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. I am it. DC Cole, can I ask you a question, please?’
‘Fire away.’
‘What on earth was Edgar McKee doing on the footpath? And why did he take me there with him?’
‘Because McKee thinks he’s a genius who’s better and more clever than everyone around him, when he’s an altogether different thing in reality,’ explained Cole. ‘He thinks other people are really stupid and that no one can get the better of him.’
‘What is he?’ asked Wren.
‘An idiot. He took you there thinking you’d back up everything that he said, to cover his tracks. He underestimated you, Wren, and that insult to your intelligence is just about to come back and chew his lying arse.’
The tension in Wren’s body slackened.
‘Is there anything else you’d like to add, Wren?’
‘Another question. What was his message all about? What did he take from the back of the van and leave on the footpath?’
‘A dead woman.’
‘Can I see a picture, please?’
Cole looked at Wren’s father.
‘It could stress you out, Wren,’ warned his father.
‘I want to see.’
Cole took out his iPhone and found an image of Amanda Winton’s body. He turned it towards Wren, whose face remained deadpan.
‘He’s very good at skinning dead females,’ said Wren. He looked at his father. ‘Don’t you just wish Mum was here? She’d make this all right. Of course she would, wouldn’t she?’
111
7.33 am
‘Would you describe yourself as a truthful person, Norma?’ asked DCI Clay.
Norma looked up at the CCTV camera pointing at her from the corner of two connecting walls and said, ‘Yes.’
‘Are you a liar, Norma?’ asked Clay, across the desk in Interview Suite 1.
‘What kind of a question’s that?’ asked the woman sitting next to Norma Maguire. Clay looked at the visitor badge hanging from her neck. Rowena Rice. Norma Maguire’s solicitor.
‘It’s an essential question in a serious criminal investigation that needs addressing promptly,’ replied Clay. ‘I had a visit from Lydia Ball in the early hours of the morning. She told me that her husband, Daniel, left for work yesterday morning but didn’t return home in the evening. She called you and you informed her that Daniel hadn’t been in the office at all that day. I was there with Detective Sergeant Stone when Daniel opened the office yesterday morning. Why did you lie to Lydia Ball?’
‘What I meant was this. He wasn’t in the office for long.’
‘Lydia had no idea that she was going away for a break with her husband. You told her it was happening.’
‘Because that’s exactly what Daniel Ball told me. Maybe it should be Daniel you’re interviewing, DCI Clay? Not me.’
‘Assuming Daniel did mislead you about going away for a break with his wife, why do you think he did it?’