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Chapters (47)
  1. Chapter One
  2. Chapter Two
  3. Chapter Three
  4. Chapter Four
  5. Chapter Five
  6. Chapter Six
  7. Chapter Seven
  8. Chapter Eight
  9. Chapter Nine
  10. Chapter Ten
  11. Chapter Eleven
  12. Chapter Twelve
  13. Chapter Thirteen
  14. Chapter Fourteen
  15. Chapter Fifteen
  16. Chapter Sixteen
  17. Chapter Seventeen
  18. Chapter Eighteen
  19. Chapter Nineteen
  20. Chapter Twenty
  21. Chapter Twenty-One
  22. Chapter Twenty-Two
  23. Chapter Twenty-Three
  24. Chapter Twenty-Four
  25. Chapter Twenty-Five
  26. Chapter Twenty-Six
  27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  30. Chapter Thirty
  31. Chapter Thirty-One
  32. Chapter Thirty-Two
  33. Chapter Thirty-Three
  34. Chapter Thirty-Four
  35. Chapter Thirty-Five
  36. Chapter Thirty-Six
  37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  39. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  40. Chapter Forty
  41. Chapter Forty-One
  42. Chapter Forty-Two
  43. Chapter Forty-Three
  44. Chapter Forty-Four
  45. Chapter Forty-Five
  46. Chapter Forty-Six
  47. Chapter Forty-Seven

‘Oh, I’ll probably be back. You know these cases. Always ends to tie up.’

He thought she would kiss him again as she had in the hotel that night. A dry kiss on his cheek. But she gave a little wave and followed Sandy down the hill. Perez stood in the open door and felt cheated.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Seven

The next day was fine and still and surprisingly warm. A week away from May, but it felt like summer. Rhona Laing served tea outside, on a round wooden table, sheltered by shrubs. Hidden from view, the space had the feeling of a child’s den, a secret garden. Had she sat here with John, drinking wine or coffee, away from the prying eyes of her neighbours? Perez had been summoned by phone.

‘Jimmy, I think you deserve an explanation.’

The tea was Earl Grey. Fran had enjoyed that too.

‘I did care for John,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t a thoughtless fling.’

Perez said that really it was none of his business.

‘You saved my life, Jimmy. As I said, you deserve an explanation.’

‘I should have made more effort to answer your phone call.’ He poured more tea.

‘And I should have been prepared to confide in you.’ She looked at him coolly across the table. ‘I’ve always struggled to place my trust in men.’

Perez thought she would find that even more difficult now.

Rhona continued. ‘I’d allowed myself to be blackmailed by Markham,’ she said. ‘Ridiculous! That made it hard for me to tell anyone what had happened. It made me party to a criminal activity . . . If it had just been the affair . . .’ Her voice tailed off. ‘But I couldn’t have people gossiping about John when Agnes was still alive. Markham was leaving for London. I assumed if I paid him off, that would be the end of it.’

‘What happened the day you were abducted by Francis Watt?’ Perez had read her statement, but that had been dry and factual. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her. She’d been imprisoned all day. And still had the marks of the encounter on her body.

‘I was just about to leave for work, in the office checking my emails. I heard someone in the house. I think he’d been in there before. I’d had a sense, you know, of my space having been invaded, of my things having been moved, earlier in the week. I’d thought I was going mad, but he’d found some way in. Security isn’t at the top of our list of priorities here. You know that, Jimmy.’ Perez saw how grey she was and thought she’d been living in a nightmare since she’d found Markham’s body.