Читать онлайн «The Killer Next Door»
Автор Алекс Марвуд
Alex Marwood
The Killer Next Door
Copyright © Alex Marwood 2013
For Cathy Fleming
A wonderful sister and a brilliant friend
Acknowledgements
All writers have many, many people to thank by the time a book finally reaches the world. I’m always terrified that, in the rush to thank, I will forget someone crucial. If this is so, please forgive me.
Laetitia Rutherford and her colleagues at Mulcahy Associates for their inspiring, supportive and generally above-and-beyond agenting. I feel immensely lucky to have stumbled into their offices.
The hugely talented team at Sphere: particularly Catherine Burke, my editor, Thalia Proctor, Kirsteen Astor and Emma Williams. It’s such a pleasure to work with such professional, imaginative and thorough people.
Hannah Wood, whose cover designs make me almost dizzy with joy.
Dad and Patricia, Mum and Bunny, Will, Cathy, Ali and David. And Elinor and Tora and Archie and Geordie, who make me very happy about the future of the world.
The Board, for over a decade of support, friendship and back-room cackling.
Those enabling bitches, the FLs, who not only make me laugh daily but are usually awake when the Brits are asleep, which is damn useful for an insomniac. Prostitution whores, the lot of you.
Off the top of my head: John Lyttle, Chris Manby, Charlie Standing, Brian Donaghey, Helen Smith, Lauren Henderson, Jane Meakin, Angela Collings, Dawn Hamblett, Claire Gervat, Bottomley, Paul Burston, Antonia Willis, India Knight, James O’Brien, Lucy McDonald, Diana Pepper, Merri Cheyne, Stella Duffy, Shelley Silas, Jenny Colgan, Lisa Jewell, Jojo Moyes… oh, Lord, if I haven’t mentioned you here it doesn’t mean I don’t love and value you.
All the brilliant people who lurk on Facebook and Twitter, who make every day a party.
Without your help I’d have written at least one more book by now.And finally, my Sweet Felice, who protected me for many years and whose last book this was, and Bad Baloo, whose first book it is. If it’s good enough for Sam Johnson, it’s good enough for me.
As is your mind
So is your sort of search; you’ll find
What you desire
ROBERT BROWNING
Prologue
He checks his watch and downs the last of his coffee. ‘Okay. Miss Cheryl should be done with her fag break. Let’s take you down to her. ’
She follows him down to the interview rooms and he surreptitiously checks his reflection in the wired glass of a door as he passes it. DI Cheyne’s a bit older than he usually goes for, but she’s a good-looking woman. Slightly hard-faced, but a life in the Met doesn’t make for a lot of childlike innocence. Doesn’t hurt to keep your options open, anyway. Women who understand your unorthodox working hours are few and far between; attractive ones even fewer.
‘You should probably know,’ he tells her, ‘she’s pretty tired and upset, and we’ve still got a lot to get through, so if you could keep it shortish, that would be good. ’
