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
‘I remember her,’ she said, after a moment. ‘A lying little bitch. We had to fire her, as I recall. We discovered she’d been stealing money from the petty cash. I tried to warn Robert, told him there would always be problems with those sorts of people. But he wanted to help, despite my warnings. Well, this just shows how misguided he was.’
She turned around, smiling now because she thought she’d found her way out.
‘People like that are always looking to tell lies about men like Robert. They’re jealous of him. Plain and simple. I’m sure she’s never forgiven him for letting her go, even though she’s lucky that’s all it was. He should have reported her to the Guards, if you ask me. She’ll say anything she can to sully his reputation. But that’s all this is. A bitter young woman lying to get revenge on a man who only ever wanted to help her.’
‘Christ almighty,’ Emer burst out. ‘You’re not even being consistent with your lies. Are you trying to convince us Robert is a crook who killed Lucy and then made Kitty disappear? Or that he’s a good man who’s dedicated his life to helping people?’
‘I wouldn’t expect you to understand,’ Ursula said coolly. ‘People are complex. It’s perfectly possible for a good person to make a mistake. That’s all Lucy was. A silly mistake that he’s going to have to pay for. And I’m glad, because it’s good that everyone finally knows the truth. As for what your sister thinks she saw, we were having a party. Powerful men like Robert and his associates, they have big appetites. A real zest for life that so many people are lacking. My job was to make sure those appetites were satisfied. That may sound distasteful to you two, but everyone at that party wanted to be there. Those girls used to beg me to let them come along. Why? Because they were little scrubbers who didn’t think twice about opening their legs in exchange for cash. And believe me, they got paid handsomely for anything they did at those parties.’
She stopped speaking, as if realising she’d already said too much.
‘Three days after Lucy was killed,’ Kitty said, ‘you took me into work with you. Bríd wasn’t there. When I asked you where she was, you told me Robert had fired her because she’d been stealing from you.’
‘That’s right.’ Ursula nodded her head. ‘You see? I’ve been telling the truth all along.’
‘I recognised her voice,’ Kitty said. ‘At the time, I didn’t know where from. It was only later, years later, that I worked it out. I’ve never been able to separate out what happened that night with poor Bríd getting fired.’