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Back Her White Lie
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Chapter Forty-Five
  48. Chapter Forty-Six
  49. Chapter Forty-Seven
  50. Chapter Forty-Eight
  51. Chapter Forty-Nine
  52. Chapter Fifty
  53. Chapter Fifty-One
  54. Chapter Fifty-Two
  55. Chapter Fifty-Three
  56. Chapter Fifty-Four
  57. Chapter Fifty-Five
  58. Chapter Fifty-Six
  59. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  60. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  61. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  62. Chapter Sixty
  63. Chapter Sixty-One
  64. Chapter Sixty-Two
  65. Chapter Sixty-Three
  66. Chapter Sixty-Four
  67. Chapter Sixty-Five
  68. Chapter Sixty-Six
  69. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  70. A letter from Jackie
  71. About the Author
  72. Also by Jackie Walsh

The nearest newsagent is one street down to my right. I take the first turn I come to and rush down the laneway to the store. Inside, I walk over to the newspaper stand and lift the paper with Avril Ryan’s face on the front of it. Her hazel-green eyes are staring at me from the page. I never realized how beautiful she was before. I’d been so obsessed with not getting dragged into the whole mess that I never paid much attention to the woman who was killed. What she must have gone through. And why did she end up at the bottom of that pit? How does her family survive knowing their sister, their daughter, their niece has been killed? God knows how many people’s lives were turned upside down when Avril went missing, and now they must go through this fresh, ruthless pain. This grief that removes all the hope from their hearts of ever seeing Avril alive again.

I take the newspaper in my hand and a feeling of guilt washes over me. I don’t know why but it’s as though I believe deep down that somehow I have something to do with this woman’s death. Have I? For a brief moment I imagine everyone in the shop is looking at me, thinking I am responsible for her murder, which is stupid because no one is looking at me. No one is looking at anyone.

I pay the cashier and leave the shop. If Lucas could see me now he’d say I wasn’t doing a very good job of pushing the investigation to one side and concentrating on the wedding. But I have to find out what’s new. Have they arrested somebody? Have they discovered some new information? Can I stop worrying about this now?

The answer is no. I can’t. The police haven’t arrested a suspect. They are making a fresh appeal for information. Asking the public to come forward if they can remember anything, no matter how small. My eyes are glued to the words on the page as I also try to navigate my way down the road without walking under a car. After a few lines, the paper directs me to page ten. Which is what I intend doing but when I turn the page I bump into a buggy coming from the opposite direction. The pain shoots down my leg.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ I say to the girl pushing the buggy and bend down to rub my knee.