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
‘I am in the back of a van. The van is not moving. The van is parked within hearing distance of a length of rail track. And I am alone.’
She fell silent at the throb of an aeroplane flying directly overhead.
Francesca closed her eyes against the immediate darkness and pictured the lights on the aeroplane and the people inside it travelling to their homes and loved ones or their holidays, and she was consumed with the width of the world beyond her captivity.
She pictured The Ghoul wearing the face and scalp of a woman who had died because of it. In her mind, she stared into The Ghoul’s eyes, lurking beneath the stolen skin, and watched the mouth beneath the woman’s lips.
‘Annie,’ she said, recalling a picture she had seen on the television news and the name of the missing primary school teacher that went with it. ‘Annie, I’m so sorry.’
Annie’s hair hung down on to The Ghoul’s shoulders. It peered at her, close-up, and she felt its breath touching her skin from the flap of Annie’s lips.
I am not going to die quietly. I am not going to go easily. I will fight you…
The words flooded into her like divine commandments.
‘If I’m going to die, I will hurt you for taking my life.’
Silence.
‘I will find a way. Have you got that…’
And a single word came from her mouth, a word she had heard many times down the years but had never once used in her life.
‘…motherfucker!’
114
8.30 am
‘When Daniel’s not here, I open up,’ said Carolyn Wilkes as she led Hendricks up the stairs to Norma Maguire’s office. ‘Norma should be here at some point this morning if you need to talk to her. She tends to come and go a bit on Saturdays.’
Carolyn opened the door to the office and Hendricks followed her inside. She closed the door and, although they were the only two people in the estate agency, she dropped the volume of her voice a couple of notches.
‘Is this to do with Francesca Christie?’ she asked.
‘It is, yes.’ Hendricks indicated the seat at the desk to Carolyn and, grabbing a nearby chair, sat in Norma Maguire’s place.
‘Norma won’t be happy if she bowls in here and finds us sitting at her desk.’
‘That won’t be happening, Carolyn. Norma’s currently in police custody.’
Carolyn looked as if she’d been hit on the head with a blunt object.
‘What’s she in police custody for?’
‘I’m not at liberty to tell you.’
Hendricks gave her a few moments to absorb the information.
‘There’s an unmarked police car outside your office. As soon as we’re done in here, the officers in that vehicle will start searching Norma’s office and taking away evidence.’
‘It’s Francesca, isn’t it? Has she done something to her?’