BooksBarbecue
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

He sits forward. ‘Nobody’s disputing that you discovered the body, and because of that, you already know that we were able to recover a knife from the crime scene. Under one of the sinks, just like you said it was. The post-mortem confirmed that this was the murder weapon and forensic tests carried out on the knife since then have provided us with all the fingerprint and DNA evidence we could have asked for.’ He waits, to be sure I’m taking it all in. ‘That’s why I’m here. Because we have solid evidence pointing us towards an individual on this ward.’ Now, he actually smiles. ‘It’s not you though, Alice. OK? It’s not you.’

Once the shock has worn off a little, he can obviously see the question on my face, and if he hesitates, it’s not for long. I’m probably looking a bit desperate and pathetic by this point, like a dog that doesn’t know why it’s spent the last week being kicked.

So he does me the favour I’m asking, copper to copper. He tells me who he’s come to arrest for the murder of Debbie McClure.

‘No way.’

He nods. ‘It’s their prints on that knife and their DNA. Goes without saying I’d like you to keep this information to yourself . . . for the next twenty minutes or so, at least.’

‘Why the hell would they want to kill Debbie?’

‘That I can’t tell you,’ he says. ‘Because I haven’t got the first idea. I intend to find out though, obviously.’

I’m too stunned to say anything else. Sort of . . . looking down at myself while I’m trying to process what he’s told me. It’s not until I see him reaching round for the box of tissues on the shelf behind him that I even realise I’m crying.

‘Something else you were wrong about.’ He slides the box across the desk. ‘Debbie McClure wasn’t the one passing drugs to Kevin Connolly, and she wasn’t the one who killed him.’

‘What?’

‘They got prints off a few of the bottles that were found in his room. We brought someone in for questioning and arrested them for murder yesterday afternoon. Thought you should probably know.’

I stare at him, struggling to think straight. To think at all.

He stands up and pulls on his jacket. He comes round the table and stands over me, a little awkward. ‘Maybe you should give yourself five minutes before you go back out there.’

I can’t do much other than nod and blub.

The detective moves towards the door, then stops. He says, ‘You’ve got nothing to feel bad about, you know. You shouldn’t blame yourself. I mean, I say that, but you probably will. Because that’s what the likes of you and me do, isn’t it?’

FIFTY-EIGHT

FIFTY-EIGHT