The Doll's House - [34]
‘It’s about your daughter Roisin.’
The voice on the other end of the line – which moments earlier had been warm and welcoming – suddenly went quiet.
‘There’s no need to be alarmed. This is just a routine follow-up call,’ Sanderson continued, keen to put Roisin’s mother at ease. ‘Our records show you reported your daughter missing nearly three years ago. Is that correct?’
‘Yes, for all the good it did me.’
‘I take it you’ve not seen her since you made the report?’
‘No’ was the brief and sober response.
Sanderson ran through the particulars on the forms – occupation, family, physical descriptions, past behaviour – before asking the only question that mattered.
‘Has there been any contact between you and Roisin since she went missing? Anything at all?’
There was a long pause, then:
‘I suppose you could call it contact.’
‘Meaning?’
‘She sends the odd text or tweet. But she never replies when I text back.’
‘Have you tried calling her on that number?’
‘What do you think?’ was the withering response.
‘And?’
‘Always straight to voicemail.’
‘Can you remember the last time she tweeted?’
‘Why do you want to know? Why are you asking me all these questions?’
Sanderson paused – how to respond?
‘We’re just trying to make some progress on Roisin’s case. Frankly, too little has been done so far and her communications are the best hope we have of finding out where she is.’
Another long silence, then:
‘She tweeted earlier today actually.’
‘Saying?’
‘Nothing of interest. Just a gripe about having a bad day.’
‘Can you remember the exact time?’
‘Hold on,’ Sinead replied. Sanderson could hear her rummaging through her bag for her phone. ‘Come on, come on,’ Sanderson thought to herself, casting a nervous eye over the sheet of timings that lay on the table in front of her.
‘Here we are,’ Sinead responded. ‘She tweeted at… 6.14 p.m. today.’
‘And the one before that?’
‘Yesterday. Just after ten a.m.’
Sanderson took Sinead back through a few more of Roisin’s tweets, then ended the call, promising that she would be back in touch shortly. Sanderson had a nasty feeling that she would honour that promise and when she did, it would be with the bleakest of news. The timings of Roisin’s last five tweets matched exactly with the timing of Ruby Sprackling’s latest communications.
Helen had been right all along.
58
‘So how was your day?’
The words sounded so alien, but she forced them out, all the while maintaining her broad smile.
‘It was fine, thanks.’
‘Were you working? Do you work?’
‘You know I work, Summer.’
His knowing reply rattled her, but she was not going to be weak. Not today.
‘What do you do?’
He looked at her and smiled.
‘You look pretty tonight,’ he eventually said.
‘Thank you. I… I wanted to make an effort.’
‘It shows.’
Ruby hesitated, looked at her lap, then lifting her gaze to his, carried on:
‘I also wanted to say sorry. For being unkind. I didn’t mean it.’
He was watching her, as if unsure whether to believe her or not.
‘I want us to be friends.’
He looked at her, but still said nothing. Not a smile, not a rebuke, nothing.
‘I get lonely down here, so if we could spend more time together, then…’
‘That’s all I want, Summer. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.’
The fervency in his voice took her by surprise. She tried to speak but fear was creeping up on her again now, robbing her of the power of speech.
‘It’s a clean slate for both of us, then,’ he went on. ‘So why don’t we spend the evening together? I’ll cook for us.’
He looked straight at her. He had a fire in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before.
‘It’ll be just like old times.’
59
Helen had no idea what she was doing here. But here she was – sitting in the Great Southern’s rooftop restaurant, opposite Daniel Briers.
‘I feel a bit of a fraud,’ Daniel Briers was saying, as he topped up her coffee. ‘I don’t have anything new to tell you and I’m sure you’d have been in touch if there’d been any developments. I guess I just wanted the company of someone who knew what I was going through.’
‘It’s fine. I wasn’t doing anything important,’ she lied.
‘Have I dragged you away from your family?’
‘No, nothing like that,’ Helen replied, artfully avoiding the question.
‘You get a bit stir crazy sitting in this room all day. I’ve tried to get out, but I don’t know my way around and… and truth be told I don’t really want to get to know this place. I feel happier here.’
‘I understand. It’s hard. And if you ever feel you’d rather go home, then I won’t think any the less of you. There are many different ways to show your love and commitment to Pippa.’
He looked at her for a second.
‘I’d rather stay.’
Helen nodded and for a moment neither of them spoke. Daniel looked out over Southampton, while Helen surveyed the other guests in the restaurant. Immediately she caught the eye of a middle-aged woman who was staring at her. The woman was obviously intrigued by them – was she trying to work out if they were on a date? Married? Friends? The realization made Helen feel foolish.
When she turned back, she was surprised to find Daniel smiling at her.
‘If it’s awkward for you to be here, then just say so. I don’t want to make your life difficult, Helen.’
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.
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.
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