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
‘I think it was planned,’ Rachel said. ‘I think, by then, you’d already decided to kill Clodagh. You had to get Tara out of the way before you did that. Because if Clodagh was killed, Tara might tell people about Gary’s affair. Thereby, implicating you in Clodagh’s murder.’
‘You make it sound as if I’m the villain here,’ Bella said. ‘Surely you can see that none of this was my fault? It’s why I didn’t want to go no comment. I wanted you to understand that I’m the victim here. Clodagh Kinsella ruined my life. She left me with nothing while she ended up with Adam in that big house, pregnant with a baby she didn’t even want. You tell me what’s fair about any of that.’
‘You knew she was pregnant when you tried to kill her?’ Rachel said.
Bella opened her mouth, then closed it again and looked at her solicitor.
‘I think we’ll go no comment from here,’ the solicitor said. ‘My client has been extremely co-operative, I’m sure you’d agree. I’d like to request a short break now, so I can talk to her in private.’
Rachel knew she didn’t have to agree to the break, but she’d already got more information than she could have hoped for. In most cases, when they had amassed this much evidence against a suspect, the entire interview would have been no comment. Bella’s insistence on trying to get the police to see things from her perspective had given Rachel a confession that would greatly assist the CPS’s decision to prosecute.
‘We can take a break,’ she said. ‘Before we do, just one more question. Bella, tell me this: did you know about Nick’s affair with Vivienne Kinsella?’
Bella shook her head, looking sad.
‘I had no idea. I thought he was my friend, you know? But he was only ever Gary’s friend. Looking back now, I don’t think Nick ever gave a damn about me. None of them did.’
After leaving the interview room, Rachel suggested to Ade that they go outside.
‘I could do with some fresh air,’ she said. ‘I feel dirty after listening to all of that.’
They walked out of the Custody Suite into the bright sunshine of another hot summer’s day. Rachel switched her phone on and checked for new messages.
‘A text from Ivan Babić,’ she said. ‘Clodagh’s coming out of hospital tomorrow.’
‘That’s great news,’ Ade said. ‘What about the baby?’
‘He didn’t say. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.’
‘You saved her life,’ Ade said. ‘You do know that?’
‘Only just. If we’d been a few minutes later, she’d have died.’