We Chase Shadows Summary by Chapter | Richard Osman
Introduction
Richard Osman returns with another witty and intricate mystery featuring the unlikely detectives of We Solve Murders.
This We Chase Shadows summary by chapter follows retired police officer Steve Wheeler, his close-protection specialist daughter-in-law Amy, and bestselling crime novelist Rosie D’Antonio as they embark on their most dangerous case yet.
When a counterfeit wellness tycoon discovers a murdered bodyguard and a threatening note from a legendary assassin, the fledgling agency is hired to investigate.
Their inquiry quickly spirals into a complex web of deception spanning Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.
Uncovering a decades-old conspiracy proves far more lethal than any of them anticipated.
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Book Structure Overview
| Section | Chapters / Division | Primary Setting(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Málaga, 2001 | Málaga, Spain |
| Part One: Never Go to London | Chapters 1–6 | Hampshire, London, Tuscany |
| Part Two: Death in Tuscany | Chapters 7–21 | Tuscany, Palm Springs, Barcelona |
| Part Three: Summer in Palm Springs (and Stockholm) | Chapters 22–43 | Palm Springs, Stockholm, Málaga, Dorset |
| Part Four: Portsmouth Has a Thriving Tech Quarter | Chapters 44–52 | Hampshire, Portsmouth, Dorset |
| Interlude | Málaga, 2001 | Málaga, Spain |
| Part Five: The Hunter’s Rest | Chapters 53–71 | Dorset, Axley, New Forest |
| Epilogue | Two Weeks Later | Sussex, Kent |
Book Table of Contents
- Prologue: Málaga, 2001
- Part One: Never Go to London (Chapters 1–6)
- Part Two: Death in Tuscany (Chapters 7–21)
- Part Three: Summer in Palm Springs (and Stockholm) (Chapters 22–43)
- Part Four: Portsmouth Has a Thriving Tech Quarter (Chapters 44–46)
- Interlude: Málaga, 2001
- Part Four (Cont.) (Chapters 47–52)
- Part Five: The Hunter’s Rest (Chapters 53–69)
- Interlude: Málaga, 2001
- Part Five (Cont.) (Chapters 70–71)
- Epilogue: Two Weeks Later
We Chase Shadows Summary Chapter by Chapter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This section contains detailed, chapter-by-chapter plot summaries.
Prologue: Málaga, 2001
English fugitive Connor “Baldy” Brooks hides in his Spanish villa, convinced that Metropolitan Police detectives are closing in on him. He has spent seven stints in prison and refuses to face incarceration again.
Although his mail-order counterfeit vitamin trade feels harmless compared to his past crimes, he knows the authorities are circling. He initiates “Plan B,” preparing an escape to a new jurisdiction with a new identity.
Before departing, Brooks makes two solemn vows: to find an uncompromised base of operations and to locate and murder whoever informed on him.
Part One: Never Go to London
Chapter 1
At The Brass Monkey pub in Axley, retired detective Steve Wheeler has lunch with his friends Tony Taylor, John Todd, and Dr. Jyoti Das. He mentions he is catching a train to London for a book launch.
His friends voice comical anxieties about the city. Steve reflects on his venture, We Solve Murders, a private investigation agency he co-founded with his daughter-in-law Amy and funded by author Rosie D’Antonio.
In six months, the agency has failed to secure a single murder case. Steve worries that without active cases, Amy will return to perilous international bodyguarding contracts, depriving him of her daily companionship.
Chapter 2
At his Tuscan villa, counterfeit supplement magnate Vern Blackwood discovers the murdered corpse of his junior bodyguard, Esteban, on his front steps. In Esteban’s pocket, Vern finds a handwritten threat signed by cartel assassin “Jakob Eriksson.”
Vern is bewildered, as he knows Eriksson has no rational motive to attack him. He cannot involve the Italian police due to his illicit enterprise.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation and his need for discretion, Vern concludes he must hire independent investigators.
