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JIM Nicky Forbes was disturbed by my proximity. She shifted, tucking her legs under the table, away from me. Her body language was pure avoidance, but I was OK with that. I’d learned to be patient. Woodley sat on the other side of her, keeping more distance, his posture relaxed. Good lad, I thought, he’d been listening. We’d planned to use the Reid technique in the interview. It’s not very nice, but it’s very effective. It’s a well-known technique that makes use of a good-cop, bad-cop routine, so Woodley had a role to play. As well as being my foil, he would be my eyes. He would watch her for body language that would betray her. Nicky Forbes folded her arms over her chest. ‘Are you finished?’ I said. She flinched slightly, a small jerk of her head away from her hand, which held her cigarette just in front of her mouth, the smoke curling between us. ‘The thing is,’ I said, ‘here’s how I see it.’ I kept my voice gentle, but persistent, I wanted her to listen to every word I said. ‘I think what you went through as a child was a terrible thing. I think that when you lost your brother, when you lost Charlie, you never really recovered. Did you? Then you had to bring up Rachel and she was ungrateful, wasn’t she? She never knew how much you had to suffer, or thought about how hard it was for you to keep the secret about your parents and about Charlie.’ She took a deep pull on her cigarette, her eyes on mine. I went on. ‘So when Rachel had Ben that was difficult for you, wasn’t it? You had four daughters, but that’s not the same as having a son, is it? She didn’t know how lucky she was, because for you, having a son would be like having Charlie back. ‘So I think you didn’t have a choice. I think you thought that Rachel was bad for Ben. You reckoned that she couldn’t look after him as well as you. She’s divorced after all, bearing a grudge against her husband and his new wife. That’s not a happy home. And Ben’s been unhappy in the past year; we know that from his teacher. That must have pained you. In fact I think it was really hard for you to bear.’ She gave a small, brusque shake of her head, then she ground the cigarette out in the ashtray, crossed her arms. ‘Four children is a lot, and all girls too. Were you hoping for a son, Nicky? Is that why you wanted to try for another baby this year? Your husband told me. Has it been all about replacing Charlie?’ Her eyes began to glisten with tears, but she didn’t move a muscle. I didn’t draw breath. You mustn’t, because if you do it gives them a chance to deny things, and that can make them stronger, just the act of saying it. You have to carry them on your narrative until they finish it for you, and hand you the ending you’re waiting for. I inched my chair just a little closer to hers. Her head bowed. I leaned forward, put my elbows on my knees, and looked up at her. ‘You see, I think it was just too much for you in the end. That Rachel had Ben. You knew you could do a better job than her and you wanted a son of your own.’ She shuddered. ‘I know what it’s like to want to protect,’ I said. ‘I can understand why you did it. You’d left your own family; you didn’t want them. You wanted him. And you wanted him for the right reasons. It was
a mother’s instinct, a proper mother’s instinct, wasn’t it? You knew you could do a better job than your sister.’ She covered her face with her hands, let out a moan. I wondered if she was going to break quicker than I thought. I could almost smell it.
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Gilly Macmillan grew up in Swindon,
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Burnt Paper Sky Table of Contents A
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JIM BEFORE
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DAY 2 JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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DAY 3 JIM
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DAY 4 JIM
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DAY 5 JIM
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DAY 6 JIM
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DAY 7 JIM
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DAY 8 JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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DAY 9 JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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JIM
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RACHEL
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RACHEL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BIBLIOGRAPH
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Author’s Note During the research
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PROLOGUE NOVEMBER 2013 - ONE YEAR A
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imaginary interview goes really wel
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But whether I’ve been awake or as
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BEFORE DAY 1 SUNDAY, 21 OCTOBER 201
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eally honest, I hadn’t noticed it
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‘OK,’ and he was off, careering
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as if the woodland was holding its
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appeared on the path. Our progress
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‘That’s good news,’ she said.
