Chapters (49)
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Also by Graham Hurley
- LIMELIGHT
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- AFTERWARDS
Bullivant studies me for a while. Then he extends a hand towards Leadbetter. I sense that they’ve probably rehearsed this moment. The file at her elbow is already open. She extracts a single sheet of paper and gives it to Bullivant. He’s about to slide it across the table but then he changes his mind. McFaul, it appears, has left me a second note, recovered from his bungalow after he’d disappeared.
Bullivant adjusts his glasses. He wants to read it to me.
Thank you for helping Chrissie on her way, McFaul has written. You’ll never know what that meant to both of us. You’re a true friend. Bullivant looks up. Then he passes me the note. ‘Well, Ms Andressen?’
I’m staring at the message. McFaul has written it in capital letters, very carefully, the way a child might. ‘Friend’, I like a lot. The rest will probably put me in prison. My mouth is dry, and I have trouble trying to swallow.
‘No comment,’ I say.
THIRTY-SIX
Andrea thinks the note is inconclusive. You can, she says, parse it a number of ways. ‘Parse’ is a wonderful verb and I haven’t heard it for years. It means analyse or interpret. When I summon a smile and thank her for trying to cheer me up, she shakes her head.
‘I mean it,’ she says. ‘Christianne was on a journey. Wittingly or otherwise, you offered support. She liked you very much. We have that in writing. Twice. You should feel proud about that.’
‘Helped her on her way? Isn’t that a gift to someone like Bullivant?’
‘It’s not Bullivant we have to worry about. He gathers the evidence, as he’s doubtless told you. Then it goes in front of the CPS. They won’t take it to court unless they think there’s a realistic chance of getting a result, and even then they have to convince a jury. These hurdles are much higher than people think. There’s also an issue with funding. This government have put the legal sector on a starvation diet. Court time costs a fortune and we’re running out of money.’
‘You’re telling me they can’t afford to take me to court?’
‘I’m telling you they’ve got a very thin case. Mercy killings are notoriously difficult and in your case, I doubt they can prove you were there at the time.’
‘Good.’ I manage a smile. ‘Because I wasn’t.’
Andrea pops out to fetch us a spot of lunch, and when she returns, she has the broadest of smiles on her face. She’s been talking to the custody sergeant and it appears that I’m free to leave.
‘You mean it’s over?’ I can’t believe it. In her absence I’ve been fretting again about McFaul’s note. Now this.