Chapter 3
Amy Wheeler attends the London book launch for Rosie D’Antonio’s latest thriller, feeling out of place among literary socialites. She escapes to a Soho alleyway, where she finds Rosie smoking cannabis with the British Foreign Secretary.
Rosie shamelessly badgers him to provide their agency with an elite murder to solve. Amy reminisces about her former tactical deployments and despairs over the boredom of civilian life.
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Chapter 4
At the Tuscan villa, Vern’s remaining bodyguards, Korbin and Lee, dig a grave to bury Esteban covertly on the estate grounds. Vern retires indoors to brew a cappuccino, reflecting that Esteban’s habit of sharing WhatsApp memes will not be missed.
Pondering the bizarre threat from Jakob Eriksson, Vern decides to distract himself by watching television via an unauthorized satellite feed. He tunes into British television and catches the broadcast of The Graham Norton Show.
Chapter 5
Rosie D’Antonio appears on The Graham Norton Show alongside Hollywood stars. When Graham questions her about her real-world detective agency, Rosie enthusiastically confirms that We Solve Murders is a genuine operation.
She introduces her partners to millions of viewers, identifying Amy as her close-protection officer and Steve as her handsome, available ex-cop father-in-law.
Rosie issues a brazen, televised challenge to murderers worldwide, declaring that her agency is actively seeking cases. Watching the broadcast from his Tuscan sofa, Vern Blackwood realizes he has found the ideal team.
Chapter 6
At the agency’s headquarters in the New Forest, office manager Felicity Woollaston monitors the lavish office. Rosie receives a direct telephone inquiry from Vern Blackwood regarding his murdered bodyguard and personally negotiates taking the case.
Rosie accepts Vern’s commission, savoring the prospect of investigating an Italian villa with a corpse. Steve protests because he had planned to attend a weekend traction engine steam fair, but Rosie insists they mobilize immediately.
Within two hours of the call, Rosie, Steve, and Amy board a chartered private jet bound for Italy.
Part Two: Death in Tuscany
Chapter 7
Upon landing in Italy, the team is chauffeured to Vern’s estate, where they are admitted by his towering German bodyguard, Korbin. Vern introduces himself as an entrepreneur in the “shadowy” counterfeit vitamin industry.
Vern reveals the death threat note from Jakob Eriksson but insists Eriksson could not be the killer because they are allies. He details that five years earlier in Las Vegas, six cartel leaders divided the counterfeit pharmaceutical trade.
Volkin, Voronen, and Svoboda were subsequently executed by Eriksson, leaving only Vern, Griffin, and Eriksson alive. Vern urges them to investigate Tommy Griffin in California or his estranged ex-wife, Georgie Glazier.
Chapter 8
In California, American syndicate leader Tommy Griffin touches down at Palm Springs airport. He suffers from a crippling medical issue after personally testing a sample batch of potent counterfeit Irish Viagra during the flight.
When a US Customs officer boards the aircraft and demands he deplane, Tommy is forced to stand, revealing his condition. He reflects that expanding into European pharmaceuticals violates his Vegas agreement and risks retaliation from Jakob Eriksson.
Despite the deadly risks, he resolves to proceed because of the massive profit margins.
Chapter 9
Walking atop Lucca’s historic city ramparts, Amy and Rosie review Vern’s testimony, agreeing that his refusal to suspect the confessed killer is deeply abnormal. They meet Steve at an outdoor cafĂ©.
Steve shrewdly observes that a supposedly harmless vitamin vendor would never employ multiple heavily armed bodyguards unless his operations were deeply criminal. He argues that Vern is withholding crucial context.
The team decides to split their forces: Amy will remain at the Tuscan villa, while Steve and Rosie fly to Spain to consult Interpol.
Chapter 10
Steve and Rosie land in Barcelona to rendezvous with Rosie’s high-ranking contact, Assistant Detective Inspector Ernesto Manuelo Santiago de Sousa de Cuéllar of Spanish Interpol. Ernesto welcomes Steve with a boisterous bear hug.
