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
“You think?” Leila Fox’s expression was bland. “Jude, we know you’re in an awkward position with your boyfriend—fiancé,” she corrected herself. “We’re not judging you. We don’t care if you were having an affair with Liam.”
“I wasn’t.”
“It’s quite common, people reconnecting with old flames from their past. We get that. But if you’re lying to us, you’re wasting our time and energy and, even more seriously, you might be messing up our investigation, just to hide your embarrassment.”
“That’s not right.”
Fox frowned. “You’re a doctor. You have to be clever to be a doctor, don’t you? When Liam asked you to do this, what did you think it was about?”
“He said he was going to tell me when he arrived.”
“Did you think of any possible explanation that was harmless? That was legal?”
“I didn’t think. He told me it wasn’t wrong and I believed him.”
“But you didn’t tell your partner.”
“That was for a different reason.”
“On that subject, I recommend that you do tell him, because it looks like it’s going to go public.”
Jude felt the breath going out of her. She tried to stay calm.
“What do you mean?”
“A journalist somehow got hold of the story,” said Leila. “We don’t yet know how.”
“About Liam?” Jude whispered.
“That was public already. I mean about your involvement.”
“But I wasn’t involved. How did they find out?”
“I don’t know.”
Jude thought for a moment. Desperately.
“Someone must have leaked it. I mean you must have. Someone in the police.”
“I don’t accept that.”
“Who else knew?”
Neither of the detectives replied. Jude blinked several times. “When will it appear?”
Leila Fox shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be anytime. Today, tomorrow, next week. The press might even decide not to run it.”
“I’ve got to go.” Jude lurched to her feet, putting a hand on the table to steady herself.
“Are you all right?”
She couldn’t speak for a moment. Hot tears filled her eyes and her throat was thick.
“I think I’ve messed things up,” she said.
“Tell us what happened. What was Liam up to?”
“Stop,” said Jude. “I don’t know anything about Liam. But I’ve ruined things.” She looked at Leila. It was as if Patterson wasn’t even in the room. “What should I do?”
“Speak to him. Tell him the truth.”
Twelve
Jude made it out of the station, into the cold wind. She took her phone from her pocket and called Nat. Her breath came in shallow gasps as she waited for him to pick up. It went to voicemail. She tried again. He’d be at work by now. He was probably in a meeting. She sent him a WhatsApp—please call me asap. She could see he wasn’t online.