Chapters (78)
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- 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
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Remarkable Praise for Nicci French
- Also by Nicci French
- About the Publisher
When the song finished, quite suddenly, the singers turned to the coffin, gave a slight inclination of their heads and stepped off the platform in silence. Someone was sobbing hoarsely at the front, probably Tara, whose head was bent forward. Jude found her eyes full of tears so that she couldn’t see. She took a tissue from her pocket and wiped her eyes and blew her nose, and then realized that Vin was on the stage, looking around at the building.
“It felt right to do this here,” he said. “Liam was the luck I had.” He turned round to the coffin. “You were the luck I had. But I’m going to tell the others about you.” He turned back to the crowd. “He was the brother I never had. He was the best friend I never had till I met him. I lived with him and I worked with him. We joined up because we both had a dream. I never thought we could really do it but Liam did and this is where we did it. This is where we dreamed dreams and made things and fixed things and we created a company and there were ups and downs, like there always are, but we made it work.” He gestured around. “We said we’d do it and we bloody did it.”
There was a murmur of applause. Jude’s eyes had been full of unshed tears as Vin began speaking but now she felt like she was sobering up slightly. This was the part of a funeral that made her uneasy, whether it was in a church or a beautifully decorated industrial space. Saying things that weren’t true, or were only one comforting version of the messy truth, because that’s what you say about the recently dead. You didn’t make it work, she said to herself, and you know you didn’t.
“But it was never just work,” Vin continued. “With Liam it was always about family. It was about Danny. It was about little Alfie here.” There was a crack in his voice and he stopped, just nodding slowly. It was like he couldn’t trust himself to speak. He took two deep breaths and laid his hand on the coffin. “I just want to say to you, mate, that we’re all going to look after this place”—he gestured once more about the building—“and we’re going to look after your family for you. We’ll try and be worthy of you.” He gave another little nod. “Now, we all said to Danny that she didn’t have to do anything and she didn’t have to say anything. But Danny is someone who won’t be told. So this very special lady is going to say a few words. Come on up.”