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Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for The House of Whispers
  3. Title Page
  4. Note to Readers
  5. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  19. Twelve
  20. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  32. Twenty-One
  33. Twenty-Two
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  37. Twenty-Five
  38. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  39. Twenty-Six
  40. Twenty-Seven
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Thirty-Two
  46. Thirty-Three
  47. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Thirty-Six
  51. Thirty-Seven
  52. Thirty-Eight
  53. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  54. Thirty-Nine
  55. Forty
  56. Forty-One
  57. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  66. Forty-Eight
  67. Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019
  68. Forty-Nine
  69. Fifty
  70. Fifty-One
  71. Fifty-Two
  72. Fifty-Three
  73. Fifty-Four
  74. Fifty-Five
  75. Fifty-Six
  76. Fifty-Seven
  77. Fifty-Eight
  78. Fifty-Nine
  79. Sixty
  80. Priory Hospital North London: 20 December 2019
  81. Acknowledgements
  82. About the Publisher

‘Oh God. It was awful. He was a gorgeous little thing. His throat was slit. Abi found him one night.’ [sighs] ‘He was her cat. She really loved him.’

‘How did she take it?’

‘She was calm. Just dealt with it.’

‘Did you ever find out who did it?’

‘No. At first I thought it was kids from the local neighbourhood. You know how it is. Group bravado, or a prank gone wrong. I don’t know. But then Abi admitted, a long time later, that she thought it was Grace. Apparently, Alfie – the cat – used to miaow outside Grace’s room at night, which really annoyed her. And then there was a time when Grace had locked the cat in the bathroom. [pauses] Apparently cats didn’t like her.’

‘Grace?’

‘Yes. Grace.’

Forty-Two

‘Oh my God! Abi!’ Rohan shook me, his hand clawing at my upper arm and I jerked awake, not sure where I was; I’d fallen into bed around half past two and slept like the dead. The country road of my usual nightmare was printed on my eyelids, the birds in my head were singing, the wildflowers were as bright as ever, but, when I opened my eyes, there was no disaster, no horror: just the curtains, our bedroom, and Rohan holding his phone as if he’d read that the world had ended. Inside my chest, a knot of grief: Alfie.

‘What? What’s up? What time is it?’ I rubbed at my eyes.

‘It’s Mum,’ Rohan said and my heart lurched. The only thing that could be worse than Meena interfering in my life would be Meena unable to interfere in my life. I couldn’t imagine the drama, the chaos that an illness or – God forbid – her death would cause.

‘What about her? Is she okay?’

‘Yeah. She’s fine.’ I sagged with relief. ‘But that lunch? Today? She wants to do it here.’ Rohan moaned and ran his hand through his hair. Even I knew there was no possibility of us refusing. If Meena wanted to come over, Meena came over.

‘Abs,’ Rohan said. ‘We have to clean the house, like, NOW!’

‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘It’s done. I stayed up last night and cleaned it to a state that even your mum will approve of.’ I hesitated, ready to tell him about Alfie, but Rohan interrupted.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes! The only thing I didn’t do was vacuum upstairs because I didn’t want to wake you, but downstairs looks like a show home, even if I do say so myself.’ I even buried Alfie.

Rohan reached out an arm and pulled me against him, covering my face in big, sloppy kisses. ‘You star. You absolute star. I didn’t hear a thing.’