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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

My ex-flatmate Sophie came in to visit me one day and found herself alone with Tony in the music room for a few minutes. To this day, I don’t know what he said to upset her so much, but a few days later she sent him a postcard which read: Dear Tony, it was lovely to meet you. Oh, and by the way, I have transformed myself into this postcard. Have a nice day. Lots of love, the Thing x

Tony did not leave his room for almost a week afterwards.

FIVE

FIVE

I can’t say it was the most restful night’s sleep I’ve ever had. I was far too excited by what was likely to be happening on the other side of the ward, though to be fair it probably had more to do with the fact that I’d set an alarm on my phone to wake me up every half an hour. I wanted to see what was going on.

Why wouldn’t I?

I didn’t want to miss anything.

The first time I crept out, Femi ushered me back to bed as soon as she saw me. I didn’t make a fuss, just told her I needed the toilet on the way and, after lurking in the bog until I thought she’d probably got bored, I managed to sneak another few minutes before she collared me again.

Eyes like a hawk and ears like a bat, that one.

The corridor that Kevin’s room was on had been cordoned off with crime-scene tape. Just seeing that familiar ribbon of blue and white plastic was a proper buzz. Made the butterflies start to flutter a little, you know? Kevin’s room was at the far end, so I couldn’t hear anything that was actually being said or see much beyond the odd figure wandering in and out of the bedroom in question, but that didn’t matter. I knew what was going on, obviously. I knew what stage they were at.

A Homicide Assessment Team. Just a couple of officers, probably, there to examine the scene and try to establish whether or not a sudden death was actually a suspicious one. There to decide if they needed to bring in detectives, CSIs, all the rest of it.

There was a local uniform standing just in front of the cordon and I picked my moment to try and grab a few words. Femi had gone back to the nurses’ station and from where I was standing I could see her and George drinking tea and talking to Debbie. Femi laid a hand on Debbie’s shoulder as she was still clearly upset at finding the body. When I was sure they wouldn’t see me, I darted across to see what I could get out of the uniform. Like a bloody ninja, I was.