Chapters (64)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Five Years Later
- 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
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- Canelo Crime
- About the Author
- Also by Sheila Bugler
‘Because he wanted to hurt her?’ Rachel said. ‘Or to stir things up just for the sake of it. Who knows? But I realised something earlier. The Max-Roysten security system shows Bella being at work when Tara was killed. When we went there to talk to her, she said she eats her lunch outside every day. Yet on the day of the murder, there’s nothing on the security system to show that she left the building. Why not? I think she sneaked out somehow, so she could drive to London. If she went through a fire escape, for example, it wouldn’t show up on the security system because she wouldn’t have left through the main barriers. She knew if we checked, the system would log her as being in the building all day.’
By now, Ade was in Bramhurst, driving down the narrow country road towards Glebe House. They were almost at the entrance when a car pulled out of the driveway. The driver barely stopped to check for traffic before turning into the road and speeding away. But in the brief moment before it pulled out, Rachel had caught a glimpse of the driver’s face.
‘It’s Bella.’ She opened the door and jumped out of the car. ‘Go after her. And Ade, whatever you do, don’t let her go.’
She slammed the door shut and raced towards the house, pulling her radio out and shouting instructions into it. Arranging for checkpoints to be set up on the roads around Bramhurst, giving a description of Bella Gilbert and details of the car she was driving. After that, calling for an ambulance and back-up to Glebe House.
The front door was locked. No response when Rachel rang the bell. She ran around the house, banging on the windows of each room as she passed, shouting out Clodagh’s name, her sense of foreboding growing with every passing second. Her mind flashed back to yesterday afternoon, when she’d found Clodagh safe and well, hoping beyond hope she wouldn’t find something different this time.
Like the rest of the house, the kitchen lights were all switched off. But the blue glow from an open laptop meant Rachel had a clearer view into this room than any of the others she’d looked into so far. A Smeg fridge; a range with some pots on it; a large island dominating the centre of the room; the laptop itself, on a long table close to the glass doors; something lying on the floor beneath it.
A sudden lurch of fear. Not something. A person. Clodagh. Poor, damaged, pregnant Clodagh; the outlines of her face captured in the glow of the laptop screen. Her features white and ghostly, her eyes closed, her body too still.