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Back The Lucky Eight Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Five Years Later
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Epilogue
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Canelo Crime
  63. About the Author
  64. Also by Sheila Bugler

‘I feel a bit more sympathy for Nick than I did before coming here,’ Ade said, as they once more passed the multiple reflections of themselves in the mirrored walls on the ground floor. ‘She wouldn’t be an easy woman to go out with.’

‘Maybe not,’ Rachel said, ‘but I’m still worried about leaving her by herself.’

‘Is it worth arranging for a liaison officer to stay with her?’ Ade asked. ‘She doesn’t seem to have anyone else.’

‘Good idea,’ Rachel said. ‘Apart from anything else, until we know a bit more about what happened on Saturday, she’s still our number one suspect.’

‘Even though we both know she didn’t kill him?’

‘How do you know what I think?’ Rachel said.

‘Because it’s obvious,’ Ade said. ‘Tara Coleman’s a mixed-up mess but she’s not a killer. Whoever smashed Nick Gilbert’s head in, it wasn’t her.’

‘So if it wasn’t Tara, who was it then?’

‘Well that’s what we’re going to find out,’ Ade said. ‘You and me, Rach. The dream team. Your first case as SIO and my first murder enquiry. We’ve got this one.’

They walked away from the river, back to where they’d parked their car. Rachel felt rejuvenated, her energy rising with every step. Until this moment, she’d been worried she wasn’t up to this. That she would mess up the investigation and everyone would see her for the imposter she really was. Suddenly, that insecurity was replaced by a sense of purpose. Ade was right. They had this one. Rachel was going to stop at nothing until she’d found out who had killed Nick Gilbert, and why.

Twelve

On Monday afternoon, Clodagh took a train from Bramhurst to Brighton. She hadn’t watched Adam’s appearance on TV earlier, but she downloaded the show to her phone so she could watch it on the train. After watching it, she wished she hadn’t bothered. Adam came across as caring more about his latest book than he did about Nick’s death. Each time the presenter started to ask about Nick, Adam managed to bring the conversation back to his book and the different ways it could help people who’d lost someone they loved. By the time the clip had finished, Clodagh felt more depressed than ever.

She didn’t help herself by going straight from the video to the internet, once again scrolling through the different news sites checking for updates on Nick’s death. It had been the top story on every site she’d visited earlier, and still was. She scanned all the stories again, her eyes skipping over the endless accounts of the plane crash and the eight people who’d survived it. A whole host of badly worded headlines that made her head hurt. Tragedy strikes again. Last supper for celebrity chef. Unlucky eight now down to seven.