Reviewing digital dossiers, they examine files on Tommy Griffin, Georgie Glazier, and Jakob Eriksson. Ernesto confirms Eriksson is a feared assassin whose intelligence profile began abruptly in 2001.
Ernesto advises that Swedish investigator Larssen is tracking notorious Swedish criminal Sara Lindstrat, who might possess inside knowledge of Eriksson.
Chapter 11
In Lymington, Hampshire, office administrator Felicity Woollaston celebrates the agency’s maiden contract by treating her boyfriend, Tony Taylor, to dinner. Walking along the quayside, they encounter an unknown pedestrian in a darkened alleyway.
Without warning, the man violently assaults Tony, smashing his skull against a stone wall. Before departing, the blond assailant delivers an explicit warning: “You tell Vern Blackwood, you don’t come looking for Jakob Eriksson, you understand?”
Chapter 12
At Vern’s Tuscan villa, Amy assists bodyguards Korbin and Lee in exhuming Esteban’s body to perform a forensic examination. Amy determines Esteban was executed at point-blank range without signs of struggle.
Lee and Korbin confirm Eriksson’s formidable reputation as an untouchable syndicate boss. Korbin mentions that Esteban recently marched their cleaner off the property at gunpoint after she was caught stealing.
After Lee leaves, Korbin confides to Amy that something is rotten at the villa, promising to provide concrete proof that evening regarding who did not kill Esteban.
Chapter 13
In Rickmansworth, Steve and Rosie conduct vehicular surveillance outside the home of Vern’s ex-wife, Georgie Glazier. Steve insists on cataloging her routine, noting she displays no criminal behavior.
Rosie grows impatient with sitting idle and insists they approach the house directly. Steve worries about exposure, but Rosie boldly rings the doorbell to determine whether Georgie is an assassin or an innocent homemaker.
Chapter 14
In Barcelona, Ernesto smokes a cigar by the marina while analyzing Interpol’s surveillance archive on Jakob Eriksson. Comparing airport security photographs taken around Eriksson’s murders, Ernesto detects a startling visual consistency.
The exact same companion appears alongside Eriksson in all three terminal passenger queues. Unable to identify the mystery man, Ernesto emails the images to Rosie to determine whether the team recognizes Eriksson’s travel partner.
Chapter 15
Georgie Glazier welcomes Rosie and Steve into her living room, flirting with Steve. Georgie explains that she and Vern married as teenagers and amassed their initial fortune selling anabolic steroids.
She dismisses their past court battle as staged theater and asserts that she and Vern separated amicably. When Rosie presents Interpol’s surveillance photo of Jakob Eriksson, Georgie hesitates before falsely claiming she has never seen him.
Rosie and Steve immediately clock her deception as they depart.
Chapter 16
At Southampton General Hospital, a concussed Tony Taylor lies in a bed, obsessing over hospital parking tariffs. Felicity insists they must inform Steve about the assault, overriding Tony’s desire to sweep the incident under the rug.
Using Tony’s mobile phone, Felicity locates Steve’s contact and places a call. She informs Steve that Tony was hospitalized after an unprovoked beating by a thug demanding they cease hunting Jakob Eriksson.
Chapter 17
At 9:00 p.m., the Tuscan estate initiates its automated lockdown, lowering heavy security grates. Bodyguard Lee lounges on the sofa illegally streaming a movie, remarking that Esteban was murdered during a solo perimeter patrol.
Amy uses the excuse of conducting night security checks to exit the building. Unarmed and relying on her tactical instincts, she prepares to receive Korbin’s promised evidence regarding who was framed for Esteban’s killing.
Chapter 18
Arriving at Southampton General Hospital, Steve is enraged by Tony’s injuries. Tony cross-examines Steve regarding his driving times, forcing Steve to invent a fictional service-station stop to maintain peace.
In the hospital hallway, Rosie opens the email from Ernesto containing the three airport photos. Expanding the third image, Steve and Rosie are horrified to recognize that the mystery man accompanying Jakob Eriksson is Vern’s own bodyguard, Korbin.
