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Back The Family Next Door Save as PDF
Chapters (117)
  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Epigraph
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
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  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
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  106. 101
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  108. 103
  109. 104
  110. 105
  111. 106
  112. 107
  113. 108
  114. 109
  115. 110
  116. Teaser chapter
  117. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christ, she was tired. She would have to call it a night soon. But she did not want to leave, the weight of failure on her shoulders, the taste of self-recrimination on her lips.

The printed letters blurred. She lingered over them, reading the same passage over and over again.

GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM:

Approximately 213 mL of partially digested semisolid food is found in the stomach.

Nothing untoward about that. Most people had eaten something in the hours before their death. She rarely paid much attention to stomach contents. Most of the pathologists she knew—in the Southeast, at least—were the same, and almost always relied on the blood and urine results.

Given the absence of external or internal injuries—aside from the eyes, which had been removed after death—she and DCI Clive Mackie had discussed at length other methods of murder: the use of nerve agents, gases or poisons. Even fear. She’d once performed a postmortem on a woman who had died of a heart attack during a botched robbery. It was certainly possible to be scared to death. But that had happened once in seventeen years. It was not the case here.

As for the toxicology tests—the ones that had come back, at least—they had so far been inconclusive. And if she didn’t know what she was looking for, how could she begin to find it?

No signs of toxins in the lungs. And she had invested many, many hours scouring the skin of the dead for a needle’s telltale pinprick. If any of them had been injected intramuscularly, she would need to harvest the tissues around the entry point. Intravenously, and it would show up in the bloods. But she could find no evidence of injections and nothing had been flagged in the test results.

As for the contents of the stomach, she had erred on the side of caution and sent them to be tested, but, again, the results were either inconclusive or not yet in.

213 mL of partially digested semisolid food.

A distant bell rang in her mind.

Partially digested.

Most food took a couple of hours to digest, which meant that Adam Stanton had eaten something in the two hours before his death.

She reached for the rest of the reports, flicking through them, a rolling drum picking up pace in her chest.

Natalie Tiernan.

GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM:

Approximately 183 mL of partially digested semisolid food is found in the stomach.

Elijah Outhwaite.

GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM:

Approximately 252 mL of partially digested semisolid food is found in the stomach.

Esther Farnworth.

GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM:

Approximately 191 mL of partially digested semisolid food is found in the stomach.

Will Proudfoot.

GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM: Approximately 265 mL of partially digested semisolid food is found in the stomach.

All of them had eaten something in a two-hour window before their deaths.