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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

If I felt like it, I could say anything about any of them.

They’d deny it, but that didn’t matter. Most people in here are too drugged up to remember what they’ve told anyone half the time, never mind what they might have done. Most of them don’t even think they should be here, for Christ’s sake.

Now Tony was laughing, a deep hurr hurr that was annoying at the best of times, and right then made me want to smash my water glass into his face. He pointed and started to shout, so that everyone else in the room could share the joke. Bob started to laugh, too.

‘I am a police officer . . . remember?’ Tony was bellowing and trying to do my voice, high-pitched and stupid. ‘I am a police officer!’

Now I could see that Mia, along with everyone else, was looking. I decided that I’d got about as much information out of Tony as I was likely to get and headed quickly to the door. Donna was already on her way out, keen to put in some hard yards, so I followed her out into the corridor, fell into step next to her and began to walk.

SIXTEEN

SIXTEEN

‘What was all that about?’ Donna asked.

I still felt angry about it and the speed-walking wasn’t helping to ease the tension. ‘Just Tony taking the piss,’ I said.

‘Want me to mess with him a bit? Tell him I’m the Thing?’

‘No, you’re all right,’ I said.

We had already walked the length of the corridor three times as far as the MDR, turned and walked back again.

‘I think it’s good that you’re trying to find out what happened,’ Donna said.

‘It’s important,’ I said.

‘Police are obviously doing sod all.’

I don’t know why I suddenly felt the need to defend a service that had seen fit to kick me out on my arse. Something deep-seated that hadn’t gone away in spite of everything, I suppose. I couldn’t think of a time when I hadn’t wanted to be a police officer. I still can’t.

I said, ‘I’m sure they’re doing everything they can. It takes time to build a case, to put a list of likely suspects together and interview them, to process forensic evidence.’

‘Like on CSI?’

I bit my tongue. That stupid show is the bane of a detective’s life, making shit up and presenting it as gospel. I’d seen any number of trials go down the toilet because jurors thought they knew things once they’d seen them on the TV. Because they were too stupid to know the difference between forensic fact and fiction.

‘They’ll be able to find out exactly who’d been in Kevin’s room, won’t they?’ Donna nodded.

‘Not necessarily.’

‘Because these days you just need a sample of the air.’

Like I said . . .