Fear the Truth

FEAR THE TRUTH SALLY RIGBY Copyright © 2023 by Sally Rigby All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This story is a work of fiction. All names, characters, organisations or places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any persons, alive or dead, events or locals is almost entirely coincidental. Contents Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Claim your free book Read the Sebastian Clifford Series Also by Sally Rigby: The Cavendish & Walker Series Psychological Thrillers Acknowledgments About the Author GET ANOTHER BOOK FOR FREE! To instantly receive Nowhere to Hide, a free novella from the Detective Sebastian Clifford series, featuring DC Lucinda Bird when she first joined CID, sign up here for Sally Rigby’s free author newsletter. Chapter 1 Lucinda ‘Birdie’ Bird marched into the office, dropped her bag on the floor and collapsed in a heap into the chair behind her desk. ‘That’s it. Job done. Thank goodness. Next time it’s your turn.’ Sebastian Clifford smiled to himself. His partner in the private detective business, Clifford Investigation Services, which he’d set up a few months ago, was referring to their latest job. Following a supposedly cheating spouse. Their client had paid for twenty hours of observation, after which he wanted a report, which is what Birdie had just delivered. ‘Was the client satisfied with the results of our investigation?’ he asked. ‘When I informed him that, as far as we could ascertain, his wife wasn’t seeing another man, he pushed me for dates and exact times we had her under surveillance. He seemed okay when I gave him a breakdown. For a moment, though, I was worried that he’d ask us to continue watching her, but luckily he didn’t.’ Sebastian stretched out his long legs and made a mental note to buy a more comfortable office chair. At six foot six, he wasn’t designed for the antique furniture that currently furnished Rendall Hall. The seventeenth-century house belonged to his cousin Sarah, but he was living there while she travelled abroad. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t encourage him to continue, considering we’d be missing out on the income,’ Seb said, an amused tone to his voice. ‘Ha, ha. Very funny. Okay, admittedly we do need the cash, but we’ve said all along that it’s the interesting cases we want. And they’re not going to appear out of thin air. You know, Seb, we really need to advertise, or at least do something. Before we become known for investigating marital matters only.’ She was right. They did need to be more proactive. They hadn’t been inundated with clients recently. ‘I had hoped that the publicity from helping Annabelle might have helped,’ he said, referring to their previous case, where Seb’s ex-fiancée, Annabelle Frankland, had employed them to find her current fiancé who’d gone missing. ‘I hate to say this, but maybe it’s because we’re not in London.’ Birdie let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Not that I think we should up sticks and move to the big smoke, because I don’t. At least, not yet anyway.’ Birdie had taken the plunge and left a promising career in the police force to join Seb, so it was to be expected that she was worried about what would happen if they didn’t get enough work. Since Annabelle’s case three months ago, all they’d had was an employee surveillance case for a local company, and a couple of potentially cheating spouses to follow. ‘I agree with you. Logistically, Market Harborough, or East Farndon to be precise, is the best place for us, considering it’s close to where you live, and we don’t have the sort of extortionate rent we’d have to pay.’ There was his London flat to consider, but that was too small and therefore not conducive to being a business as well as a residence. ‘I suppose we should be grateful that you still have the contract work with Rob, even though I know you’d rather give it up,’ Birdie said. On a fairly regular basis, Seb would help out his ex-colleague at the Met, Rob Lawson; it paid the bills, but wasn’t ideal for growing their own business. ‘One day,’ he said. Birdie restlessly tapped her foot on the floor, a reminder of just how much energy she had. It didn’t help that they were cooped up in the office while the outside garden was still full of dahlias, daisies and roses, thanks to the late summer. ‘Are there any events you can attend where you can hand out business cards and pick up some clients?’ Birdie suggested. ‘Considering all the practice you’ve had mixing with lords and ladies, surely you could get something for us to do.’ ‘Are you suggesting I ask to attend one of my father’s charity affairs?’ he asked with a grimace. His father was a viscount, and thankfully it was Seb’s older brother Hubert, the heir to the title, who was called upon to do his part for the family. It was only when his brother was out of action that Seb had to stand in, albeit reluctantly. ‘It’s not something I enjoy, as you well know.’ Despite that, he realised that if all else failed he’d have to do whatever it took to find them some business. He was in the fortunate position that he could survive on his savings and an old inheritance if no work materialised. But it