The Doll's House - [8]
12
Ruby came to, scared and disoriented. She had been determined not to let her guard down, but had dozed off nevertheless. She scanned the room quickly, alive to the danger despite her continued grogginess and aching head, but there was none. She was still alone.
What time was it? Ruby had no watch and the clock on the wall was frozen at quarter past twelve. She could have slept for five minutes or five hours, she had no way of knowing, which unnerved her deeply. She was like Sleeping Beauty down here, trapped in a living death. Except this lonely girl had no one to rescue her.
Ruby shivered, her body numb with cold. It must be night-time by now, because the temperature in the room had dropped markedly. It was a horrible damp kind of cold that got into your lungs and head. Ruby knew already that she would become ill here. Or worse. And she’d spent the whole day asking herself why.
She had tried to place her captor. Tall, thin, with a curious manner, there was something familiar about him – was it his face? Or the smell he gave off? – and she had tortured herself trying to think where she had seen him before. If she could work out who he was, then she could work on him, persuade him to see the harm he was doing. But he eluded her and her attempts to identify him only served to crush her spirit further.
Why? Why? Why?
Why was she here? What had she done?
At first, she had assumed he was going to kill her. Or worse. But he had made no attempt to harm her. Then she’d assumed he wanted money. But he didn’t. He wanted her. This strange room with its pastiche of homeliness – the stopped clock, the empty shelves, the freshly laundered sheets – was designed to be a home, not a prison.
How did he know her so well? Had something she’d done prompted her abduction? Was she in some way responsible?
In the shivering darkness, this explanation had made the most sense. She had been a terrible daughter and a bad friend. Since Alison and Jonathan had adopted her, her life had been steady and productive. Unwanted at birth, Ruby could have gone badly wrong, but thanks to the kindness and charity of her adoptive parents she had had a decent start in life. And she had thrown it back in their faces. Her intentions had been good. The knowledge of her abandonment by her birth mother had never left her and she needed to meet her, to see if, years later, she cared for her child at all.
What had she found? A calculating, manipulative criminal, interested only in how her abandoned child could benefit her. Ruby cursed herself for her stupidity in ever having trusted her. Because she swallowed her lies, because she desperately wanted her attention, she had spurned the only people who had ever shown her any real love. And when they reacted badly to her craziness, she had rewarded them with vitriol and abuse. She had called them every name under the sun, spat at them, clawed at them. She was under the influence – in more ways than one – when she committed those crimes against her family, but that didn’t excuse her behaviour. She had been vile to those who least deserved it.
As Ruby lay on the bed, her surrender complete, she thought she understood. She had done terrible things. She was, and always would be, a terrible human being.
And now she was going to be punished for it.
13
Helen stood stock still in the shadow of St Barnabas’ church. How she had got here she couldn’t tell. Perhaps she should have gone back to the station to make the call to Daniel Briers, but it was already very late and, besides, she was honour-bound to deliver her terrible news as quickly as possible. So she had made the call there and then. As the conversation progressed, Helen filling the heavy silences with as much detail and reassurance as she could, she had sought out a quiet spot and had ended up here, in a lonely churchyard.
The call had been upsetting, as they always were. Daniel Briers had not reported his daughter missing and had no idea that any harm had come to her. They had fallen out a few years back and though she had moved away, he claimed they had still kept in contact intermittently, through social media if not face to face. She had actually sent him a text earlier that day, so to be given news of her ‘death’ was a shock, to say the least. Helen could tell he didn’t believe it. Helen had told him as much as she could, then arranged for him to visit Southampton the following day. Perhaps the reality of this tragedy would start to sink in then.
Helen shivered. The silence after the call was disturbing, especially in these surroundings. However you tried you couldn’t rid yourself of the image of the person on the other end. What was he doing now? Telling his wife that Pippa was dead? Was he crying? Vomiting? Many did, having been given the news. It was terrible to be the instrument through which such awful pain was delivered.
Half an hour later, Helen was at Jake’s door, ringing the bell three times in quick succession – their secret code. The door buzzed and Helen let herself in, hurrying upstairs.
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.
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.
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.
Луна временами становится красной. Кто-то даже не заметит, но только не жители маленького городка Делейси. События предстоящей ночи поменяют их жизни навсегда. Человек-без-имени хочет исцелиться от древнего недуга. Банковский клерк постарается изо всех сил спасти возлюбленную. А троица грабителей планируют сорвать солидный куш. Остаётся вопрос: а нет ли четвёртой заинтересованной стороны?
Юрий Ребров по образованию преподаватель русского языка и литературы. Долгое время занимался журналистикой, работал ведущим на радио и телевидении. Занимал должность главного редактора журнала. Сочинение детективных произведений — его старое увлечение. Повести Юрия Реброва неоднократно публиковались в журналах и были награждены премиями. В настоящее время вышло несколько его книг. Компания «Посейдон» лакомый кусочек: морские суда, ценные грузы, портовая инфраструктура. И владелец ее Юрий Филимонов тоже настоящая акула капитала.
Книга «Восемь дней в сентябре и Рождество в Париже» — это детективный роман петербургского искусствоведа В. И. Переятенец. Будучи аттестованным экспертом Министерства культуры РФ, автором многочисленных статей и таких книг, как «Русский антиквариат» и «Экспертиза и оценка произведений декоративно-прикладного искусства. Фарфор. Стекло. Ювелирные изделия», она хорошо знакома со средой коллекционеров и торговцев антиквариатом. Однако не следует воспринимать данное сочинение как документальное.
Действие нового романа Ирины Лобусовой «Красная комната» происходит в большом городе, куда приезжает, переживая любовную драму, талантливая художница Евгения Кравец, именующая себя Джин. Она устраивается на работу дизайнером в архитектурную фирму и снимает квартиру в старинном доме: ей очень нравится гостиная в красных обоях, производящая на многих зловещее впечатление. Джин чувствует некоторое родство с этой странной комнатой, да и сама она выглядит странно, эпатируя окружающих зелеными волосами, в том числе руководителя фирмы Вадима, человека пресыщенного, живущего в свое удовольствие, но давно потерявшего интерес ко всему.
В маленьком городке, затерянном среди бескрайних пустошей Австралии, произошла трагедия: священник местной церкви убил пятерых человек, а потом и сам погиб от пули полицейского. Что же стало причиной кровавой бойни? В этом решил разобраться известный столичный журналист Мартин Скарсден. Однако едва он приступил к расследованию, как городок потрясло новое преступление – возле запруды обнаружили тела двух неизвестных молодых женщин… Связаны ли между собой это двойное убийство и история священника-«стрелка»? Расследование Мартина приняло новый оборот.