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Chapters (62)
  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Book
  6. Dedication
  7. Your Worst Nightmare
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. The Answer to All Your Prayers
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. Somebody Else’s Child
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. Sunlight on Water
  60. July
  61. September
  62. Acknowledgements

‘Are there seven, or eight? I’m trying to count the heads, but they’re so wriggly, aren’t they?’ She lapses into silence, enjoying alongside Evan the antics of the newborns.

‘I have to go,’ she says at last. ‘There are some things for Grandma I have to pick up from the doctor’s, and we need something for dinner.’

He nods that he understands and watches as she leaves, before giving his attention back to the kittens. He hears his mother’s car drive away, and then immerses himself in the mewling from the nest and the calling of the swallows overhead.

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-EIGHT

29 August

Hagen’s been occupied with other things – while most of the team is working on the Foxley Wood Road shooting, he’s fielding everything else, and there seems to be a constant stream of claims on his attention, requests for him to make phone calls and visits, tie up loose ends and chase lines of enquiry no one else can spare the time to deal with.

When Dallabrida drops a hefty brown envelope on his desk, Hagen is on the phone, on hold for a forensic pathology lab he’s been asked to call. The data requests he filed the previous week are all but forgotten.

‘Here you are,’ says Dallabrida. ‘I saw this with your name on it downstairs. No need to thank me for my kindness. My usual fee’s a pint.’

Hagen looks down at the envelope and frowns. That’s definitely his name on the front.

‘Cheers, mate,’ he calls after Dallabrida’s retreating back, and Dallabrida raises his hand.

With the phone still to his ear, Hagen breaks the seal on the envelope and pulls out a couple of the sheets it contains. Bank account data for Brian William Birch.

For a moment, the name rings no bells. Then he recalls the Ferrers case, and Naylor’s request for this information. There’s a voice in his ear at last from the pathology lab. Hagen pushes the papers back inside the envelope and gives his attention to the woman who’s finally taken his call.

It’s getting late when Hagen remembers the envelope. The office is quieter, winding down; the day’s been hot, and he’s been looking forward to a cool beer on his way home. But his conscience pricks him over the Ferrers case – he’s the only one doing any work on it at all now, as far as he knows – and so he decides he’ll give it ten minutes before he leaves.

What did Naylor say to him? Look for sources of income. He pulls the sheaf of papers from the envelope, finding a lot of paper covering two years’ worth of transactions.