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Back Before You Were Gone Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-one
  24. Twenty-two
  25. Twenty-three
  26. Twenty-four
  27. Twenty-five
  28. Twenty-six
  29. Twenty-seven
  30. Twenty-eight
  31. Twenty-nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-one
  34. Thirty-two
  35. Thirty-three
  36. Thirty-four
  37. Thirty-five
  38. Thirty-six
  39. Thirty-seven
  40. Thirty-eight
  41. Thirty-nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-one
  44. Forty-two
  45. Forty-three
  46. Forty-four
  47. Forty-five
  48. Forty-six
  49. Forty-seven
  50. Forty-eight
  51. Forty-nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-one
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. An Eastbourne Murder Mystery
  56. Canelo Crime
  57. About the Author
  58. Also by Sheila Bugler

‘People on this street come and go all the time,’ he said. ‘Wasn’t always like that, but most of these places are buy to let properties. Rental market is a fluid one. I hardly know any of them. Don’t think I can help you, love. Sorry.’

He started to close the door, but Dee put her hand out, stopping him.

‘The man who lives at number thirty-two, do you know him?’

‘Like I said, I don’t know any of them along here these days. Now do me a favour and sod off, would you?’

She tried a few more houses with no luck. Most of the properties were empty and the few people who opened the door weren’t able to help her. Dee thought back to her own time in London, trying to remember if her neighbourhood had been as anonymous as this one. She didn’t remember it like that, but maybe she viewed that time of her life through rose-tinted glasses.

Giving up on the neighbours Dee crossed the road, found a place where she could see Annie’s house, and waited. Two hours later, she was still waiting and no one had come in or out of the house. Her throat was dry and a gathering of grey clouds in the sky warned of rain on the way. Frustrated and fed up, Dee started walking back along Wapping High Street towards the Underground station. But passing a wine bar, she saw a woman inside with bleached blond hair. Thinking her luck had changed, she pushed the door open and went inside.

The wine bar was busy, with couples and groups of people sitting at tables, drinking glasses of wine and sharing plates of cheese. Dee scanned the faces, searching for Annie’s distinctive eyes. There were several women in here with blond hair, but none of them resembled Annie. After a moment, Dee went back outside. As the door gently closed behind her, the buzz of conversation disappeared. A gust of wind blew in from the river, a clap of thunder grumbled in the distance and the rain that had been threatening came pouring down, soaking her within seconds. Autumn had arrived with a bang. By the time she reached the Underground station, she was soaking, freezing and utterly miserable.

Twenty-nine

Back in Eastbourne, there was no sign of the rain that had soaked her in London. After a hot shower and a supper of cheese on toast, Dee poured herself a glass of wine, put her jacket on and carried her laptop onto the deck.