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Rabbit Hole

Mark Billingham
Chapters (73)
  1. Rabbit Hole
  2. Also by Mark Billingham
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. Preface
  8. PART ONE
  9. ONE
  10. TWO
  11. THREE
  12. FOUR
  13. FIVE
  14. SIX
  15. SEVEN
  16. EIGHT
  17. NINE
  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. THIRTY-TWO
  41. THIRTY-THREE
  42. PART TWO
  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. FIFTY
  60. FIFTY-ONE
  61. FIFTY-TWO
  62. FIFTY-THREE
  63. FIFTY-FOUR
  64. FIFTY-FIVE
  65. FIFTY-SIX
  66. FIFTY-SEVEN
  67. FIFTY-EIGHT
  68. PART THREE
  69. FIFTY-NINE
  70. SIXTY
  71. EPILOGUE
  72. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  73. Back Cover

Rabbit Hole

RABBIT

HOLE

Also by Mark Billingham

Also by Mark Billingham

The DI Tom Thorne series

Sleepyhead

Scaredy Cat

Lazybones

The Burning Girl

Lifeless

Buried

Death Message

Bloodline

From the Dead

Good as Dead

The Dying Hours

The Bones Beneath

Time of Death

Love Like Blood

The Killing Habit

Their Little Secret

Cry Baby

Other fiction

In the Dark

Rush of Blood

Cut Off

Die of Shame

Title Page

RABBIT

HOLE

MARK

BILLINGHAM

Atlantic Monthly Press

New York

Copyright

Copyright © 2021 by Mark Billingham Ltd

Jacket design by Gretchen Mergenthaler

Jacket photograph © Lyn Randle/Trevillion Images

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove Atlantic, 154 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011 or [email protected].

Bob Dylan quote transcribed from Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story.

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Sphere, an Imprint of Little, Brown Book Group UK

Printed in the United States of America

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition: August 2021

Library of CongressCataloging-in-Publication data is available for this title.

ISBN 978-0-8021-5870-3

eISBN 978-0-8021-5871-0

Atlantic Monthly Press

an imprint of Grove Atlantic

154 West 14th Street

New York, NY 10011

Distributed by Publishers Group West

groveatlantic.com

Dedication

Dedicated, with gratitude and respect, to the memory of the great many doctors, mental health nurses and healthcare assistants who lost their lives to Covid-19.

Epigraph

You only tell the truth when you’re wearing a mask.

BOB DYLAN

Preface

I was on my way to scrounge some tobacco from Lucy, who I sometimes call L-Plate, and is probably the poshest person I’ve ever met – who doesn’t like anyone touching her and thinks the world is flat – when I heard it all kicking off in the little room next to the canteen. The room with the yellow wallpaper and the settee. The ‘music’ room, because there’s some dusty bongos on a shelf and a guitar with four strings.

I could still smell that watery curry Eileen had done for lunch.