Last city. Last name. Hazel Chase has never been more certain, or less ready.
Alan Butler is the reason her parents are legally dead. A car that burned until there was nothing left to identify, a tray of recovered objects, and one man's word that they belonged to Thomas and Olivia Chase. Hazel has crossed a continent to ask him what he actually saw.
She corners him at the Royal Institution in London. He tells her about the accident, the road, the ring he identified. He answers every question. She still walks out certain he's holding something back.
Ninety minutes later his colleague is found dead, and everything points at Butler. On his way to a cell, he offers Hazel a deal. There's a part of the story he didn't tell her. Prove his innocence, and he'll tell her the rest. Let him go down, and he takes it with him.
For twenty-three years Hazel has wanted the truth about her parents more than anything.
She never once asked herself whether she was ready to hear it.
Arthur Pearce writes mysteries from his home office in Ireland, usually with a cup of tea at hand.
When he's not plotting fictional murders, you'll find him taking long walks, travelling to new countries, or wandering through bookshops in search of his next read.
He believes the best mysteries keep you guessing until the very last page – and sometimes a little bit after.
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