Chapter 19
Outside Korbin’s cottage, Amy hears classical music blaring on a continuous loop. Finding the entrance unlocked, she enters the hallway and discovers an unholstered pistol resting conspicuously on a side table.
Sensing that Korbin should have greeted her arrival, Amy’s tactical alarms sound. She picks up the handgun, controls her breathing, and advances toward the open room, suspecting an ambush.
Chapter 20
In the hospital corridor, Rosie and Steve urgently text Amy: “Korbin is working for Jakob Eriksson. Stay safe until we get there.” Inside the cottage, Amy’s phone buzzes with the message.
Recognizing she is in imminent mortal danger, Amy chooses not to retreat, craving the familiar rush of tactical combat. She types a brief farewell message to Steve and Rosie before using pocket mirrors to scout the interior of the room.
The mirror reflects Korbin seated rigidly in an armchair with a glint of steel visible.
Chapter 21
Executing a tactical roll through the doorway, Amy prepares to shoot. However, as her sights settle on Korbin, she realizes the glint of steel is not a firearm but a large kitchen knife driven deeply into his chest.
Korbin is already dead, his frozen eyes staring blankly in shock. Someone infiltrated the villa and executed Eriksson’s embedded operative before he could pass his secrets to Amy.
The chapter ends with the grim discovery of a second murdered bodyguard inside Vern’s private fortress.
Part Three: Summer in Palm Springs (and Stockholm)
Chapter 22
Walking along Tamarisk Way in Palm Springs, Tommy Griffin bickers on his mobile phone regarding his purchase of illicit European pharmaceuticals. Tommy brushes off warnings about cartel retaliation, maintaining that his survival streak renders him invincible.
He reflects on a recent phone call from Vern Blackwood concerning Jakob Eriksson, scorning Vern as a weakling. Unbeknownst to Tommy, a black Lincoln Navigator tails him down the boulevard.
Overhead in the desert heat, a solitary vulture circles over Tommy’s head.
Chapter 23
At the Tuscan villa, Amy, Steve, Rosie, and Vern gather around a deep freezer containing Korbin’s frozen corpse. Steve informs Vern that a blond hitman attacked Tony in Hampshire, linking the threats.
Convinced that 66 percent of Vern’s security detail ending up dead is untenable, Rosie persuades Vern to flee to England and shelter at her moated Dorset castle.
Rosie contacts Ernesto to remove Korbin’s body via Interpol channels, deliberately concealing the death from local Italian police.
Chapter 24
In London, Rosie attends a sobering business meeting with her literary manager, Elspeth. Elspeth reveals that first-week sales for Rosie’s new book have collapsed to number fourteen on the charts.
Desperate to engage younger readers, Elspeth proposes humiliating modern publicity stunts. Terrified of fading into irrelevance, Rosie vows that she will restore her novel to the number-one spot before the month concludes.
Chapter 25
High in the Italian mountains, Ernesto conducts surveillance on a cartel enforcer while listening to Led Zeppelin. He pontificates to his partner that capturing elusive underworld masterminds requires patience and luck.
Ernesto opens a text message from Rosie containing a photograph of Korbin’s frozen corpse. Realizing that the victim is the mystery man from his airport files, Ernesto resolves to investigate the homicide independently to claim career-making glory.
Chapter 26
While Amy sweeps Rosie’s castle for security vulnerabilities, Vern stays temporarily at Steve’s small cottage. Steve, Rosie, Amy, and Vern analyze Korbin’s hidden relationship with Jakob Eriksson, though Vern insists Korbin’s travels were innocent.
Tony Taylor arrives with facial bruising, forming an immediate bond with Vern over road networks and pub trivia. Observing the camaraderie, Amy confides to Steve that the group feels like genuine family, which Steve warmly affirms.
Chapter 27
The team gathers at The Brass Monkey pub for weekly trivia. Outside, Amy questions Lee regarding his tactical background, prompting Lee to admit he killed roughly thirty people during military service and now abhors violence.
Rosie announces an unexpected detour: before travelling to Palm Springs to confront Tommy Griffin, they will fly to Stockholm to interview master criminal Sara Lindstrat.
