Chapters (82)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
- Keep Reading …
- Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
- About the Author
- Books by Lisa Stone
- About the Publisher
‘Impossible. There was a midwife present at the birth and she took the baby’s body away. There was nothing suspicious. Mr and Mrs Jennings are just an average couple who are struggling to come to terms with their loss. They’ve probably had enough of Mrs Slater’s prying.’
‘So neighbour dispute then?’ Matt said.
‘Could be.’
A few minutes later Beth parked the car outside the home of Mrs Slater. Her neighbour’s drive was empty, suggesting that Ian and Emma Jennings were out, possibly at work, hopefully trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, Beth thought.
‘Do you want to wait in the car? I shouldn’t be long,’ Beth asked Matt. It didn’t really need two of them to speak to Mrs Slater, unlike the notorious Bates family when they always went in pairs.
‘No, I’ll come in. I’m intrigued,’ Matt said, and opened his car door. ‘I wouldn’t want you to miss a vital piece of information.’
‘Joker,’ Beth said with a smile. She’d worked with Matt before and they enjoyed some light-hearted banter.
Beth pressed the bell at Number 55 and the door was immediately opened.
‘Mrs Slater, DCs Beth Mayes and Matt Davis,’ Beth said as they showed her their ID cards. ‘We spoke on the phone.’ Mrs Slater was in her early sixties, Beth guessed, and smartly dressed.
‘I’m glad they’ve sent you. I didn’t want to go over it all again with someone who didn’t know the case.’ She ushered them into her neat living room, which was at the front of the house. ‘Would you like a drink?’
‘No, thank you,’ Beth said. ‘We’re needed back at the station as soon as we’ve finished here.’
‘Sit down then. It will take a few minutes for me to explain what I’ve found out.’
Beth and Matt sat on the sofa as Angela Slater took the slightly higher armchair and looked at them as if addressing an audience. A glass-fronted display cabinet stood against one wall, containing ornaments, family photographs and an empty glass decanter with six matching glasses. Matt took out his notepad.
‘I’m convinced my neighbours, Ian and Emma, are hiding something,’ Angela Slater began with a sense of intrigue. ‘I don’t believe their baby is dead. They haven’t arranged a funeral, nor have they registered its death.’
‘How do you know that?’ Beth asked, surprised. Matt’s pen hovered above the notebook.
‘I saw Ian going to work yesterday. I asked him when the funeral was so I could attend or at least send some flowers. He said they weren’t having a funeral, which I thought was very odd.’
‘Perhaps it’s family only,’ Beth suggested.