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In At The Deep End

Page 22

by Anabel Donald


  ‘OK, OK. Belt up.’

  ‘So whose fault was it really?’

  ‘Mrs Brown was a ruthless scheming cow. Alistair was amoral and utterly selfish. Olivier was spoilt rotten: a cruel, manipulative adolescent. And Kelly and the Major wouldn’t do their own dirty work. They were afraid to look.’

  ‘What at?’

  ‘At themselves. At what they’d made of their lives. At what might happen. So they made us do it.’

  ‘They made you do it,’ she said. ‘Don’t you mind?’

  ‘No. I enjoy it. It’s important to look.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It’s always a temptation not to face the truth. I have to keep reminding myself of that. Once you’ve looked, then you’ve set yourself free to look away.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Claudia. ‘That’s really – significant. It’s serious. It’s almost French.’

  I was grinning.

  ‘What is it? Alex, what is it? Are you teasing me? Didn’t you mean what you said?’

  ‘I was just thinking. Freedom Pertwee. If I became her spiritual adviser—’

  ‘You wouldn’t!’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t. But if I did, I could charge astronomical fees.’

  Anabel Donald

  Anabel Donald has been writing fiction since 1982 when her first novel, Hannah at Thirty-five, was published to great critical acclaim.

  In her thirty-six-year teaching career she has taught adolescent girls in private boarding schools, a comprehensive and an American university. Most recently, she has written the five Alex Tanner crime novels in the Notting Hill series.

  Bello

  hidden talent rediscovered

  Bello is a digital-only imprint of Pan Macmillan, established to breathe new life into previously published, classic books.

  At Bello we believe in the timeless power of the imagination, of a good story, narrative and entertainment, and we want to use digital technology to ensure that many more readers can enjoy these books into the future.

  We publish in ebook and print-on-demand formats to bring these wonderful books to new audiences.

  www.panmacmillan.co.uk/bello

  The Notting Hill Mysteries

  An Uncommon Murder

  In at the Deep End

  The Glass Ceiling

  The Loop

  Destroy Unopened

  Copyright

  First published 1993 by Macmillan London Limited

  This edition published 2015 by Bello

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan

  20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.co.uk/bello

  ISBN 978-1509-8134-07 EPUB

  ISBN 978-1509-8133-84 HB

  ISBN 978-1509-8133-91 PB

  Copyright © Anabel Donald 1993

  The right of Anabel Donald to be identified as the

  author of this work has been asserted by her

  in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

  stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means

  (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)

  without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations

  and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.

  Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations or persons,

  living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This book remains true to the original in every way. Some aspects may appear

  out-of-date to modern-day readers. Bello makes no apology for this, as to retrospectively

  change any content would be anachronistic and undermine the authenticity of the original.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Typeset by Ellipsis Digital Limited, Glasgow

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of

  trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without

  the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than

  that in which it is published and without a similar condition including

  this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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