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
He took a chair and leaned down to stroke the cat; it arched its back till its spine bristled, then spat at him. “Nice companion you have here.”
“I know. I’m finding somewhere else to live.”
He looked around. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“And I’m going back to work on Monday.”
“Good,” he said heartily. “That’s excellent news, Jude.”
She put a mug of coffee in front of him and sat opposite with her own mug. Michael sat up straight and fidgeted with the knot of his tie.
“I have been thinking,” he continued. “And I’ve been talking to Mum and Dad.”
“About me?”
“They’re worrying. Don’t take this wrongly, Jude, but you’ve been behaving in a bit of a bizarre way.”
Jude pulled her robe tighter round her.
“That’s in the past,” she managed to say.
“I’m glad to hear it. But added to that, and related to that . . .” He gestured vaguely. “We think that you should give up this ridiculous notion of being Liam Birch’s executor.”
“You’ve decided, have you?”
“Let’s face it, you can’t do it properly anyway, and it’s all been too much. On top of everything else.”
“Is that what you came to say?”
“I’m going to take it over. At once. Everything. Leave it with me.”
“You?”
“Well, probably mostly my trainee actually, but essentially, yes.”
Jude’s first impulse was to stand up and shout at Michael, to be furious with him for getting involved in her life and talking about her behind her back. But then she had a second impulse, which canceled out the first.
“That’s very generous of you, Michael.”
He held up his hand. “Is there a but coming?”
“There’s no but.”
“You mean you’re okay with this?”
“Of course. More than okay. It’s a massive relief. You’re right that I can’t do it. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Michael’s face broke into a smile. “I thought you’d kick up a fuss.”
“No. I want to put all of this behind me now. Start putting my life back together. You can ring Mum and Dad and tell them to stop worrying.”
Fifty-Nine
Jude walked to Walthamstow, even though the sky was a bruised purple and every so often there was a dull rumble of thunder from far off. When she got to the front door of the house, she took off the necklace and pushed it into her pocket. She would tell Danny that Michael was taking on the role of executor, free of charge, she would hand over Liam’s wishbone, and she would walk out of the house and never return. Over the weekend she would set about finding a place to live, and in the meantime she would move in with Dee and her housemates. On Monday she would return to work.