Chapters (130)
- Cover
- FIND THEM DEAD
- Dedication page
- Maps
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- FOUR MONTHS LATER
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- GLOSSARY
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- NOW A MAJOR ITV SERIES
- I FOLLOW YOU
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- DISCOVER THE ROY GRACE BOOKS
- FIND THEM DEAD
- The Detective Superintendent Roy Grace books in order
- Also by Peter James
‘Not guilty’ had started to become a mantra inside her head.
Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty.
She’d woken yesterday actually saying it out loud.
She sniffed, went into the bathroom and dried her eyes with the towel hanging there. But as she did so, she began sobbing again. Her phone rang. She hurried over to the bed where she’d left it and answered.
‘Has the judge put his black cap on yet?’
She smiled, despite her tears, at the sound of her friend’s voice. ‘Hey, Ali.’
‘Hey.’
For a moment, for the first time ever in their years of friendship, Meg couldn’t think of anything to say.
‘Megs, are you OK?’
‘Yes.’ Meg was struggling to hold it together.
‘You don’t sound OK. What’s happened?’
Suddenly, she couldn’t help it, the dam burst and the tears flooded again.
‘Megs, I’m coming straight over, be there in fifteen.’
‘N-n-n-no. No.’ Meg thought frantically. Not here. Too dangerous. ‘Why don’t we go to the beach, have a drink in that bar there?’
‘Sure, OK. Actually, tell you what, it’s such a glorious evening, why don’t I bring a bottle and a couple of glasses and we’ll go sit on the beach. Usual place?’
‘Yes, thanks, that would be good.’
‘I’ve got a lovely chilled rosé in the fridge. OK?’
‘Anything, Ali, so long as it’s a big bottle. Like, a really big bottle. Maybe even two bottles!’
‘You’re sounding better already!’
65
Thursday 16 May
‘Look, look, look!’ Cleo said excitedly as Roy Grace arrived home at a few minutes to 7 p.m. She leaned forward to kiss him then showed him the box in her hands.
‘Eggs?’
She nodded vigorously. ‘Well done. You should be a detective – oh, I forgot, you are one!’ she said, playfully.
He grinned, closing the door behind him and giving Humphrey a quick stroke. ‘Something special about these eggs?’
‘There is, open it, something special about both of them!’
‘Both of them?’ He peered inside. ‘OK, they are blue. Any significance?’
‘Nope.’
‘They’re organic, free range and cost a fortune?’ he ventured.
She shook her head. ‘They’re organic, free range and free.’
‘Free?’
‘Those things we have in the big run in the garden. The feathered creatures that make a clucking noise?’
His eyes widened with delight as he finally understood. ‘These are from them?’
‘Yes, our very first blue eggs!’
‘Wow, amazing!’ He felt a real buzz of excitement. ‘Which ones did they come from?’