‘Then things got to him and he lost all that composure, started to do the “what if” thing, and that’s always dangerous. What if Jenny had gone to interview Connie for her book? Simon hadn’t even realized she was living in the village until I told him. That must have really freaked him out. What if they’d been best mates and Jenny had confided in her about the relationship? The anxiety ate away at him. First he threatened Connie by phone, then he persuaded his mother to take them to the boathouse.’ Vera looked up at them. ‘But deep down he was just jealous of the care Connie gave to her daughter. This case was always about kids and their parents. Simon Eliot was like a little lad in a tantrum, smashing what he knew he could never have.’

‘Eliot almost killed a four-year-old child because he was jealous of her?’ Ashworth was incredulous.

Vera shrugged. ‘We’ll probably never know exactly why he threw her in the water. His brother had drowned, and so had his sister’s son. Maybe there on the boathouse deck he saw it as payback time.’

‘Is that what you think this was all about?’ Charlie raised his head far enough from the table to speak.

‘Doesn’t matter what I believe, does it? The CPS has got him for two murders that he’s admitted. They probably won’t push him on the child. And Connie won’t want to go through another court case, so I imagine she’ll be happy to let it drop.’

‘Another child that’ll be terrified of water all her life,’ Holly said.

‘Aye, maybe.’ But Vera wasn’t sure about all this cause and effect. Life was less predictable and more messy than that. Best leave the theories to the shrinks and social workers. ‘Or she could turn out to be an Olympic swimmer.’

Also by Ann Cleeves

A Bird in the Hand Come Death and High Water

Murder in Paradise A Prey to Murder

A Lesson in Dying Murder in My Back Yard

A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy

Another Man’s Poison Killjoy

The Mill on the Shore Sea Fever

The Healers High Island Blues

The Baby-Snatcher The Sleeping and the Dead

Burial of Ghosts

The Vera Stanhope series

The Crow Trap Telling Tales Hidden Depths

The Shetland series

Raven Black White Nights Red Bones Blue Lightning

Acknowledgements

I’m grateful as always to the old team – Julie, Catherine, Helen, Roger, Jean, Rebecca, Sara and her associates worldwide. Thanks also to the new team – Elaine, Paul, Brenda and David – who have helped me look at my characters in a different way.

First published 2011 by Macmillan

This electronic edition published 2011 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
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www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-230-75811-7 PDF
ISBN 978-0-230-75810-0 EPUB