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 didn’t know that Dermot had a big, big crush on Danny. That was bad luck. For Liam, I mean. Not for Danny.” Vin paused and thought for a moment. “I guess in the end it was bad luck for Danny as well.” He grinned in a way that turned Jude’s stomach. “That was all in the future. When Dermot turned him down, he needed someone else who would give him an alibi for when he killed the mother of his child, so he turned to . . .” Vin stopped speaking and looked Jude full in the face for several seconds. “His lost love.”
“I wasn’t his lost love. And he wasn’t mine.”
“Then what was it like? You were his big alibi. It all depended on you. When you heard that Danny had been murdered, you were the one who would have backed him up. He must have had a lot of faith in you and yet you say that there was nothing between you.”
He shook his head knowingly.
“I wouldn’t,” Jude said. “I would never have covered up for him.”
“Maybe.” Vin spoke as if it didn’t matter very much.
“Do you really think you’re going to get away with this?”
His expression remained as cheerful as ever. He lifted his right hand and wagged his forefinger at her reprovingly.
“Dr. Winter. If I hadn’t called on you by surprise, I would suspect you of wearing a wire and trying to trap me into admitting something.”
“You’ll just have to live with it. What you know. What you’ve done.”
“I think I can manage,” he said cheerfully. “You and me. We’re the only ones who emerged from this undamaged.”
This was enough. Jude stood up and pulled her jacket on.
“I don’t feel particularly undamaged,” she said.
He stood up. “I suppose this is goodbye.”
“That’s right.”
Outside on the pavement, Jude turned to leave. She hoped she would never see him again, but he put out a hand and touched her shoulder.
“I believe you,” he said.
“Believe what?”
“I don’t think you would have given an alibi to a murderer. I was thinking that before, and now, meeting you here, I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t care what you think.”
“You had his phone with you, right?”
Jude didn’t answer but Vin continued as if she had said yes.
“That’s all he needed. His phone was a hundred miles away. That was all the alibi he needed.”
“And I was there.”
He left a pause before replying.
“Think about it,” he said.
“Think about what?”