All Fall Down: A gripping psychological thriller with a twist that will take your breath away Read Free Page B

unconvincing. ‘Though that’s not to say there aren’t. . . formalities.’
    ‘Of course,’ Wendy said. ‘You can’t simply take what we say at face val—’
    She broke off as DS Husein appeared in the doorway. Now Dawn’s expression grew warmer, and contained a hint of relief.
    ‘Just the man to put your minds at rest,’ she declared, but Rob couldn’t help adding the word that she seemed to omit.
    Hopefully.

    D etective Sergeant Husein was a slim , graceful man in his late twenties – that was the minimum age Rob assumed he had to be, given his rank – but with his soft brown eyes and clean-shaven skin he could have passed for a decade younger. He was one of the few people present who was formally dressed, in a well-fitting grey suit, which made him look like a schoolboy at a family christening.
    He nodded in greeting, his gaze seeming to linger on Dawn’s glass.
    ‘Would you like some juice?’ Wendy asked.
    ‘Yes, please. I usually end up drinking gallons of tea and coffee, but I don’t really like the stuff.’
    With a teasing smile, Dawn said, ‘Shahid prefers a beaker of squash with a bendy straw, don’t you?’
    ‘Forget the straw. A sippy cup is even better.’ He raised his eyebrows at Rob. ‘There’s a running joke that I look about twelve.’
    Wendy returned with the drink, and Husein sat forward on the sofa, notebook at the ready.
    ‘We plan to start the search this evening. There’s a chance of rain overnight, but I’m hoping the forecasts are wrong.’ His eyebrows twitched. ‘First I want to check that you’re sure he came from the common?’
    Rob said, ‘Well, we didn’t see or hear him till he was at the fence, so no, we’re not a hundred per cent.’
    ‘There’s a path a few doors down,’ Wendy added. ‘In theory he could have cut through there from the road. Or even come from one of the other gardens.’
    ‘But across the common is the likeliest route, isn’t it?’ Dawn asked.
    They agreed that it was, and Husein said, ‘What we have found are a couple of bloodstains on the far side of your fence, consistent with him brushing against the panels.’ He stared into his glass. ‘Are you certain you didn’t recognise him?’
    Rob glanced at Wendy, then immediately wished he hadn’t. It might suggest that they were colluding.
    ‘Definitely not,’ she said, and Rob nodded in agreement.
    Dawn offered Husein a wry smile. ‘Never mind, Shahid. Job would be boring if the answers were there on a plate.’

Six
    W hen Husein’s phone buzzed , he took his time checking the display. As they waited for him to continue, Rob was conscious of Wendy’s rigid posture. Her hands were clasped together, fingers writhing. It made him realise he was working too hard to appear relaxed, when it was clear he was anything but.
    ‘If you didn’t know him,’ Husein said, ‘and we’ll take it for now that he didn’t know you, we’ve got some ten or eleven houses along here. . .’ He tapped his pen against his teeth. ‘What we need to determine is whether there was any specific reason for coming to your house.’
    ‘It’s probably random,’ Dawn added, as if to reassure them. ‘But we can’t afford to overlook anything that could have governed his choice.’
    ‘We get that,’ Rob said. ‘What occurred to me is that we had music playing, so he’d have known there were people here.’
    ‘If there was no one in the neighbours’ gardens, it could be that simple.’ Husein shared a glance with Dawn, who shrugged.
    ‘Did the man say anything to you?’ she asked.
    ‘Um, yeah, just “Help me”.’
    ‘In English?’ Husein queried. ‘And nothing else?’
    ‘I think he was trying to say more, but couldn’t get the words out. And I’ve only just realised this, but he might have had an accent.’
    ‘What type?’ Dawn asked.
    ‘I couldn’t say for sure. His voice was quite thick, guttural – could have been Scottish, or maybe the north-east.’
    ‘So not Eastern