Rosie reasons that Sweden’s most ruthless underworld boss will know whether Jakob Eriksson actually exists.
Chapter 28
In Rickmansworth, Georgie Glazier browses Instagram and stews over kitchen worktops after learning of Vern’s Italian villa. Convinced that Vern has unfairly hoarded the wealth generated by their original supplement concept, Georgie refuses to remain sidelined.
She formulates a dual strategy: advancing a romantic flirtation with Steve and independently pursuing Jakob Eriksson to secure her fair share of the fortune.
Chapter 29
Resting in a luxury room at The Hunter’s Rest, Amy calls her husband Adam in Saudi Arabia. Adam notes their impending seventh anniversary, but Amy deflects emotion, reflecting on her childhood trauma in foster care.
She recalls listening from the stairs as her foster parents argued over the financial burden of raising her, which led her to run away. Bantering with Adam, Amy suppresses her vulnerability, wishing she could experience normal domestic affection.
Chapter 30
In Stockholm, Steve, Rosie, and Amy meet feared Swedish criminal Sara Lindstrat on her rooftop terrace. Sara greets Rosie enthusiastically as a fan of her novels.
However, when shown Jakob Eriksson’s photograph, Sara insists she has never seen him and declares that he is not a Swedish criminal. Sara deduces that “Jakob Eriksson” is an artificial alias created around 2001.
Leaving the rooftop, Steve realizes that their target’s entire identity is an elaborate fabrication.
Chapter 31
In the New Forest, Felicity Woollaston feels vulnerable and useless answering phones while Tony recovers. Sitting on the sofa, Tony breaks down in tears, admitting that every time he closes his eyes he sees the blond hitman.
Cradling Tony, Felicity is consumed by protective rage and decides that administrative work is insufficient. She resolves to take the law into her own hands, vowing that nobody hurts Tony Taylor without facing lethal consequences.
Chapter 32
Arriving in Palm Springs, Steve, Rosie, and Amy stay at a modernist desert villa. Steve lounges under an awning drinking soda while questioning the astronomical earnings of furniture designers compared to doctors.
Rosie arranges a dinner meeting with Tommy Griffin at The Viceroy Club by offering to discuss murder. With conflicting descriptions of Eriksson, the detectives hope Tommy can provide definitive clarity regarding the elusive cartel boss.
Chapter 33
Conducting an unauthorized surveillance sweep of Vern’s empty Tuscan villa, Ernesto spots an interior light switch on. Following Amy’s instructions, he enters via an attic window and discovers cardboard boxes stuffed with millions of euros in cash.
Descending to confront an intruder, Ernesto discovers Georgie Glazier, who scaled the perimeter seeking financial statements. When Amy calls back, Ernesto conceals Georgie’s presence, falsely claiming the lights operated on a timer before striking a private deal with her.
Chapter 34
The detectives dine with Tommy Griffin in the baronial dining hall of The Viceroy Club. Tommy recounts the Vegas Six cartel meeting, explaining that the leaders divided global territories while Vern acted as a mediator.
When Rosie presents Interpol’s photo of Jakob Eriksson, Tommy confirms he spent time with the man in Vegas. Tommy delivers a crucial revelation: despite his Swedish documentation, Jakob Eriksson spoke with an unmistakable English accent.
Chapter 35
Aboard the private jet, Steve connects via video call with Dorothy Gunn, retired Chief Research Officer at Scotland Yard. Steve provides the parameters: an English male criminal who vanished around 2001 and was completely bald.
Dorothy immediately identifies Connor “Baldy” Brooks, a British vitamin smuggler living in Málaga who vanished in 2001 right before his planned arrest. Steve deduces that Brooks faked his drowning to re-emerge as Jakob Eriksson.
Convinced that Vern helped Brooks stage his death, Rosie orders the aircraft redirected immediately to Málaga.
Chapter 36
En route to Spain, Amy speaks with Adam, who is currently in Kuwait selling AI technology. They discuss the case, with Amy explaining that six kingpins controlled the global bootleg pill business.
