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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

So I wonder why I barely register that George is talking to me as I pass him, why my heart is dancing so hard that I can see my T-shirt move against my chest and why it feels like I might be sick.

What have I got to be frightened about now?

I open my bedroom door thinking that I don’t want to know the answer, but by the time I’ve locked it behind me, I know full well that I don’t have a lot of choice.

FIFTY-FIVE

FIFTY-FIVE

I haven’t slept. I know I haven’t. How could I?

It doesn’t matter though, because there’s still blood.

The bedroom light is on because I didn’t want to lie here in the dark and it’s about as quiet as it ever gets in here. Just the rise and fall of an indistinct voice which I presume is coming from the nurses’ station and the distant hum of those generators I ran past yesterday.

It’s almost three in the morning and I’ve been awake the whole time.

But there’s still blood.

‘It’s not just mine,’ Johnno says. ‘You know that already though, right?’

I nod. To Johnno, to myself, to the mirror on the wall that’s opposite my bed. ‘Not even sure you had that much in you.’

‘It’s hers.’

‘Well, course it is, why wouldn’t it be? I was covered in the stuff. Down on that toilet floor.’

Johnno sighs and says, ‘Come on, Al . . .’

‘Come on what?’ He says nothing. ‘Listen, if you’re just trying to put the wind up me, Phil Johnston, you’re doing a bloody good job.’

‘Look at the evidence,’ he says. ‘It’s what we do.’

I’m shaking, but it’s all right, because I don’t think he can actually see me. Mind you, I was shaking last time he did see me. Last time he saw anything. ‘Come on then, smartarse, help me out.’

‘You found the body.’

‘Nobody’s denying that.’

‘Just a fact that’s worth bearing in mind,’ he says. ‘A supporting fact.’

‘Supporting what? Where’s this so-called evidence?’

‘They’ve got evidence, Al, and that’s all that matters.’

‘This is getting on my tits now, Johnno.’

‘You had a motive,’ he says. ‘Several motives actually, if we’re really going to get into it. You thought she’d killed Kevin who was a friend of yours and you thought she was going to get away with it. You felt ignored, and I mean, why wouldn’t you? You felt like your opinion was worth nothing. That you were worth nothing. I’m not saying all this just to be horrible . . .’

Fuck it, I’m crying now. ‘I know you’re not.’