Contents ( 83)
- 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
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- Acknowledgements
- OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK
‘Then I guess the story stays with you, Alex,’ Elton said. ‘Does the crucified man have a name?’
‘Adam Blunt.’
The name hit Sarah’s ear like a hammer. She had heard it before. Not recently and not often. But there was something about it. Her mind went into overdrive, shifting through long-forgotten memories, searching for why that name might be relevant.
‘Do you know anything else about him?’ Sarah asked.
‘No. Nothing.’ For the first time Redwood seemed hesitant. ‘Why?’
‘I’m not . . . I think . . .’
Got it!
It was all Sarah could do to keep the thought inside.
‘Why?’ Redwood asked again.
‘Because I’ve heard of an Adam Blunt,’ Sarah could finally explain. ‘He was a lawyer Michael used to speak about. A solicitor. They’d worked on a few cases together back when Michael was much younger. Nothing since I’ve known him; the only reason I know the name is that Michael was invited to Blunt’s retirement party a while back. He didn’t go and I remember him telling me why; he absolutely hated the guy. And he said a lot of people in the law felt the same. It’s why the name stayed with me. Michael doesn’t dislike a lot of people. So for him to hate someone, that’s pretty unique.’
‘Look, this insight into your personal life is all very nice,’ Redwood interrupted, his impatient tone undisguised, ‘but I’m sure there are a lot of Adam Blunts in the world, Sarah. The odds on it being the same guy are fairly infinitesimal.’
‘I know the odds, Alex,’ Sarah replied. ‘But I also know how odds get shortened. And if you’d allowed me to finish, you’d be able to follow the point. Because that retirement party Michael didn’t go to. Guess where the guy was retiring to?’
Redwood didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The look on his face said it all.
And so Elton spoke for him.
‘Southwold in Suffolk?’
‘Southwold in Suffolk,’ Sarah confirmed. ‘And if it was that Adam Blunt who died last night, that gives us two controversial lawyers, both murdered with unusual levels of violence within twenty-four hours of one another.’
She turned to Redwood.
‘Now tell me the odds on those murders being unconnected?’
TWENTY
Michael waited in Derek Reid’s living room, listening to the sound of plates and cutlery that was coming from the kitchen, where Reid was preparing a lunch he had insisted on making.
Michael still felt a little uncomfortable whenever he visited Reid here, which had once been Michael’s own home. The Islington townhouse from his bachelor days. Those days were now gone, and the memory of the events that had ended them had made it impossible for Michael to ever again think of this place as ‘home’.
The ground floor of the house had changed dramatically since Michael had lived here. The bomb damage the building had suffered almost two years ago had made extensive repairs necessary.
Michael had paid for the rebuilding work, but he had never returned.