Amy reflects on her deep-rooted fear of emotional dependence, tracing imaginary blue flowers in her mind while recalling her childhood rejection. Despite the strain of separation, Amy affirms her love for Adam.
Chapter 37
In Málaga, Steve, Amy, and Rosie scour British expat pubs seeking anyone who remembers Connor Brooks from 2001. Outside a pub, an older local named Graham Arbuthnott follows them and offers to lead them to veterans of the 2001 era.
Graham guides them to the basement doors of the Málaga Bridge and Whist Club, an exclusive haven for retired British expatriate criminals. Leaving his gun behind, Steve leads the team downstairs into the club.
Chapter 38
At Rosie’s castle in Dorset, Vern browses Rightmove, contemplating purchasing a £12 million Devon castle. Vern recalls visiting the local village shop, where he stole Creme Eggs to balance a perceived overcharge.
Vern worries that Rosie’s investigators might uncover the truth about Connor Brooks, but comforts himself with the assumption that they could never trace Brooks to Málaga. Relaxing in the drawing room, Vern convinces himself his cover story remains intact.
Chapter 39
On a sunny Málaga roof terrace, the detectives drink sangria with retired British criminals Mike and Sue. Mike and Sue confirm Connor “Baldy” Brooks never drowned, explaining that a body dropped at sea would have washed ashore.
Sue recalls that an English associate with a velvety voice frequently visited Málaga to help Brooks sell steroids. Mike remembers the associate’s name: Vern Blackwood.
The detectives realize Vern personally engineered Brooks’s fraudulent disappearance in 2001.
Chapter 40
In Palm Springs, Tommy Griffin strolls down Frank Sinatra Way, deciding to abandon his European expansion to preserve his life. Believing that surviving seventy years entitles him to a peaceful retirement, Tommy loosens his necktie in the desert heat.
High on an adjacent mountain ridge, an unseen sniper trains a rifle on him. A high-calibre bullet strikes Tommy from four hundred yards, killing him instantly with a smile on his face.
Chapter 41
At Lymington Police Station, Felicity attempts to persuade the desk sergeant to release CCTV footage of the alleyway attack. The sergeant declines without an official crime report, noting that crimes are frequently solved by video doorbells.
Felicity walks to the alley where Tony was beaten and notices a Ring video doorbell installed on the opposite cottage. Driven by a desire for vengeance, Felicity presses the doorbell to access the footage herself.
Chapter 42
At Palm Springs Airport, an elderly bald man travelling under a Swedish passport in the name “Jakob Eriksson” clears security. Waiting in the First Class lounge, he converses with an American passenger named Cliff.
When Cliff remarks that he looks like a ruthless assassin, the traveler smiles and claims he is merely an ordinary gardener. The man boards his flight to Los Angeles to connect to England, reflecting on his isolation.
Chapter 43
In California, US Customs officer Carlos Moss assists Rosie by reviewing airport security archives following Tommy Griffin’s murder. Working alongside officer Ruth Kirkland, Carlos reviews terminal surveillance footage.
In less than ten minutes, Carlos spots the distinctive bald figure of Jakob Eriksson arriving on a flight from Los Angeles the day before Griffin was killed. Carlos transmits the surveillance image to Rosie, confirming Eriksson’s presence at the scene of the assassination.
Part Four: Portsmouth Has a Thriving Tech Quarter
Chapter 44
Steve has lunch at The Brass Monkey, reporting Tommy Griffin’s sniper assassination to his friends. Steve notes that of the original Vegas Six, only Vern Blackwood and Connor Brooks remain alive.
Tony conceals his injuries by claiming an engine casing fell on him. Afterward, Steve visits Debbie’s memorial bench, talking to her memory about the case while receiving a text from Georgie Glazier demanding a dinner date.
Chapter 45
At Rosie’s Dorset castle, Rosie lies in bed with Vern following an intimate encounter, openly stating she suspects him. Vern claims he survived because he was the weakest player in the cartel.
