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
‘No one knows where she is and she’s not answering her iPhone. She told Bill Hendricks she was going to the mortuary but when we spoke to the duty mortician, he hadn’t seen or heard from her at all. We’re tracking the progress of her car on CCTV. She did an about turn on Sefton Street and headed towards the city centre.’
‘Where’s she at?’ asked Stone, a ball of anxiety forming inside him.
‘At the moment, as far as we know, in the direction of the Anglican cathedral. Look, there’s something pretty major turned up here.’
There were voices in the background, animated and loud, but Stone couldn’t make out what was being said.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘Edgar McKee’s going on. He’s just walked in off the street and presented himself to me.’
‘Keep him there, Sarge. And I want a running commentary on the progress of Eve’s car on CCTV. Guide me into her path.’
Stone hurried down the stairs towards his car and worked out the quickest route to the Anglican cathedral.
As he got into his car, Clay’s words echoed inside his head.
The general red alert’s off. Mine’s still on.
89
9.44 pm
Detective Sergeant Karl Stone led a stream of police cars heading up London Road and crossing the junction on to Prescot Street in the direction of the mortuary where Clay’s car had last been seen on CCTV entering the multi-storey car park.
As he drove into the car park, he opened his window and smelled the heaviness of petrol.
He recalled the instruction he had issued to all cars following him.
When you get inside the car park, wind your windows down.
On the first floor, he surveyed the handful of cars but Clay’s wasn’t one of them.
He looked over his shoulder and called, ‘First two of you, block off this floor!’
There weren’t many cars on the second floor, and no sign of Clay’s vehicle.
As two cars peeled off to secure the second floor, Stone saw Hendricks directly behind him.
‘Call the officers behind you to seal off floor three. I want you to come with me, Bill.’
‘What do you think happened?’ asked Hendricks.
‘Gina Riley told me The Ghoul communicated to Eve that he was in the mortuary attending to his dead mother and identifying her body. She reckons The Ghoul’s been hanging around in this neck of the woods at some point this evening.’
Driving up the ramp on to the fourth floor, Stone could hear the blood pumping in his ears and felt his pulse quicken as he turned on to the level.
‘It’s her car! It’s her!’ he called back to Hendricks.
Stone turned his headlights on fully on to Clay’s car and felt sickened to his core when there was no sign of anyone sitting in the vehicle.