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Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Chapter Forty-Eight
  52. Chapter Forty-Nine
  53. Chapter Fifty
  54. Chapter Fifty-One
  55. Chapter Fifty-Two
  56. Chapter Fifty-Three
  57. Chapter Fifty-Four
  58. Chapter Fifty-Five
  59. Chapter Fifty-Six
  60. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  61. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  62. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  63. Chapter Sixty
  64. Chapter Sixty-One
  65. Chapter Sixty-Two
  66. Chapter Sixty-Three
  67. Chapter Sixty-Four
  68. A Letter From Rob
  69. Acknowledgements
  70. DI Dani Stephens
  71. Books by Rob Sinclair
  72. About the Author
  73. Also by Rob Sinclair

‘Paul Reeve. He’s dead.’

Chapter Nineteen

Grant had to admit, Francis’s Range Rover was actually damn nice. The quality of the interior was sublime. There were splashes of chrome everywhere, and anything that wasn’t shiny was draped in cream leather, edged in thick stitching that had more than likely been done by hand. Quite how many cows had been skinned to fit out the car, Grant didn’t know, but he was sure it was many. Regardless, he was impressed. And a little jealous. Perhaps it was about time he had an upgrade after all?

‘You work over at the university, don’t you?’ Francis said as they hurtled along the M42. The needle on the speedometer edged past ninety, though the car felt like a cocoon from the outside world and there was no sense of the speed of the machine.

‘I do,’ Grant said. ‘I’m a professor.’

‘Criminology, right?’

‘Yes.’

‘So basically you’re into serial killers and things.’

Grant looked over at Francis, who was staring straight ahead at the road.

‘That’s been one of my main areas of focus over the years, yes.’

Francis shook his head. ‘Man, I don’t think I’d have the stomach for that.’

‘It’s not to everyone’s taste, I’ll admit,’ Grant said.

‘I never read your book.’

Grant had wondered how long it would take for the conversation to steer to that. People were always so predictable.

‘Not many people would these days,’ Grant said. ‘That was all a long time ago.’

‘Essence of Evil. That was it, wasn’t it?’

‘It was.’

‘So you don’t stick by it anymore?’

‘Stick by it? I’m sure much of the psychoanalysis I wrote about still applies, but what happened to me, the backdrop of that book, was a long time ago. I’m a different man to who I was when I wrote that.’

Grant felt little emotion as he talked about his dark past. He’d long come to terms with what had happened to him. Following that disturbing period had come something of an awakening for him, the writing of his book as much an exercise in catharsis as it was the research and analysis of his profession that it appeared to be to everyone else.

‘What do you do, anyway?’ Grant asked Francis.

‘Not too much these days. Just a bit of consulting every now and then.’

And that was all Grant got from his neighbour, and although intrigued by the vague answer, he didn’t bother to question for more. He hadn’t wanted Francis prying into his personal affairs so why would he do the same to Francis?