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Back The Missing Wife Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. THE MISSING WIFE
  2. PRAISE FOR SAM CARRINGTON
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. THE EPILOGUE
  58. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  59. Prologue
  60. Chapter One
  61. Chapter Two
  62. About the Author
  63. By the same author
  64. About the Publisher

She rubbed it in, then repositioned Noah so he could carry on drinking. Her attention went back to the screen.

To the woman in the black dress. She was in clear focus.

The full-length photograph showed the woman and Deana standing together, drinks in hand. Tanned legs. Gold-painted toenails. Just as Louisa remembered. But that wasn’t what caused her pulse to race.

Straight, shoulder-length blonde hair.

Deana had tagged the woman, and the Facebook comment that went alongside it read:

Me and Jo – first time out since having our babies – don’t we look awesome!

Louisa read it, and reread it. Then she clicked on Jo’s name. It took her to Jo’s Facebook page, and although it was set as private, she could see her profile picture. Her and her baby girl.

The woman she’d seen on the stairs arriving at the same time as Oliver had not been his wife. Louisa now felt sure Melissa hadn’t been at the party at all.

Oliver was lying.

32

THE GIFT

The realisation that the woman Oliver had been with wasn’t Melissa put Louisa on edge. It threw up so many questions, none of which she could begin to answer. On the plus side, she felt better about not having informed the police that she’d seen Melissa at her party, but every other aspect of this discovery was negative. Why did Oliver tell the police Melissa went missing from Louisa’s party? And if Louisa hadn’t seen her, why had she recognised the photo the police had shown at the appeal?

Louisa ran upstairs and rummaged in the drawer of the bed, taking out the photos of her, Oliver, and her college friends she’d found the other day. She’d never asked Oliver how old Melissa was, but there was a chance she might have been at college with them if she recognised her face. The fact Louisa had blocked so much of that time from her conscious memory could explain why she didn’t know Melissa, but as she skimmed back through the photographs, her hope diminished. She searched through all twenty-four again. Nothing. None of the people in the photos looked similar to how Melissa looked now.

Or how she had looked. She could look very different now: dead.

Louisa shivered.

It struck Louisa now that Oliver might have carefully orchestrated this entire thing. The thought that he’d purposely led her to believe that Melissa’s disappearance had occurred on her party night, and then coerced her into going to the police with him about it, telling her she owed him, was in the forefront of her mind. The fact he’d then told her what she’d done when she was eighteen – the big secret – now seemed disingenuous. Manipulative. Louisa could just be a pawn in Oliver’s game, his plan to get away with murder.