Chapters (81)
- Cover
- About the Author
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Fifty-two
- Fifty-three
- Fifty-four
- Fifty-five
- Fifty-six
- Fifty-seven
- Fifty-eight
- Fifty-nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-one
- Sixty-two
- Sixty-three
- Sixty-four
- Sixty-five
- Sixty-six
- Sixty-seven
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Read More
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Follow Merilyn online
- Dedication
Paul let out a whistle. ‘And they’re saying she’s going to do the same to Kelly-Anne? Well that makes sense. There’s no way that woman killed her kid.’
Carla had already turned her back on him. Eve had said she’d get the results to Nell by midday so that gave her a few hours to do a bit of digging on Eve’s past cases.
‘You need me to do anything?’Paul asked.
‘No thanks, I’m good.’ Then she opened the intelligence database and started to search.
Five
Eve had been involved in three high-profile infant-death cases in the previous six years, all of which resulted in the conviction of the mother. Odd that they were all the mother when statistically speaking the father should have been involved in at least one, but then Carla wasn’t an expert on sudden infant death.
She checked on the status of the three women: two remained in prison, one had been released six months previously. Well, she reasoned, that didn’t preclude the other two from writing the letter, but Carla was pretty sure the prison authorities would have intercepted it at source, seeing as it contained a barely concealed threat against the person who had put them in jail.
So that left one. Carla clicked open the file of the remaining woman. She read it through, reread it just to make sure, then sat back.
‘Shit.’
Paul looked up from his phone. ‘Got something?’
‘Come and look at this.’ She pointed at the screen as Paul joined her.
‘Eve’s put away three women. Two are still in jail, but this one –’ she looked up at him, ‘– this one was released recently.’ She saw him frown. ‘See what she was released for?’
‘Jesus. Case was overturned?’
‘Yep.’ Carla scrolled through the document. ‘Joanne Fowler, found not guilty on appeal after Eve’s evidence was thrown out.’
‘How long was she inside before the appeal?’
Carla checked. ‘Two years.’
Paul sat on the edge of Carla’s desk. ‘Good reason for revenge, that.’
‘Sure is.’
‘Revenge?’ Nell stood in the doorway, her hair pulled up into a bun, curls fighting to escape, her vest top already peppered with damp patches. She slung her bag onto the floor and walked over to them. ‘Who wants revenge for what?’
‘Joanne Fowler.’ Carla handed her the letter. ‘Potential suspect for this.’
As Nell read, Carla walked to the wipe board and wrote Connor’s name on it, then Eve’s, and drew a line between them. Writing Joanne’s name alongside Eve’s, she drew another line and stood back. ‘If Joanne wrote the letter, what’s her link with Connor?’
‘Maybe it has nothing to do with Connor?’ Paul said. ‘Maybe it’s all about Eve, and Connor is just the catalyst.’