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
“It’s strange. I knew Liam, in a way and a long time ago, when we were barely more than children, though we thought we were so grown-up. And now I know all of you. In a very limited kind of way. But I never saw Liam with any of you. I never saw him with Danny or with Alfie or with the rest of you. I keep trying to picture it.” Jude paused. She wasn’t sure of the right question to ask. “What did you think of Liam and Danny? As a couple?”
“I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t think you can ever judge a relationship from the outside.”
“But you lived with them. You saw them every day. You saw them at the breakfast table.”
“You know Liam and you’ve met Danny. They’re not like everyone else.”
He passed the joint back to her and she took another drag and passed it back to him.
“But I’ve noticed what you’re not saying.”
“What am I not saying?”
“The sort of thing that people say about couples. That they were wonderful together. That they were fun. That they were meant for each other.”
“They could be fun. But they were like everyone else. They had their problems.” Jude felt Vin’s hand on her back. “What about you? How are you doing on this strange day in this strange house?”
“I don’t really know how I’m doing,” said Jude slowly, dreamily. “And I don’t know what I’m doing. A few weeks ago I was thinking about my job and my wedding. Now I’m on leave from my job. The wedding is off. Earlier today I learned that my fiancé was being unfaithful. My old teenage boyfriend has been murdered. I’m in charge of his will. And it’s the middle of the night and I’m half-drunk on the roof of a house in wherever I am.”
“In Walthamstow,” said Vin, and she could hear the laughter in his voice. “And it’s not such a bad place to be.”
“You must all be so sick of me. Liam’s been murdered and nobody knows who did it and suddenly I’m here interfering with everything. I’m sick of me.”
She looked around. She could see the lights, but she couldn’t see where the roof ended. It would be so easy to miss a step and fall three stories onto the concrete. She would be found with alcohol and illegal substances in her blood. A doctor who was on unofficial suspension because of erratic behavior, who had recently broken up with her fiancé, who—a few hours earlier—had been told of his betrayal, who had just been at the funeral of her first love. She felt the soft touch of Vin’s hand on her back. It would take the smallest nudge and nobody would bother to investigate.