Quiet in Her Bones Singh, Nalini (the top 100 crime novels of all time .txt) 📖

jail a year or so after Sarah disappeared and it had caused a minor scandal in the Cul-­de-­Sac, given that he used to come by to pick Sarah up in his patched-­up death trap of a car. Margaret had said she’d caught him loitering outside her and Paul’s place.

“Probably casing it, thinking we’re doddery oldies.” She’d snorted. “I’d like to see that wasted prick try.”

Hunching over the keyboard, I began to hunt. It took a while to find him given the scant information I had, but there he was, at last, in a short news article, older, his blond hair graying and his pale skin more inked, but still with the ­mean-­dog look I remembered.

… sentenced for grievous bodily harm against his de facto partner.

A man who beat his women might do more than that. He might turn into a dangerous stalker who terrified a young woman into cutting all ties with her previous life. Diana could’ve been protecting Sarah all this time, helping her beloved sister stay under the radar so no one could find her. If so, my meddling might expose her to a predator.

“Shit.”

I reached for more sweets, popping each new bite into my mouth at rapid speed as I considered my next step. Leaving Sarah alone for now, I began to search for more information on the abusive boyfriend now that I’d found his name. He’d broken the jaw of one girlfriend, threatened another at gunpoint, and beaten a third into a coma. None of which came close to his biggest crime: Daniel “Big Man” Johnson had been jailed five years ago for a horrific double murder.

I remembered the ­case—­it had been all over the ­media—­but I hadn’t made the connection to Sarah at the time because the guy looked different from when he’d been dating her. Gone was the long hair, a buzz cut in its place, and he had plenty more tattoos than when he’d swung by the Cul-­de-­Sac.

Johnson hadn’t only been jailed, he’d been handed a sentence of life with a minimum ­non-­parole period of ­thirty-­two years. Technically, he might gain parole after that lengthy period, but given the comments of the trial judge on the danger he posed to society, it wasn’t a realistic possibility.

If Sarah had run out of fear, why hadn’t she come back after the justice system worked as intended and put him away for good? There were also other oddities in the whole situation. Even if I accepted that she was terrified of Johnson, that didn’t explain why she refused to talk to Mia on the phone.

All those gifts, sent from various places in the world.

Chewing on my lower lip, I did a search for Venetian glass. Multiple hits, all the online storefronts of glass boutiques based in Venice. Most delivered worldwide. Mia had indicated Sarah had brought the gift back for her, but if I was remembering wrong and it had been shipped from Venice, that wasn’t a problem, either.

If you’d like to purchase one of our exquisite pieces as a gift, chirped the FAQ section of one site, rest assured of our discretion. We will email the receipt to you. Your recipient will only get their gift, and your ­message—­printed on our complimentary signature cardstock.

Many online shops had such systems in place, especially if you went higher end. No need to travel anywhere. No need to even use your own name, since you could type whatever message you wanted onto any included card.

“You’re losing it, Aarav.” Shoving back from the desk, I decided I needed to take a walk before I talked myself into total paranoia. Prior to that, however, I sent a message to Mia’s account asking if I could have Sarah’s email address.

Maybe I’d do a quiet knock on Isaac’s door after seeing if I could spot him through his side window. His game room lay just beyond, and it’d be easy to see if he was wearing headphones. If Mellie answered, at least I’d know she was all ­right—­and I could ask her about old Phil.

The last person I expected to see in the ­late-­night darkness of the Cul-­de-­Sac was Diana. She had Charlie on a lead. “His bladder is terrible now,” she said, whispering as if to save her pet’s feelings. “Just as well I have insomnia.”

“Doesn’t it disturb Calvin? You being gone from the bed, I mean.”

“He’s not home ­yet—­that’s why I have insomnia. I miss him, but I knew it’d be like this when I married him. He was always aiming to be a top surgeon.”

The dog finished doing its business and padded forward. His walking speed was so slow that I was a racehorse by comparison.

“You look troubled, sweetheart.” Diana touched a gentle hand to my arm.

My delusions shattered like glass.

This woman had been nothing but kind to me all my life, and I was making up ugly theories about her estranged sister that had no basis in reality. “Just everything with my mother.”

“I miss Nina so much.” Diana’s voice was as soft as the shining tumble of her hair. “Sarah left me, then Nina.” Pain in every syllable. “It’s selfish of me, but I always wondered what was wrong with me. Why didn’t they trust me enough to stay in touch?”

I felt like an asshole. “Yeah.” So many times, I’d asked myself how my mother could just leave me.

Tucking her hand into the crook of my elbow, Diana squeezed. “Losing Nina hurt even more than losing Sarah. Sarah was always edgy, moody. She loved me, but she had so much anger inside her and it spilled out onto anyone in her ­vicinity—­with her, I had to be a caretaker always. But with Nina, I could just be. And sometimes, she looked after me.”

Watching Charlie fondly as he snuffled at a bush planted near the Dixon property, Diana said, “You’re too young to remember, but back when I was first pregnant and Calvin and I had decided I’d stay home ­full-­time, I used to be so lonely when he