BooksBarbecue
Back Ask No Questions
Chapters (69)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Chapter Forty-One
  46. Chapter Forty-Two
  47. Chapter Forty-Three
  48. Chapter Forty-Four
  49. Chapter Forty-Five
  50. Chapter Forty-Six
  51. Chapter Forty-Seven
  52. Chapter Forty-Eight
  53. Chapter Forty-Nine
  54. Chapter Fifty
  55. Chapter Fifty-One
  56. Chapter Fifty-Two
  57. Chapter Fifty-Three
  58. Chapter Fifty-Four
  59. Chapter Fifty-Five
  60. Chapter Fifty-Six
  61. Epilogue
  62. Prologue
  63. Chapter One
  64. Acknowledgements
  65. Credits
  66. More from Claire Allan …
  67. About the Author
  68. Also by Claire Allan
  69. About the Publisher

‘There were others that night, too,’ he continues, listing the names of those he can remember. ‘They mightn’t have been at the reservoir, but they were there. Out with my da.’

‘Was Jamesy Harte there that night?’ DI Bradley asks.

Declan shakes his head. No, Jamesy wasn’t there. Jamesy didn’t mix with those people. Jamesy kept himself to himself. A heavy sense of sadness floods through Declan’s body and he feels himself sag under the weight of it. Tears spring to his eyes. He’s just so tired of all of it.

‘Jamesy had nothing to do with any of it,’ he says. ‘He wouldn’t have hurt a fly.’

‘You do know you’re not under arrest here,’ DI Bradley says. ‘We’re just trying to piece together what happened. Today, and back then. When Kelly Doherty died. What you’re telling us, it’s very helpful. Are you okay to continue? Can we get you another coffee?’

Declan nods. Asks for five minutes to have a smoke and to settle himself. It’s still raining when he stands outside sucking the probably poisonous smoke from his counterfeit cigarette into his lungs.

He stubs his cigarette out, goes back inside and takes his seat.

‘All I can tell you about today,’ he begins, ‘is that it was Niall who was trying to pull my da away from Ingrid when I reached them. Niall was shouting at him that he wouldn’t let him do it again. He wouldn’t be scared of him any more. He said too many people had been hurt. It had to stop.’

DI Bradley takes notes, nods reassuringly at him.

‘That’s really helpful, Declan. Thank you,’ he says before nodding to a female detective in the room and standing up to leave, saying he will be back shortly.

‘How’s Ingrid?’ Declan asks his retreating form, unable to get the image of her prone on the ground from his mind.

‘She’ll be fine, I’m told,’ DI Bradley says with a small smile. ‘She’ll feel like she’s been hit by a truck for a while, but she’ll be back to herself soon enough. That one has nine lives.’

Chapter Fifty-Six

Ingrid

Thursday, 31 October 2019

My curtains are open and from my sofa I watch the bright lights and sparkle of the fireworks illuminate the sky. It’s loud but there’s a comfort to it. To the noise and the life and the fun below. To all of the families walking along the quay in costume, enjoying the festivities. All those people who don’t feel scared. Who don’t have a need to be worried.