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Chapters (60)
  1. CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR LEIGH RUSSELL
  2. Glossary of acronyms
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. Acknowledgements

David’s death appeared to have been premeditated. The pills might have been given to him without his knowledge. His wife, for example, could have made some excuse for his dinner tasting strange, or she might have mixed ground-up pills and put them into the whisky he drank. Jason’s death, on the other hand, could have been accidental, even though it had been deliberately covered up. If Jason had been murdered, it must have been on impulse, because the killer had clearly not thought it through, and had taken a long time to work out how to dispose of the body, doing so only when the fetid odour became a problem. If David had been killed first, it was possible Jason might have been attacked because he had threatened to expose the killer, but it made less sense the other way around. The more she thought about it, the more confused Geraldine felt. But it was hard to believe the two deaths could be unrelated.

After thanking Jonah for his insights, Geraldine drove Ian back to the police station in silence. As soon as she reached her desk, she arranged for Roger’s blanket to be collected and tested. The forensic team found no evidence that the blanket had been in contact with a corpse, and in any case the woollen fibres gathered from Jason’s corpse were reported to have come from a red and blue blanket. Jessica and Anne’s houses were searched but there was no sign of a red and blue blanket. Geraldine was not surprised. The blanket used to wrap the body could be anywhere by now, if it had not been destroyed. All the same, she felt a familiar frisson of disappointment. She wished the case could be as simple to solve as the murder mysteries she occasionally watched on television. Fiction tended to be reassuringly logical, while real life was convoluted and messy, and it was giving her a headache.

35

35

Jason would have had ample opportunity to remove Daisy from the house without telling anyone where she was. If he had taken the baby, his death took on an additional worrying dimension. There didn’t appear to be any possible motive for him to have spirited his daughter away, with or without his wife’s consent. Anne had denied there was anything wrong with Jessica, but she appeared to have been lying. Based on bloodstains found in the cot, Eileen had suspected the baby might have been killed and the parents had been covering up the murder. With the discovery of Jason’s body, a new theory emerged, that he had been responsible for his daughter’s death and Jessica had killed him as a consequence. Whatever the truth, it was beginning to look unlikely the baby would ever be found alive.