The turnover of my staff is the envy of all the estate agents on Allerton Road.’
‘Has anyone else ever left Maguire Holdings to go and work for another estate agent?’
‘Francesca isn’t the first. There’ve been others down the years. It happens.’
‘Like who?’
‘I’ve been here for nearly thirty years, DCI Clay. Do you remember the names of everyone you worked with, decades ago?’
‘Your office manager, he was here this morning. He’s gone home sick.’
‘No. I don’t know where you got that piece of misinformation from but he’s taking some long overdue paid holidays. He came in this morning to give me a brief rundown on where and what everyone was up to. Daniel’s like a lot of men. He puts a brave face on it, DCI Clay, but he suffers from stress and anxiety. I insisted, take time off.’
The image of Francesca Christie smiling as if her life depended on it, sitting side by side with Norma Maguire, rolled around inside Clay’s head.
‘You didn’t notice anything odd about Francesca in the days leading up to her resignation?’
‘I thought everything was perfectly fine. Clearly, it wasn’t.’
Clay stood up.
‘Thank you very much for your time, Norma. I hope the holiday makes Daniel feel a lot better.’ Clay stopped at the door of the office and asked, ‘As a matter of interest, where have you just been to, Norma?’
‘I’ve just been to see Francesca’s mother to show some support, and to let her know I was thinking about her under these horrible circumstances.’
‘How is Mrs Christie?’
‘Distraught, as you can imagine. Will you keep me posted on any developments?’
‘One thing, Norma. Who was Richard Ezra to you?’
‘A star that burned out before its time.’
‘Francesca Christie followed in his footsteps, didn’t she?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Stellar sales person who left you to go and work for Brian Doherty. Richard Ezra. What a sad story that was. I’ll be in touch with you again shortly, Norma. Make yourself available at all times for the foreseeable future.’