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
“His car was almost out of petrol. I used it on the drive up.”
“Why didn’t you pay for it with your own card?”
Jude swallowed before she replied. It sounded different when she spoke the words aloud.
“He said to use his card because I was doing enough for him already. He insisted.”
Leila Fox shook her head slowly. “I feel sorry for you, I really do. What you’re going through. And I feel worried about you as well. But what were you thinking?”
“I didn’t know, I wasn’t sure. I asked him and he said he would tell me when he arrived.”
“But couldn’t you see? Wasn’t it obvious?”
“What?”
“By the time he arrived, you would already have done the favor.”
“Sorry?”
“Oh, stop it,” said the detective, looking irritated for the first time. “If you’re driving out of London with his phone, if you’re using his credit card to pay for petrol, then you’re giving him an alibi. An alibi for a crime. And if you’re going to all that trouble, then it’s not for something small.” Fox pushed her chair back as if to give herself more of a view of Jude. “Don’t you see how it looks, to an outsider?”
“What?”
“Your involvement. Strange. Suspicious. Criminal.”
There was a long silence while Jude thought of how to respond. Was this the moment she should refuse to answer any more questions? Or ask for a lawyer? On the other hand, she wasn’t actually being accused of anything. Yet. And none of this was being recorded.
“Haven’t you thought that Liam’s plan might have been something harmless? That he was going to meet me at the station and tell me something that wasn’t illegal at all?”
“Yes, I have thought about it. For about five seconds.”
“And is it possible that it was a simple mugging? He could have been held up and when he didn’t have a wallet or a mobile phone, the mugger could have got angry and stabbed him.”
“Is that the theory you’d pursue if you were me? Look for some fifteen-year-old with a knife?”
“I’m just saying that it’s possible. There are different motives for killing someone.”
“Well, what I’m saying is that I don’t think you quite realize the situation you’re in.”
Jude almost laughed at that. “I think I do.”
“No,” said Leila Fox, with a serious expression. “I want to say a couple of things to you. The first is that if there’s anything you’re holding back, anything at all that might be relevant to this inquiry, you’d better tell me.”
The detective paused as if she was waiting for Jude to reveal something.
Jude stared back, feeling the first shimmering of a migraine preparing itself.
“And the other?”