Rosie’s manager Elspeth calls with disastrous news about her book sales, leading Rosie to contemplate desperate publicity schemes. Hearing Steve and Amy arrive, Rosie orders Vern to dress quickly, warning him that an interrogation is imminent.
Chapter 46
In Rosie’s drawing room, Steve, Amy, and Rosie subject Vern to a cross-examination regarding his activities in Málaga in 2001. Vern finally crumbles, confessing that he helped Connor Brooks fake his suicide and created the “Jakob Eriksson” identity.
Vern insists Brooks was his loyal friend, leaving him genuinely baffled as to why Esteban was murdered. As Vern swears he will tell no more lies, a pair of boxer shorts slips out from his trouser leg, confirming to Steve and Amy that he has been sleeping with Rosie.
Interlude: Málaga, 2001
In a flashback from Connor Brooks’s perspective, Connor prepares to execute his escape from Spain. He writes a convincing suicide note and waits for Vern Blackwood to pick him up at midnight.
Connor reflects on his immense gratitude toward Vern, believing Vern provided him with an authentic Swedish passport bearing the name Jakob Eriksson. Connor prepares to travel to North Africa, never suspecting that Vern harbors lethal intentions.
Chapter 47
At Steve’s cottage, Felicity visits Steve, learning that Jakob Eriksson is actually British fugitive Connor Brooks. Felicity provides Steve with a printout from the doorbell camera displaying a sharp image of the blond hitman.
Steve studies the photograph intently, experiencing a strong sense of professional recognition from past police investigations. Steve warns Felicity that pursuing personal vengeance will consume her, but Trouble’s knowing gaze suggests Felicity has no intention of abandoning her vendetta.
Chapter 48
Ernesto joins the team at Rosie’s castle, presenting the Palm Springs airport photo showing Connor Brooks. The detectives agree that Brooks will target Vern next and decide to use Vern as bait.
Amy instructs Vern to post an encrypted message on the criminal EncroChat platform hinting at his location in a Dorset castle. As the group settles in to wait for Brooks’s strike, Lee offers to screen a movie.
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Chapter 49
In an alleyway behind a boxing gym in Portsmouth, Felicity meets a teenage street dealer to buy an illicit weapon. Drawing on her past experience as a theatrical agent, Felicity bargains the youth down from ÂŁ700 to ÂŁ500.
She receives a small handgun wrapped in a tea towel. Walking back to the train station with the revolver in her handbag, Felicity is overcome with nausea, questioning whether she could ever actually fire the weapon.
Chapter 50
In Portsmouth’s commercial district, Georgie Glazier completes a business transaction purchasing infrared farm heating equipment. Georgie boards a train bound for Brockenhurst, having persuaded Steve Wheeler to take her to lunch.
Aware of rumors placing Vern in the New Forest, Georgie relishes the prospect of dining with Steve, locating Vern, and tracking down Jakob Eriksson in a single trip.
Chapter 51
Aboard a British train, the bald traveler known as Jakob Eriksson reads a gardening magazine as he journeys through Hampshire. He marvels that in twenty-five years of executing assignments abroad, this marks his first operational task on English soil.
He plans to take a taxi from the station directly to his reservation at The Hunter’s Rest.
Chapter 52
At midnight, Amy sleeps on a camp bed guarding Vern’s bedroom door at Rosie’s castle while speaking on the phone with Adam. Adam claims he is in the Middle East negotiating the purchase of an industrial generator.
Amy drops hints about their seventh anniversary, but assumes Adam has forgotten. Hanging up, Amy suddenly wonders why a hydroelectric generator would be operating inside a quiet hotel room.
Part Five: The Hunter’s Rest
Chapter 53
Mark Drury—the blond hitman with the eagle neck tattoo—successfully infiltrates Rosie’s estate, swimming across both protective moats. Drury reflects that after losing his City trading job to AI algorithms, he was forced back into contract killing.
