Chapters (58)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Acknowledgements
- An Eastbourne Murder Mystery
- Canelo Crime
- About the Author
- Also by Sheila Bugler
‘There’s something I didn’t tell you,’ Leonard said. ‘Do you remember that old bloke she was visiting in Stockwell? You told me not to go back, but I couldn’t help myself. I went to the pub where she’d met him and he was there. I followed him back to his flat. I didn’t get a name for him, but I know where he lives.’
‘Good,’ Dee said, glad for once Leonard had ignored her advice. ‘Let’s go there tomorrow, see if we can get him to speak to us.’ She paused, as a thought occurred to her. ‘Could he be Eamon, do you think?’
‘Emer’s father? Possibly. He’s about the right age, I imagine. Depends whether or not Annie turns out to be your cousin. Best not to go jumping to any conclusions just yet, okay?’
‘You’re right.’ Dee wondered what it would mean to discover her father’s brother was alive after all this time.
‘If she really is Kitty,’ Leonard said, ‘then she must have a damn good reason for not wanting anyone to know about it.’
‘I know.’ Ella had said more or less the same thing. ‘But what am I meant to do? Just forget everything I’ve found out?’
He laughed. As so often happened, the laugh turned into a hacking cough.
‘You’re like me, Doran. A hack through and through. We’ve started this, and now we’ll have to finish it. One way or the other.’
On the road at the front of the house, Dee heard the sound of a car approaching. Light from the headlights swept across the shingle, briefly illuminating the beach, before the world plunged into darkness again.
‘I’ve got to go,’ she said. ‘Call me tomorrow after you’ve been to Stockwell.’
‘I’ll do that. And Dee?’
‘Yes?’
‘Promise me you’ll be careful.’
‘Cross my heart.’
She hung up, listening to the sound of a car door slamming and the crunch of footsteps as someone approached her house. Leonard’s words echoed through her head and suddenly she felt afraid. She rarely had visitors, especially this late in the evening. As the events of the last few days came rushing back, Dee realised that digging into Kitty’s disappearance might mean putting herself in danger.
The front doorbell rang, the sound making her jump. As she went to answer it, she picked up the poker from the fireplace. Just in case. It crossed her mind the visitor might be Ed. She wouldn’t put it past him to drive over and check up on her. But when she opened her front door, it wasn’t Ed standing on the doorstep looking at her expectantly.
‘Dee?’