I checked my reflection in the window and opened the door with a tea towel in my hand.There were two police officers – a man and a woman – and they were friendly enough, brisk and apologetic. They came inside wrapped in a cloud of colder air that was blanketed with moisture. I shivered. The man w...
This was because her reputation for honesty, reliability and common sense travelled before her. In a small town like Portiston, everybody is connected to everybody else in one way or another and everything a person ever does or says is stored in a kind of communal memory bank, to be retrieved at ...
On Friday night she packs a bag for herself and one for Connor and on Saturday morning she locks up the house and they catch a taxi to the station, then at the station they take the train to Merron. During the journey, they play word games. Connor never tires of I Spy but when it’s his turn the w...
‘At Fairlawn? With Robert Aldridge?’ Julia asked. I did not want to tell her the truth, that Daniel was going to sneak away from the party to meet me in the darkness of the garden. So instead I said cheerfully: ‘Why not?’ ‘Does Robert know you live with me?’ I perched on the arm of the settee bes...
‘Take it easy.’‘I’m sorry.’‘It’s all right. No harm done. I bet you didn’t eat any lunch.’‘There wasn’t time …’‘So you fainted. Is low blood sugar the only problem?’I shook my head. ‘I had a sleeping tablet last night. I think it must still be in my system.’‘Was this prescribed medication?’I felt...