Chapters (73)
- Rabbit Hole
- Also by Mark Billingham
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Preface
- PART ONE
- 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
- PART TWO
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- 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
- PART THREE
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Back Cover
‘And “involved” is putting it mildly, by the way. She was the one doing the murdering.’ I sit back and fold my arms. ‘I’m relieved that you’ve finally brought it up, as it goes.’
‘Why’s that?
‘Because it means that you’ve connected the two murders. I mean, they are connected. You know that, right?’ I wait. ‘Come on, how can they not be?’
French and Saunders look at one another.
‘You working with the other lot, then? With Seddon’s team?’
‘The two investigations have been . . . merged,’ Saunders says.
‘Who’s running it?’
They exchange another look. Finally, Saunders says, ‘Detective Chief Inspector Brigstocke.’
I recognise the name but I don’t know him. ‘Is he any good?’ I wait some more, but neither of them seems awfully keen to discuss the capabilities of their SIO. The room’s getting seriously warm and I think about asking one of them to open a window.
‘You seem tense, Alice,’ French says.
‘Do I?’
‘A bit on edge.’
‘Well, of course I’m on edge. I’m shitting myself.’
‘Why would that be?’
It obviously needs spelling out for them. ‘I thought Debbie was running the whole drugs thing on her own, OK . . . but I was obviously wrong. She was clearly working with someone else on the inside and whoever that person is decided that Debbie couldn’t be trusted to keep her mouth shut. Look, I didn’t make a huge secret of the fact that I thought Debbie was the one who’d killed Kevin, all right? Or that I had my suspicions, at least. So, maybe her accomplice reckoned it wouldn’t be too long before Debbie was arrested, and that when she was, she’d spill her guts about exactly who else was involved. So best to get rid of her. I suppose looking at it that way, I’m partly to blame for what happened.’
Saunders is scribbling. ‘Right . . .’
‘I wasn’t the one with the knife though, was I?’
‘No,’ French says.
‘That’s something else . . .’
‘What?’
‘I told Seddon two weeks ago about how easy it would be to get hold of a knife in here and he didn’t listen. Wouldn’t even return my calls when I had crucial information. If I’d been taken seriously a bit sooner, Debbie might have been nicked long before whoever she was working with had the chance to shut her up for good. That’s what I’d call dropping the ball, big time. So yeah, I’m not exactly relaxed right now . . . because chances are whoever carved Debbie up in the bogs knows that I’ve put the whole thing together. Which means they might decide to come after me next.’
Saunders puts her pen down. ‘Are you worried for your safety?’