Riggott’s brows knitted together. ‘We’ve got the preliminary report on Walton’s death,’ he said.
She wasn’t expecting that, didn’t think it would be a priority given how he died. But she’d been naïve.
‘You caught his brachial artery,’ Riggott said.
‘Okay. That explains why he was bleeding so much then.’
‘The pathologist has it down as a fairly minor wound. Long but shallow.’ She heard the warning in his tone. ‘He put the bleed-out time around twenty to thirty minutes.’
Ferreira said nothing.
‘Your injuries won’t be considered consistent with an attack of that duration.’
He chose his words carefully and made sure that she realised where he was going with this, giving her one of his meaningful looks.
‘I’m going to assume you were knocked unconscious,’ he said slowly. ‘I think what must have happened is that after you sprayed him in the face, he lashed out and hit you in the jaw there.’ He gestured towards her swollen face. ‘And that blow knocked you out cold. By the time you came around he was already dead. You did your duty as a police officer and immediately checked for a pulse but couldn’t find one, at which point you rushed downstairs to the officers guarding the building and raised the alarm.’
Ferreira nodded.
‘Is that what happened?’
‘Absolutely,’ she said, remembering how she’d watched the pool of blood around Walton growing larger, minute after minute, spreading under the sofa and reaching towards her no matter how many times she backed away from it. Watched his protests become weaker, his breathing more laboured, thinking of all the women he’d watched as they suffered, all the pain he’d caused, the lives he’d ruined. She’d watched his skin flush then pale and then, when she was sure all the fight was gone out of him, she put two fingers to his throat and waited until his pulse slowed and weakened and finally stopped.
She met Riggott’s flinty gaze.
‘That’s exactly what happened.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deepest gratitude first and foremost to Alison Hennessey for her wisdom and guidance as Zigic and Ferreira returned from their brief hiatus. She has always been their fiercest champion and without her continued support they might have detected their last in 2017. All authors should be so blessed.
Gushing thanks as well to Marigold, Ros, Lilidh, Lindeth and Sara Helen for everything they’ve done over the last year in shepherding this book to its final form and then taking it out into the world. The team at Raven really is special, passionate about good writing and dedicated to producing beautiful books, they are a continuing delight to work with.
Thanks to my agent Phil Patterson and the team at Marjacq for all their hard graft behind the scenes.
Thanks, as well, to Jay Stringer, Nick Quantrill and Luca Veste, for vital moments of distraction and occasional lapses in good sense.
As always I owe thanks to all the lovely reviewers and critics who have supported the series, and to all of the festival organisers who have been kind enough to let me on their stages, sincerest thanks.
Final thanks to my amazing family, for absolutely everything else.
NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Eva Dolan was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger for unpublished authors when only a teenager. The four previous novels in her Zigic and Ferreira series have been published to widespread critical acclaim: Tell No Tales and After You Die were shortlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year Award and After You Die was also longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. In 2018 Long Way Home won the Grand Prix Des Lectrices. Dolan’s first stand-alone thriller, This is How It Ends, was longlisted for the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. She lives in Cambridge.
@eva_dolan
Also available by Eva Dolan
This Is How It Ends
‘Stupendous. The thriller comes of age’ Sarah Hilary
This is how it begins.
With a near-empty building, the inhabitants forced out of their homes by property developers. With two women: idealistic, impassioned blogger Ella and seasoned campaigner, Molly. With a body hidden in a lift shaft.
But how will it end?
‘A tense, intelligent, politically charged thriller, expertly crafted by a writer at the top of her game’ Mari Hannah
‘A thrilling tale that builds to a surprising twist and a shocking finale’ Daily Express
https://www.bloomsbury.com/author/eva-dolan/
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/this-is-how-it-ends-9781408886618/
RAVEN BOOKS
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BLOOMSBURY, RAVEN BOOKS and the Raven Books logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2020
This electronic edition published 2020
Copyright © Eva Dolan, 2020
Eva Dolan has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4088-8644-1; TPB: 978-1-4088-8645-8; eBook: 978-1-4088-8642-7
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