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
Emer wanted to tell the woman she wasn’t surprised. Michael Holden was a murderer and his wife was complicit in that murder. They didn’t deserve a happy marriage after what they’d done.
Instead, for the first time since she’d stepped inside the room, Emer felt in control.
‘Maeve is here,’ she said. ‘She’s in a hotel in Polegate, waiting for me to call her. She doesn’t know I’ve come to meet you. We should go and see her so you can tell her what happened to Lucy. She deserves to know the truth.’
Forty-five minutes later, Kitty was parking her Mini Clubman in the car park of a boutique hotel just off the A27.
‘I’ve heard of this place,’ Kitty said, getting out of the car. ‘But I haven’t been before. Maeve must have money if she can afford to stay here.’
The hotel was in the grounds of an eighteenth-century coaching inn. A plaque on the wall informed visitors that the inn had been ‘sensitively’ restored and converted four years ago.
‘I hope she’s here,’ Emer said, as they approached the elegant building. ‘She sounded a bit funny when I spoke to her earlier.’
‘You’re absolutely sure she wants to see me?’
‘I think so,’ Emer said. ‘It was just the shock, you know? But you’re the reason she’s here, Kitty. She’s spent her whole life wondering what happened to Lucy. Now she’s finally got a chance to find out. I can’t imagine what that must feel like.’
They were inside the hotel now, standing in the lobby.
‘She said she’d be in the bar,’ Emer said. ‘That looks like the bar over there.’
They found Maeve sitting at a table by the window that overlooked the grounds at the back of the hotel. Emer stood back, letting Kitty approach her first.
‘Hello Maeve.’
Maeve stood up, but when Kitty leaned forward to give her a hug, she stepped sideways, avoiding contact.
‘It really is you.’ She frowned. ‘I don’t think I fully believed it when Emer called to tell me.’
‘Are you okay?’ Emer asked. Maeve seemed tense, and she looked as if she wanted to scratch Kitty’s eyes out.
‘Of course I’m not okay,’ Maeve said. ‘You can’t be okay, either. This is… this is fucked up.’ She looked at Kitty. ‘You know why I’m here. Do you know what happened to her?’
‘Yes,’ Kitty whispered.
‘Jesus. Oh Jesus. Okay. Emer, do you mind if I do this alone?’
‘If that’s what you want,’ Emer said. ‘Of course. Kitty, is that okay with you?’