BooksBarbecue
Back Before You Were Gone
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

‘Cousin?’ He sounded surprised. ‘My word. You must be Dee – Frank’s daughter. Is that right?’ He was smiling properly now, a big happy grin that made it difficult not to smile back. ‘Your dad and myself were great pals at one time. We lost touch over the years, but I have so many happy memories from before he left. I was terrible sorry when I heard he’d passed away. He was a grand fella, old Frank.’

When she’d first seen him, Dee had thought Robert was in his sixties. But if he was friends with her father then he was in his early seventies, at least. She tried to remember if any of the articles online mentioned his age, but nothing came to her. Maybe he was lucky and was one of those people who never looked their age.

‘He was indeed grand,’ she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Robert nodded.

‘A lot better than that brother of his, I can tell you. Do you know Eamon, at all? No, I suppose you wouldn’t. They had a serious falling out, those two. All Eamon’s fault, of course. He stole from your grandparents. Conned them out of a huge amount of money. They lost their home because of it. They lost everything. It was your father who looked after them, you know. Eamon was a walking disaster, so he was.

‘Truth be told, it was a relief for Ursula when Eamon finally left. He made her life a misery. I never blamed your dad for cutting him out of his life. Eamon was like a cancer, destroying everything he touched. Ah, I’m sorry. He’s still your uncle, isn’t he? I should have kept my big mouth shut.’

‘No.’ Dee shook her head. ‘It’s okay. My dad never spoke about the row with Eamon, but my mother told me the bare bones of it. I just think it’s sad, that’s all.’

Robert nodded.

‘You’re right there, Dee. It’s very sad indeed.’

‘What makes you think Emer could be here?’ Dee asked, recognising she was being schmoozed by a man who clearly knew a thing or two about schmoozing.

He paused, as if he was weighing up how much to tell her.

‘You said Emer got in touch with you a few days ago,’ he said eventually.

‘That’s right.’

‘And if you’re here, I assume she told you that she believes the daughter of the people who live here is her dead sister? Well, it’s like I already said, Emer has problems. Mental health problems. Her sister, Kitty, drowned when Emer was a child and she’s never got over it. She hasn’t ever been able to accept that Kitty’s dead. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. She’s probably not told you that, but there’s a pattern to this.