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Back The Midnight Man Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Copyright
  4. Praise for Caroline Mitchell
  5. Also by Caroline Mitchell
  6. Dedication
  7. Epigraph
  8. Prologue
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. 39
  48. 40
  49. 41
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. 46
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. 49
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. 58
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. About Caroline Mitchell
  70. About Embla Books

‘I want to sleep in Maggie’s bed.’ Elliott blinked his huge eyes, finally meeting her gaze. He yawned, his expression lighter. Just like before, the burden of his secret had been lifted.

‘I don’t see why not. What story would you like?’

‘Harry Potter,’ he replied instantly.

As she followed him to the bedroom, his words and worries returned to haunt her. Fire? She would have to look into it. She couldn’t call Gabby; the woman would never believe her. For now, all she could do was wait.

29

Tuesday, 5th November 2019

The warm light of dawn had long since crept in, but Elsie felt out of sync with the day. The smooth sounds of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ played on the classic radio channel, but even that couldn’t improve her mood. She curled her hand around her ginger tabby, Toni, and pulled her to her chest. Felix, Officer Dibble and T.C. were here too. It was unusual for so many of her cats to visit her at the same time. Like her, they must have felt something was wrong. A knock at the front door broke into her thoughts.

‘Christiaaaan!’ she called at the top of her lungs, shifting upright in her bed. ‘There’s somebody at the door!’ She waited. Nothing. ‘The darn thing won’t open itself!’

‘Alright, Mom, give me a minute.’ Christian darted down the stairs, still buttoning up his shirt. He poked his head into the living room. ‘Everything OK?’ he said, as Boo Boo jumped up to join the others. Only one of her brood of six was missing. It wasn’t unusual for them to go AWOL for days on end. ‘Why are the cats on your bed?’

‘Don’t worry about the darn cats. Answer the door.’ She hadn’t meant to be so sharp but the presence of almost all her cats at once felt like a bad omen. The last time this happened, she had her first heart attack. She’d been lucky, it had been mild. But she didn’t weigh as much then as she did now. ‘Alright, precious,’ she said to Felix as he gave Toni the evil eye. ‘There’s room for everyone.’