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FM: Do you think that expressing fe
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JC: It was a promotion is what it w
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suspect, is not going to be an easy
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RACHEL John couldn’t stand the wa
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It was the awkward twitch of Inspec
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‘Solid eight hours,’ I said. I
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RACHEL Inspector Miller said that b
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JIM Kenneth Steele House is where I
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had four pairs of officers in place
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at others. He was always watching m
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JIM I was quite pleased with how th
Page 124 and 125:
his parents as well as his grandpar
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‘Expertise is on our side,’ she
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RACHEL My sister Nicky was waiting
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unstoppable. She told me that the w
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the streetlights and the geometric
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JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
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FM: So you recommended Emma for the
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DAY 3 TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2012 Be a
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RACHEL In the car on the way to Ken
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‘If you are the person who is wit
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‘This way,’ she said. She swept
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‘It’s a soft alibi.’ Fraser w
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trace of dignity or vulnerability,
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missing”, and that everybody is l
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looking woman too: nicely dressed,
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‘Were there signs that the arm wa
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accident. But we’ll check it out
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To the insultingly practical: Don
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Page 162 and 163:
FM: So apart from the negative pres
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they’re focused on the job? FM: Y
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DAY 4 WEDNESDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2012 Cr
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RACHEL I slept only fitfully after
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WEB PAGE - www.whereisbenedictfinch
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JIM I spoke to Emma before I left f
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say that he doesn’t play by the r
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‘Bye,’ Fount said to him. ‘Wh
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thanked her for what she did for us
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I sat on the bed for a long time, u
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JIM Fraser and I had a pre-meet bef
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‘He’s got an alibi, doesn’t h
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RACHEL Nicky phoned the police and
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door in the middle of the night. Yo
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an orange wash remained. It struck
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RACHEL When I got back inside Nicky
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JIM On the night of Wednesday, 24 O
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DAY 5 THURSDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2012 You
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RACHEL I slept the night in Ben’s
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individuals closest to Ben, and he
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‘What about their son, Charlie Bo
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He took another sheet of paper from
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more imperfect than any version of
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JC: She said she was knackered. She
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It led swiftly to the fourth state.
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Quick response appreciated, obvious
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WEB PAGE - www.whereisbenedictfinch
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I didn’t know what to say. I look
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RACHEL Zhang agreed to come and giv
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sensation. Then she spoke to him of
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abstract shapes floating within it,
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JIM I got one of the DCs to pick up
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RACHEL This time, I made no attempt
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dog, black and white like Skittle,
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FM: I’m not intending to. That’
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everything that had happened. But I
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JIM We worked closely with John Fin
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DAY 7 SATURDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2012 An
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RACHEL In the early hours of the mo
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school year, but I started to work
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tight. A hospital band was visible
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cancer himself. The whole family, w
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Another page. A different drawing:
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‘The blog.’ I was slow; I didn
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told him to fuck off. ‘Tell Frase
Page 254 and 255: ‘Stop asking me to be patient. Ho
Page 256 and 257: JIM In the incident room the blinds
Page 258 and 259: swing. ‘So what are we thinking?
Page 260 and 261: ‘She’s drunk?’ I asked when h
Page 262 and 263: JIM Addendum to DI James Clemo’s
Page 264 and 265: JC: Fine. He coaxes his lips up int
Page 266 and 267: JIM It was Emma who I thought of al
Page 268 and 269: DAY 8 SUNDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2012 The P
Page 270 and 271: RACHEL When dawn came there was no
Page 272 and 273: JIM Nine o’clock Sunday morning,
Page 274 and 275: RACHEL The hospital receptionist se
Page 278 and 279: RACHEL My cab driver on the way hom
Page 280 and 281: tall bear of a man, with very dark
Page 282 and 283: ‘To be honest, I assumed Nicky wo
Page 284 and 285: He actually put his hand over his h
Page 286 and 287: ‘Cool,’ my avatar said. ‘New
Page 288 and 289: me wants you here to run the invest
Page 290 and 291: I behaved in an arrogant and disgus
Page 292 and 293: RACHEL I logged on to Furry Footbal
Page 294 and 295: ‘I know it was him,’ I said. Th
Page 296 and 297: Her handbag was on the seat between
Page 298 and 299: so that my toes were already numb.
Page 300 and 301: ‘It’s what Miss May said, about
Page 302 and 303: He sat back down. ‘Again,’ he s
Page 306 and 307: RACHEL It took me twenty-five minut
Page 308 and 309: here. And then I saw something else
Page 310 and 311: JIM Nicky Forbes’s expression was
Page 312 and 313: RACHEL They prised me up off the ca
Page 314 and 315: Operator: OK. They’re a few minut
Page 316 and 317: RECORD OF EVIDENCE: AVON AND SOMERS
Page 318 and 319: RACHEL Bristol Children’s Hospita
Page 320 and 321: ‘Is the child all right?’ Mrs M
Page 322 and 323: RACHEL I approached my son’s beds
Page 324 and 325: EPILOGUE CHRISTMAS 2013 - ONE YEAR,
Page 326 and 327: RACHEL A few weeks ago, somebody as
Page 328 and 329: that he loved so much in return. Th
Page 332 and 333: JC: Yes. FM: Have you seen her sinc
Page 334 and 335: RACHEL We might never have closure,
Page 336 and 337: us that. He came to our house and w
Page 338: BIBLIOGRAPHY The following websites
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