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
According to Emer, her parents had separated shortly after Kitty’s death. Hardly surprising, Dee thought. A tragedy like that would put unbearable pressure on a relationship. Even so, it was strange Eamon Doran hadn’t kept in touch with his remaining daughter after he left. Dee made a note to ask Emer about this the next time they spoke.
By the time the train was pulling into Eastbourne, Dee had gathered as much information as she could on the events surrounding Kitty Doran’s disappearance that summer’s morning twenty-three years ago.
Outside the station, as she scrolled through her phone while she queued up for a taxi, Dee noticed she had a new voicemail. The mobile signal was intermittent on the journey from London and she often missed calls when travelling on that route.
She dialled her voicemail and listened to the message:
‘Dee? It’s me. Hope you’re having a lovely time in London. There’s something I need to speak to you about. Any chance I could pop over tomorrow morning for a coffee and a chat?’
Dee’s spirits plummeted as she listened to the message again. The caller was her neighbour, Ella. From the tense tone of Ella’s voice, it was clear that whatever she wanted to tell Dee, it wasn’t going to be good news. For the last six months, Ella’s partner, Tom, had been dropping increasingly frequent hints about leaving Eastbourne and moving back to Ireland, where his family lived. Dee had done her best to ignore the hints, unable to contemplate a life without Ella, Tom and their son Jake. Now, she knew with a dark certainty that the moment had finally come. They were leaving. And the truth was, Dee didn’t know how she would be able to cope when Ella told her that’s what they’d decided.
Seven
Two months earlier
The claustrophobic atmosphere in the house was becoming unbearable. Ursula’s suffocating personality shaped every conversation, every nuanced exchange that took place under her ever watchful eyes. It was exhausting and, Emer was pretty sure, emotionally damaging. She didn’t know how Robert put up with it. Yet, somehow, her stepfather never seemed bothered by his wife’s excesses. He was too besotted, even after twenty years of marriage, to see her as anything but perfect.
Nikki had never liked coming here. She’d quickly decided that Emer’s mother was toxic and, after her first few visits to Ballincarraig, Nikki had refused to come back. She could never understand the ties that bound Emer to Ursula. The guilt that made it impossible for Emer to break free of her mother’s oppressive personality.