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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

The wholefood market was fiddly to get to, involving a complex one-way system. The driver agreed to wait, driving round the block if he got moved on, while we shopped.

‘If I’ve learned one thing in life, it’s that you really are what you eat,’ Grace said as she walked around the shop, picking things up and examining them. A bundle of fresh kale (‘for chips, and to add into smoothies’), high-protein pasta, chickpea puffs, cold-pressed juices, red and brown rice, cocoa nibs, apple cider vinegar with mother (‘it’s important’), line-caught salmon (‘never farmed,’ said Grace) and cotton bags of organic fruit and veg all went into the trolley. It didn’t look a lot but it came to as much as I usually spent on a couple of weeks’ shop for Rohan, Alfie and me.

‘You should always buy the best you can afford,’ Grace said. ‘It’s investment in yourself.’ She fished about in her bag then paled as she looked at me.

‘Shit, I don’t have any British money,’ she said. ‘I only have a few Aussie dollars. I didn’t change any at the airport because the rate was so bad. Oh my God. I’ll put it back.’ She turned to the cashier. ‘Or can you keep it all till I’ve been to a bank?’

I thought of the cab circling. ‘It’s okay,’ I said and pulled out my purse. ‘I’ll get this. It’s the least I can do after the chicken last night.’ I laughed to show I wasn’t hurt.

‘Thanks, Abs,’ Grace said. ‘If you’re sure it’s okay, I’ll pay you back when I’m on top of things. I’ll square it up with you. Thanks a mill.’

Transcript of interview with Mr Rohan Allerton, husband of Abigail Allerton: 20 December 2019

‘Had you asked any family or friends to check up on Abigail while you were away?’

[Laughs] ‘Obviously my mum. I’d given her a key, just in case, though I hadn’t told Abs that. Mum likes to be involved; to be “useful” so it didn’t surprise me when she said she’d popped round the day after I left. I’m surprised she left it that long! [laughs] And, yeah, she told me that Abs opened the door smelling of alcohol, so I just assumed that she and Grace had had a great old time catching up the night before. Why would I think anything else?’

Twenty-Six

I worked much of the day, lost in my third portrait. In this one, Grace would be a little older; slimmer, too, the bone structure of her face beginning to show through now she’d shed the puppy fat of the earlier picture. This portrait was easier for me to paint than the previous two had been: an image of her face at eighteen was ingrained on my soul.