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Chapters (156)
  1. A DATE WITH DEATH
  2. Also by Mark Roberts
  3. A Date With Death
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Contents
  6. The Past
  7. 1977
  8. Day OneWednesday, 1st December 2021CatoptrophobiaFear of mirrors
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. The Past
  36. 1979
  37. Day TwoThursday, 2nd December 2021OneirophobiaFear of dreams
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. 29
  41. 30
  42. 31
  43. 32
  44. 33
  45. 34
  46. 35
  47. 36
  48. 37
  49. 38
  50. 39
  51. 40
  52. 41
  53. 42
  54. 43
  55. 44
  56. 45
  57. 46
  58. 47
  59. 48
  60. 49
  61. 50
  62. 51
  63. 52
  64. The Past
  65. 1980
  66. Day ThreeFriday, 3rd December 2021MonophobiaFear of being alone
  67. 53
  68. 54
  69. 55
  70. 56
  71. 57
  72. 58
  73. 59
  74. 60
  75. 61
  76. 62
  77. 63
  78. 64
  79. 65
  80. 66
  81. 67
  82. 68
  83. 69
  84. 70
  85. 71
  86. 72
  87. 73
  88. 74
  89. 75
  90. 76
  91. 77
  92. 78
  93. 79
  94. 80
  95. 81
  96. 82
  97. 83
  98. 84
  99. 85
  100. 86
  101. 87
  102. 88
  103. 89
  104. 90
  105. 91
  106. 92
  107. 93
  108. 94
  109. 95
  110. 96
  111. 97
  112. 98
  113. The Past
  114. 1982
  115. Day FourSaturday, 4th December 2021ThanatophobiaFear of Death
  116. 99
  117. 100
  118. 101
  119. 102
  120. 103
  121. 104
  122. 105
  123. 106
  124. 107
  125. 108
  126. 109
  127. 110
  128. 111
  129. 112
  130. 113
  131. 114
  132. 115
  133. 116
  134. 117
  135. 118
  136. 119
  137. 120
  138. 121
  139. 122
  140. 123
  141. 124
  142. 125
  143. 126
  144. 127
  145. 128
  146. 129
  147. 130
  148. 131
  149. 132
  150. 133
  151. 134
  152. 135
  153. 136
  154. 137
  155. About the Author
  156. An Invitation from the Publisher

‘We’ll send an electronic copy of the picture to Barney Cole. He can work on tracking down Mr Handsome. It’s on photographic paper so we’ll give the picture itself to Terry Mason and Paul Price, see if they can pull off any prints.’

Poppy indicated the phones and laptops. ‘I’ll crack on with these then.’

‘Before you start, Poppy, do me a favour, please,’ said Clay. ‘I’d like to see Annie’s Pebbles On The Beach profile firstly. And then whatever passed between her and the man hiding behind the identity of the man in the photograph from Annie’s pillowslip.’

15

1.31 pm

As Clay walked into the incident room at Trinity Road police station, she looked at the people sitting round in a circle and picked out the only stranger to her. Detective Chief Inspector Dave Ferguson from Warrington Constabulary, seated between Hendricks and Riley and facing Cole, Stone and Winters.

Her iPhone buzzed and, seeing Poppy’s name on display, she spoke to the group. ‘Thank you, can you give me a few seconds? Poppy?’

‘Eve, I’ve just emailed you Annie Boyd’s Pebbles On The Beach profile.’

‘Anything standing out about it?’

‘It’s cliché-driven. She likes long walks in the countryside, stadium-level boy bands. Her profile picture’s nice but it’s static.’

‘Thanks for that, Poppy.’

‘Are you going to do something with it?’

‘I’m working on it. Good work. Let’s talk later.’

Clay took her place facing DCI Ferguson.

‘Thank you very much indeed, Dave, for coming to see us so quickly. We appreciate your time and support,’ said Clay.

‘No problem, Eve. You have all our electronic records, right?’

‘Your super, Kate Johnson, sent them to me this morning,’ replied Cole, handing Clay a set of images printed off from the materials sent from Warrington.

‘If it was Kate organising, then you will have everything.’ Ferguson looked at Clay, sitting directly opposite him in the circle. ‘You’ve got fresh eyes on this, you and your team. Maybe you’ll see something we didn’t quite see.’

Ferguson took in the whole group with a shift of his eyes.

‘Do you want the bad news or the bad news?’ he asked. ‘When we took in Sandra O’Day’s laptop and mobile, and we found out they’d been communicating through Pebbles On The Beach, I thought we had the bastard in a box, through his IP address on her devices. Silly fucking me. He’d downloaded Virtual Private Network software that did him two big favours. One. It disguised his real IP address and generated him a fake one. Two. It bounced his signals into China, Australia and Russia, making it look like he was operating out of those countries. You’re going to find the same problem, only he might be more savvy and have used a TOR to bury himself on the dark web.’