The Doll's House - [33]
One more night languishing in the shadow of Helen Grace.
55
Helen slammed the front door shut behind her and hurried into the living room. She didn’t even bother to turn the light on – she simply opened up the file Charlie had given her and began to devour it.
The unredacted file was still frustratingly short on detail. It described an altercation outside the Filcher and Firkin pub in Northampton city centre between Robert and a local thug named Jason Reeves. Drink had been taken and an argument over a girl spilled into violence. A broken bottle was used – making it a serious offence – but the injuries were minor.
The arresting PC had scented a good collar – assault with a deadly weapon. However, twenty-four hours after Jason Reeves had made his statement – in colourful language – he had suddenly withdrawn the charges. There was no statement retracting his earlier one – just a brief coda written at the end of the report. Charges withdrawn because of mistaken identity.
Helen read the file from top to bottom again. It was obvious that someone had got to Reeves, as he’d been clear about Robert’s involvement in his initial statement. And as Robert didn’t really have any friends in Northampton and wouldn’t have had time to build up the necessary flying hours with the local criminal fraternities, Helen could only conclude that the police had leant on Reeves.
What had Robert become involved in that he would have that kind of backing? Helen could only infer that he was an informant and the thought made her shiver – things seldom ended well for informants, however careful they might be.
Amidst so much mystery and uncertainty, there was one small clue however – the name of the officer who had signed off the charge sheet, effectively exonerating Robert. His rank was intriguing – too senior to be a desk sergeant or beat copper – as was his name: DI Tom Marsh. Did that name ring a bell? Should Helen approach him directly or employ subterfuge? Not knowing the character of DI Marsh, it was hard to know which way to jump.
Helen was still considering her next move, when her phone rang. This day that was full of surprises had one more left in store. The caller was Daniel Briers.
56
He’d taken the number 76 bus out to Otterbourne, waiting almost until the end of the line before turning on Ruby’s phone and sending the customary tweets and texts. Normally this little charade amused him, but today it made him anxious. Had he tweeted from Pippa’s phone after the police had discovered her body? If so, had they made this connection?
So many questions he couldn’t possibly answer and the not knowing was torturing him. Exhausted by the day’s events, he found no satisfaction in the dance of death today – he just wanted to be home. One stop before the terminus, he got off and crossed the road to take the number 38 back into town.
Stepping inside the old house, he collapsed on to the sofa, sending a cloud of dust into the air. The whole place was in a state of chaos – half-finished bits of DIY, creeping patches of damp and empty pizza boxes everywhere, which the rats visited nightly. Coming home had failed to raise his spirits in the way he’d hoped and he felt curiously despondent. What if Summer was as recalcitrant and hostile as she’d been earlier? He wasn’t sure he could face another round of that. Putting off the moment of their reunion, he grabbed a bin bag from the kitchen and started shovelling rubbish into it, determined to get a grip on a house that was falling down around his ears.
Soon he was dusty, thirsty and even more exhausted than before. His body and his mind were urging him to go to bed, to get some rest. But still he resisted. She was down there, underneath these floorboards, waiting for him. Try as he might he couldn’t resist her pull. She was his drug. The one thing he couldn’t do without.
He paused and looked at himself in the mirror. Where once he had been young and handsome, now he appeared careworn and tired. No wonder she struggled to accept him. But still, was there any need to be so cruel? If she carried on like this, he would have to impose sanctions. He would take away her inhaler. If she needed to be broken, then so be it…
He found he was already halfway to her cell, his feet guiding him there on auto-pilot. It was as if he were in a dream – unable to control his actions or events. Pulling himself back to reality, he slipped the wicket hatch open. For once, she wasn’t lying on the bed, despondent. It was hard to make out details in the gloom, but she seemed to be sitting up, waiting for something.
Sliding the wicket hatch shut, he switched on the main lights and slipped inside. To his surprise, there was Summer, just like he always pictured her, sitting on the bed in her skirt, earrings and top, a pretty smile spread across her face.
This is a dream, he thought to himself. But finally it’s a good one.
57
She hated lying, but sometimes you had no choice. At least that’s what DC Sanderson told herself as she dialled Sinead Murphy’s number. Having already lied to her team about what she was up to, she was now about to lie to an unsuspecting member of the public.
The international bestseller that "grabs the reader by the throat" (Crime Time).First in the new series featuring Detective Inspector Helen Grace.Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.It's a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn't spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn't believe them.Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case-with its seemingly random victims-has her baffled.
Детектив-инспектор Хелен Грейс расследует серию преступлений, в каждом из которых похищены два человека. Похититель ставит свои жертвы перед страшным выбором – убить другого или умереть самому. Как долго продолжится эта смертельная игра, зависит только от Хелен. Ведь этими похищениями маньяк шлет послание лично ей.
