The Silenced by Jackie Kabler

Author:Jackie Kabler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2018-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

21

‘Well I reckon he’s going to propose soon. Valentine’s Day, maybe? I bet you a fiver, Nicole!’

Rosie plonked herself down in one of the chairs at Cora’s dining table and wagged a finger at her friend. Opposite her, Nicole was shaking her head as she turned her laptop on.

‘Nope, not Valentine’s Day, definitely not. That would be cringe-makingly soppy. Adam’s not the type. And they’ve only been together, what, just over a year and a half? It’s not that long really, is it?’

Rosie ran her hands though her red hair, which she’d yesterday had cut into a elfin crop and wasn’t quite sure about yet.

‘No, but they’re so perfect for each other, Nicole. And think how much fun we’d have at the wedding. We haven’t been to one in ages. Honestly, I think he’ll…’

Her voice tailed off as Cora entered the room, carrying a tray laden with mugs, a huge teapot and a plate of cupcakes. She looked quizzically at Rosie, who was suddenly tapping urgently on the keyboard of her own laptop, head down.

‘You think who will do what, Rosie? Why did you stop talking when I came into the room?’ she asked, suspiciously.

‘Oh, nothing important. Idle chit-chat. About… about that new BBC drama that started last night, you know, the one with, errrm, thingy in it…’

Rosie flushed and carried on typing. Cora narrowed her eyes.

‘Hmmm. OK, well I’ll let you off, for now. Let’s get this tea poured and see if we can find anything. How are we going to do this? Shall we split it into sections?’

She finished filling the three mugs, then pushed the plate of cakes into the middle of the table.

‘Thanks, Cora. Yes, let’s divide it up. What do you suggest?’

Nicole selected a chocolate and raspberry cupcake and bit into it with a happy sigh. It was Sunday afternoon, and she and Rosie had arrived at Cora’s as planned half an hour ago, a couple of hours after she’d returned to Cheltenham after her weekend in London with Adam and Harry. Slightly hungover, and having gone for a short run around the park which only succeeded in making her feel rather sick, Cora had declared it a booze-free Sunday, but had softened the blow by producing the box of cakes from Mattino’s, one of their favourite local cafés. After a quick gossip, they were now getting down to the real business of the afternoon – a spot of brainstorming about Manchester, its possible connections to Randall Greythorpe, and why Leanne Brimley had written the word, and heavily underlined it, on her map.

‘Well, we know Greythorpe went to university there. And yes, that’s kind of, well, so what? So, what else could it be? I’m wondering if Randall and his partner are maybe involved in something dodgy up there, and Leanne found out? I’m just pulling ideas out of the air here though. Nicole, can you look at that? See if you can find anything that links Douglas Granley and Randall Greythorpe in Manchester?’

Nicole nodded, mouth still full of cake.

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