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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’m guessing the weekend must have been difficult for Bella too,’ Ade said, looking for all the world like this idea had just occurred to her. ‘It must have been tough, knowing everyone else there had the money to stay in places like that any time they wanted.’

‘It was horrible for her,’ Simon said. ‘But like I told you already, we weren’t about to turn down a free weekend.’

‘I don’t blame you,’ Ade said. ‘It must have made you quite angry, knowing the others all got so much while your wife got nothing at all.’

‘Where’s this line of questioning going?’ the solicitor interrupted.

‘I’m just trying to put myself in Simon’s shoes.’ Ade smiled sweetly. ‘Simon, we’ve already heard how badly Nick behaved that night. I find it hard to believe he didn’t take the opportunity to rub your nose in things.’

‘He would have done,’ Simon said. ‘But I didn’t give him the chance, did I?’

‘What about Bella?’ Ade pressed.

‘No.’ Simon shook his head, adamant. ‘Nick didn’t speak to Bella. I’d have known if he did. The first she knew about that money was when you told her about it yesterday.’

He was telling the truth, Rachel thought glumly, remembering how confused Bella had seemed when they’d asked her about the loan.

They continued questioning Simon for a while longer. When it was clear they weren’t going to get anything more from him, they let him go. By now, Rachel was already running late for her dinner date. She thought about calling Grace to cancel but decided against it. The case would still be here waiting for her when she got back into work tomorrow. Tonight was about her and Grace. Nothing else.

She was at the station, waiting for the Brighton train, when the call came through. A London number on her screen, one she didn’t recognise.

‘Hello?’

Later, she would think how carelessly she took the call. Not pausing, even for a second, to consider it might be bad news. She was watching the departures board, trying to work out how quickly she could be at the restaurant, when she heard a man’s voice.

‘Is this DI Rachel Lewis?’

‘That’s me.’

Ten minutes before her train arrived. Twenty minutes to Brighton. Then a ten-minute walk to the restaurant. She’d be about fifteen minutes late. Not too shoddy.

‘This is DC Sonny McLeod, Charing Cross CID. We’ve had a murder, which I think might be relevant to a case you’re currently investigating.’

As Rachel listened, with growing disbelief, the information on the departures board had changed. Her train was running five minutes late.

Not that it mattered now. By the time the phone call had ended, Rachel had already crossed over to the other platform and jumped on the London-bound train that had just pulled into the station.

Twenty-three