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 felt the pain inside her swell but said nothing, knew she’d have done the same thing if she had the chance.
She recognised the sound of her father’s footsteps clumping up the stairs.
‘You’d better go, Mrs Doyle.’
‘Just for now, I’m going nowhere, little girl.’
She felt the warmth of Mrs Doyle’s body at her back. The old lady’s hands settled on her shoulders, a gentle weight that assisted gravity and kept her feet firmly planted on the floor.
The front door of the house closed and her mother stepped out, carrying two small suitcases. Her long blonde hair floated behind her as the wind bit down.
Her little brother turned to his mother and she said, ‘Get into the taxi.’
The door of her bedroom opened and her father said, ‘What’s this?’
‘This, sir, is what will happen if you take another step into this young lady’s room. This, sir, is the police. This, sir, is scandal. This, sir, is the end of you in this city. This, sir, is the sum of the terrible things that I know. This, sir, is you versus me.’
Her mother shepherded her little brother towards the taxi.
‘You wouldn’t dare!’
‘I keep a diary, sir. I would dare. Would you?’
He slammed the door and she felt the lack of his presence in the room.
Her little brother stopped at the open back door of the taxi and looked up at her window, looked at her directly in the eyes. He waved his hand and mouthed, ‘Goodbye, big sister.’
She waved back.
‘Goodbye, little brother.’
Her mother followed him into the back of the taxi and the driver headed the black cab towards the gate.
She knew in her heart that she would never see him again.
The taxi disappeared from view.
‘And, so,’ she said. ‘Off he floats to nowhere.’
Day Four
Saturday, 4th December 2021
Thanatophobia
Fear of Death
99
0.13 am
Winters looked at the printout of the reservation that Edgar McKee had made at the Travelodge on Thursday, 2nd December and felt a weight forming in his heart. During the time window of his reservation, McKee had booked in at 7.31 pm and booked out at 10.13 pm, according to the information provided to him at the reception desk.
Tommy Hart, head of the hotel’s security unit, cued up the CCTV footage from the previous day and asked, ‘Which room? Which floor?’
‘Room 1002, top floor, please.’
‘I can put the footage on fast forward and slow it down any time someone appears on screen, otherwise we’re going to be spending a lot of time looking at an empty corridor. We’ve got CCTV on each stretch of corridor on every floor. Give me a minute and I’ll tee up the section where Room 1002 happens on the top floor.’
‘Take your time, Tommy. Whenever you’re ready…’