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Back Rabbit Hole Save as PDF
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

I reach out, without thinking, to touch L-Plate’s arm, then tell myself off for being an idiot when she flinches. ‘Listen, forget what I said. You can dress up if you want. You can wear anything you bloody well fancy.’ I nod towards the women’s corridor. ‘Come on, let’s go and get your outfit sorted.’

THIRTY-FIVE

THIRTY-FIVE

Marcus stands up and says, ‘Thank you for all for coming, especially at this very difficult time.’ This is no bog-standard community meeting and it’s clear he’s prepared something when he glances down at what he’s written on a small piece of card. ‘Obviously, we are all deeply shocked by what’s happened. To lose a friend and colleague this way is terrible, but our main concern has to be for all of you. How you are feeling, how we cope with what has happened and how we move on from this, together.’

Graham puts his hand up. When Marcus looks at him and nods, Graham squirms in his seat for a few seconds, like he’s embarrassed to find himself in the spotlight.

He asks, ‘Has something bad happened?’

Marcus mumbles a few words to Mia who immediately stands up and walks across to where Graham is sitting. She politely asks Donna to move up one, then sits down next to Graham and takes his hand.

I’m thinking that’s sweet of her.

I’m thinking that Graham is a bit further gone than I thought he was.

I’m thinking, deeply shocked is a bloody understatement and that what happened on Sunday is only the second most shocking thing I can think of. I would have thought the most holy fuck this is properly bonkers shocking thing is . . . Marcus standing there, saying all this while he knows damn well that whoever stabbed his ‘friend and colleague’ to death is sitting right there with him in the same room.

How can he not know that?

I can only assume the police have come to the same conclusion. I’m not sure who the Met’s hiring these days, but even a bunch of sixteen-year-old work-experience detectives should have figured that much out by now. Yes, there were a couple of visitors on the ward at the time of the murder, but it’s hard to imagine that Donna’s mum or Ilias’s idiot younger brother had much of a motive for killing Debbie. That’s if anyone had what an ordinary punter might think of as a conventional motive. Rage, revenge, love, sex, money, all the old favourites.

By now you should be well aware it doesn’t take much in here.

There were several Informals around at the time as well, of course, but those who were able to provide the police with permanent addresses got the hell out of there as soon as they could. I mean, wouldn’t you?