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Back Under a Dark Cloud Save as PDF
Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Part 1
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. Part 2
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. Part 3
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. 64
  71. 65
  72. 66
  73. Acknowledgements
  74. Next in Series
  75. Canelo Crime
  76. About the Author
  77. Also by Louisa Scarr

‘I’m so sorry.’ The solicitor goes to stop Calloway again, but he shakes his head. ‘I need to tell them,’ he mumbles, and the solicitor sits back in his seat, defeated. Ian turns to Craig. ‘I worked so hard for those guys,’ he says. ‘For Finn and Dr Sharp. I put my whole life on hold, getting that sodding radar up and running. And then, the night of the storm, as we’re having a glass of champagne before we all head out to the van, Finn pulls me to one side and says that my name’s not going on the paper. Says that there was a potential problem with the authorship, but he and Simon have had a chat, and it would be just the two of them now. Something to do with diluting the credit if there were more names listed.’

‘And you were angry?’

‘I was furious. I had an argument with Finn and he made me stay behind at the university. I should have been out there, in the van with them. Making a name for myself. I should have been on TV!’ he exclaims loudly. ‘But Finn wouldn’t let me, even after everything I’ve done for him.’

‘Craig’s not having to work hard on this one,’ Freya whispers to Robin. ‘He’s going to confess to murdering his granny, if she’s not careful.’

Robin smiles tightly and turns back to the screen. Freya can see Robin is stressed – she would be, too. She knows he’s keen to get eyes on the tape, but half of her is worried about what the video might show. What if it’s exactly as Craig believes – Finn murdering Sharp? What then?

‘So you saw your opportunity,’ Craig prompts Calloway.

‘You had your man,’ Ian says. ‘You knew what he’d done – he was locked in the van with the body. And I thought that with Sharp dead and Finn in prison, I could finish analysing the output from the storm and publish it myself. With Sharp’s name, too, of course.’

‘Of course,’ Craig says sarcastically. ‘So why steal the video? You could have done that anyway.’

Ian pauses. ‘I didn’t want anything to muddy the waters.’

‘Muddy the waters? How?’

Robin and Freya lean closer to the screen, as Ian continues talking. ‘The film – it’s not what you’d expect. It’s…’ He shakes his head. ‘Watch it for yourself, you’ll see.’

And, as if on cue, there’s a knock on the door. Grey opens it and pokes his head round into the corridor.

‘We have it,’ Grey says, coming back into the room, breathless and eager. ‘We have the video.’

58

The four of them crowd round the monitor in an empty interview room, as the harassed techie gets the video running.