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Back One White Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Rachel’s mouth formed a circle of understanding. ‘But you don’t really think – why would Sam even want to come into your place?’

I took a sip of wine: ‘A knife of mine is missing. I only realized it recently. It’s just a kitchen knife, but … I think he killed John, and he’s trying to make it look like I did it. I know it sounds absolutely crazy – like, why try and frame me and not Vera? She’s the obvious target. But I think it was just convenience. Sam knew he’d be a suspect, and so he had to blame someone, and he knew I was close with them, and most important, he had access to my belongings. I’ve been going over and over it in my head, and it’s the only explanation that makes sense.’

I didn’t tell her about the photos or the note – or my mother’s scarf – I still hadn’t put that together myself. Why in the world would Sam take those things? But it didn’t matter. The knife alone was enough.

‘Have you gone to the police?’ Rachel asked.

‘Not yet,’ I said. ‘I only just figured all this out. They’re all over me, the police, and I worried if I told them a knife was missing …’

‘You’re afraid it will only make them suspect you.’

‘Yes.’

Rachel shook her head slowly, wheels turning.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. ‘Of course Sam would be angry, after everything.’

I held her gaze. ‘You still never told me what changed your mind about John and Claire.’

She looped one finger through a hole in her pashmina. ‘I shouldn’t speak ill of the –’

‘Dead. I know. But if it’s something that could help the investigation, that could help me make sense of what’s happening, you have to tell me. Please.’

Rachel’s eyes caught mine. Don’t make me say it, she seemed to beg.

‘Tell me the truth,’ I pleaded. ‘I need to hear it.’

‘You’ll hate John if I do.’

‘I don’t care,’ I said. ‘I have to know.’

She swallowed, pressing her hands to her thighs. Then she opened her mouth, shut it again. She took another sip, and I did, too, and I had a feeling, clear as day, that it was the last sip I’d take when the world was a certain way, a way I very much wanted it to be.

Rachel cleared her throat and looked, once more, to the photo of Vera, before turning her gaze on me.

‘Claire was pregnant.’

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THIRTY-EIGHT

‘No,’ I said, her words crashing into me, smashing me to pieces. ‘No,’ I said it again, as if the word could undo it all. ‘No.’