Detective Helen Grace faces her own dark compulsions in the new thriller from the international best-selling author of Pop Goes the Weasel and Eeny Meeny.In a world where disguises and discretion are the norm, and where one admission could unravel a life, a killer has struck, and a man is dead. No one wants to come forward to say what they saw or what they know – including the woman heading the investigation: Detective Helen Grace.Helen knew the victim. And the victim knew her – better than anyone else.
THE FOURTH DI HELEN GRACE THRILLER BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR M J ARLIDGE 'Helen Grace is one of the greatest heroes to come along in years' JEFFERY DEAVER In the dead of night, three raging fires light up the city skies. It's more than a tragic coincidence. For DI Helen Grace the flames announce the arrival of an evil she has never encountered before. Because this is no firestarter seeking sick thrills, but something more chilling: a series of careful, calculating acts of murder. But why were the victims chosen? What's driving the killer? And who will be next? A powder keg of fear, suspicion and dread has been laid.
From the international bestselling author of Eeny Meeny comes the second thriller in the truly excellent series * featuring Detective Helen Grace."A man s body is found in an empty house.A gruesome memento of his murder is sent to his wife and children."He is the first victim, and Detective Helen Grace knows he will not be the last. But why would a happily married man be this far from home in the dead of night?The media call it Jack the Ripper in reverse: a serial killer preying on family men who lead hidden double lives.Helen can sense the fury behind the murders.
Александра никому не могла рассказать правду и выдать своего мужа. Однажды под Рождество Роман приехал домой с гостем, и они сразу направились в сауну. Александра поспешила вслед со свежими полотенцами и халатами. Из открытого окна клубился пар и были слышны голоса. Она застыла, как соляной столп и не могла сделать ни шага. Голос, поразивший её, Александра узнала бы среди тысячи других. И то, что обладатель этого голоса находился в их доме, говорил с Романом на равных, вышибло её из равновесия, заставило биться сердце учащённо.
Валентин Владимиров живет тихой семейной жизнью в небольшом городке. Но однажды семья Владимировых попадает в аварию. Жена и сын погибают, Валентин остается жив. Вскоре виновника аварии – сына известного бизнесмена – находят задушенным, а Владимиров исчезает из города. Через 12 лет из жизни таинственным образом начинают уходить те, кто был связан с ДТП. Поговаривают, что в городе завелась нечистая сила – привидение со светящимся глазами безжалостно расправляется со своими жертвами. За расследование берется честный инспектор Петров, но удастся ли ему распутать это дело?..
Если вы снимаете дачу в Турции, то, конечно, не ждете ничего, кроме моря, солнца и отдыха. И даже вообразить не можете, что столкнетесь с убийством. А турецкий сыщик, занятый рутинными делами в Измире, не предполагает, что очередное преступление коснется его собственной семьи и вынудит его общаться с иностранными туристами.Москвичка Лана, приехав с сестрой и ее сыном к Эгейскому морю, думает только о любви и ждет приезда своего возлюбленного, однако гибель знакомой нарушает безмятежное течение их отпуска.
Если весь мир – театр, то балетный театр – это целый мир, со своими интригами и проблемами, трагедиями и страстями, героями и злодеями, красавицами и чудовищами. Далекая от балета Лиза, живущая в Турции, попадает в этот мир совершенно случайно – и не предполагает, что там ей предстоит принять участие в расследовании загадочного убийства и встретиться с любовью… или это вовсе не любовь, а лишь видимость, как всё в иллюзорном мире театра?Этот роман не только о расследовании убийства – он о музыке и о балете, о турецком городе Измире и живущих в нем наших соотечественниках, о людях, преданных театру и готовых ради искусства на все… даже на преступление.
В номере:Денис Овсянник. Душа в душуИгорь Вереснев. Спасая ЭрикаОксана Романова. МощиТатьяна Романова. Санкторий.
Каждый думает, что где-то его жизнь могла бы сложиться удачнее. Такова человеческая натура! Все мы считаем, что достойны лучшего. А какова реальность? Всегда ли наши мечты соответствуют действительности? Не стоит винить свою Родину во всех бедах, свалившихся на вашу голову. В конечном счете, ваша судьба находится исключительно в ваших руках. В этом остросюжетном детективе перед читателем открывается противоречивая Америка, такая соблазнительная и жестокая. Практичные американцы не только говорят на другом языке, но они и думают по-другому! Как приспособиться к новой жизни, не наляпав ошибок? Да и нужно ли? Данный детектив входит в серию «Злополучные приключения», в которых остросюжетная линия тесно переплетена с записками путешественника и отменно приправлена искромётным юмором автора.