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

‘Tell them.’

‘Yes, there were detectives here. And by all accounts, you were being very naughty.’

‘Just doing my job,’ I said.

Marcus shook his head, then said what he’d come across to say. ‘I wanted to let you know that unfortunately there won’t be any classes tomorrow, because the occupational therapist won’t be coming in.’

‘That’s not on,’ Lauren said.

‘Doesn’t bother me,’ Ilias said.

‘What about doing my drawing?’ Donna’s pale-blue eyes filled immediately with tears. They’re probably no bigger than anyone else’s, but because the rest of her face is so thin they always seem enormous, like she’s E.T., or one of those sad-looking kids in the paintings. ‘When’s she coming back?’

Marcus shrugged. ‘I can’t say. You know how it goes.’

We knew well enough, even if most of them didn’t actually understand the reasons. The ward psychologist had gone on maternity leave before I arrived and had never come back. There were two fewer beds than when I first came in, one less nurse and more agency staff.

All about money, same as usual. The allocation of resources.

‘Same bullshit in the Met,’ I said.

‘It’s less than satisfactory, but what can we do?’ Marcus stood up. ‘As it happens, we would have needed to suspend tomorrow’s classes anyway, because the police have said they will be coming back. They will need to talk to everyone. Staff and patients.’

It was an effort not to punch the air or shout something.

I was thinking about Kevin, of course I was – about that body bag being unzipped on a slab somewhere and what those who loved him would be going through – but there’s no point pretending that I wasn’t as stupidly excited as I’d been since the night they frogmarched me in here. That morning dose of olanzapine was already starting to kick in and take some of the edges off, but even so, I suddenly felt as alive, as much like myself, as I could remember feeling in a long time.

‘Statements, right?’ I was trying not to shout. ‘They need to take our statements.’

‘I believe so,’ Marcus said.

‘Find out where everyone was, what they were doing when the body was discovered. Before it was discovered.’ I was nodding and looking round the table, at Ilias and Donna, then finally at Lauren. I let my eyes settle on hers: piggy and puffed-up. I let what I’d said hang for just long enough.

‘So we’d better get our stories straight.’

SEVEN

SEVEN

‘Hello, ladies!’