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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

I clocked him checking his watch and guessed that we didn’t have much time left. ‘So, are you going to talk to Seddon, or what?’

Another sigh. ‘This isn’t my case, Al. You know that.’

‘You’re still a copper, though. It’s your duty to bring new information to his attention, at least.’

‘I don’t think there is any new information.’ He turned and looked at me, the expression of a doctor about to deliver bad news. ‘I just don’t think it hangs together.’

‘Come on.’ I felt like I might lose it at any second and I was clutching on to the edge of that bench for dear life. ‘How long have we worked together, Banksy? You knew Johnno, for God’s sake . . . you know me.’

He couldn’t look at me. ‘I used to,’ he said. ‘But, you know . . . this?’

By the time he did look up, I was on my feet and away. ‘Nice to have a natter and a fag,’ I shouted back to him. ‘Don’t worry, mate, I can see myself back up.’

When I stomped into the lobby, I saw that Lucy’s mother and father were standing inside the lift, waiting for it to close. I shouted, ‘Hold the doors,’ and ran to join them. I pretended not to notice them inching towards the back wall as the doors began to shut.

But it didn’t help.

I’m not using the fact that I was angry and looking to lash out as an excuse for what I said. I don’t remember the last time I needed an excuse for anything, but it’s an explanation, fair enough? Obviously I knew who they were, so I get that it was bad. I knew who they were visiting and I knew exactly why she was there.

As the lift juddered slowly up, I turned round and grinned at them.

I said, ‘I’ve just been shooting up outside.’ I moaned a bit and rubbed at my arm. ‘Smack is just fabulous, don’t you reckon?’

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-FIVE

Tuesday morning I was determined to get stuck in, so after breakfast and meds I worked through some old contacts on my phone and made a few calls trying to find the number for Seddon’s incident room. The direct line, I mean. I’d wanted to do it the day before once Banksy had left, but I knew that, by then, most of the people I needed to speak to would prob­ably have gone home already. It didn’t much matter in the end, because when I got back on to the ward there were too many distractions – George was trying to dissuade Graham from making a fresh dent in the wall with his head and Lauren was shouting at Femi about someone coming into her room and going through her stuff – so I was finding it hard to focus on anything approaching work.