He confirms that “Jakob Eriksson” hired him via burner phones to beat Tony, stab Korbin, snipe Tommy Griffin, and now assassinate Vern Blackwood. Concealed in a ditch with a suppressed rifle, Drury watches Steve and Rosie drive away, settling in to await an opportunity.
Chapter 54
At The Hunter’s Rest, Rosie meets her manager Elspeth for lunch, where Elspeth reveals that her publisher has terminated her contract. Crushed by the rejection and feeling her identity unravel, Rosie declines food and prepares a dramatic exit.
Walking through the dining room, Rosie spots Steve seated across from Georgie Glazier, smiling at Steve’s attempts at romance before departing to nurse her wounds.
Chapter 55
In the restaurant, Steve has an awkward lunch with Georgie Glazier. Steve reveals that Jakob Eriksson is actually British fugitive Connor Brooks, and Georgie admits she recognized Brooks from his photograph.
They analyze why Brooks would leave a warning note on Esteban rather than killing Vern immediately. Their lunch is abruptly aborted when Amy calls Steve in a panic, announcing that a dead hitman has just been found on Rosie’s estate.
Chapter 56
Steve rushes to the castle, where Amy, Lee, and Ernesto stand over Mark Drury’s body in a ditch. Steve recognizes Drury as Tony’s attacker from Felicity’s doorbell photo, and Ernesto retrieves a bloodstained room key card for The Hunter’s Rest from the corpse.
Rosie unlocks the reinforced wine cellar where Vern was sequestered, only to discover Vern slumped dead in a pool of blood. Amy sends Ernesto to search Drury’s hotel room while she interrogates Lee, and Steve departs to check on an urgent suspicion.
Chapter 57
Suspecting that Felicity used her new weapon to kill Mark Drury, Steve visits the agency office to question her. Tony is present and insists that he and Felicity spent the entire morning together.
Tony produces a timestamped digital selfie showing Tony, Felicity, and a wild New Forest horse, taken at 11:55 a.m. Steve confirms the metadata, establishing an airtight alibi that clears Felicity of Drury’s murder.
Chapter 58
Beside Drury’s corpse, Amy sits with bodyguard Lee, who breaks down weeping. Lee rolls up his sleeve to reveal a Chelsea FC tattoo, recounting his final military deployment where he killed an insurgent who wore an identical tattoo.
Traumatized, Lee never watched football or fired a weapon again, meaning his career as an armed bodyguard was a bluff. Lee shocks Amy by confessing that the entire crisis surrounding Connor Brooks and Jakob Eriksson was his personal fault.
Chapter 59
Rosie speeds to The Hunter’s Rest in her Jaguar, utilizing Tony Taylor’s secret back roads to arrive ahead of Ernesto. Meeting in the lobby, Ernesto asserts Interpol jurisdiction, but Rosie insists on searching the hitman’s room.
Rosie notes that with Vern dead, their paying client is gone, but remains determined to solve the murders before Ernesto takes official control.
Chapter 60
Beside the ditch, Lee reveals the truth about Esteban’s murder: Vern’s dismissed cleaner, Maria, returned seeking revenge after Esteban falsely accused her of theft. Lee watched Maria execute Esteban on security monitors but was too traumatized to fire his weapon.
Terrified of being exposed as a coward, Lee fabricated the death threat note from “Jakob Eriksson” and slipped it into Esteban’s pocket. Amy realizes Lee’s forged note inadvertently triggered a cascade of real assassinations.
Chapter 61
Inside The Hunter’s Rest, Rosie bribes hotel manager Gawain to inspect the guest registry. Ernesto spots the booking “Eric Jacobs”—an anagrammatic alias for Jakob Eriksson—assigned to Room 413.
Ernesto and Rosie breach the room, spotting the bald fugitive escaping down the fire escape. Pursuing him into the estate grounds toward the garden maze, they are astonished when Steve emerges from the hedges holding the captured fugitive by the arm.
Chapter 62
Steve sits on Debbie’s memorial bench by the pond, conversing with his late wife’s memory. He explains that the bald suspect surrendered meekly and that Ernesto took him to the agency headquarters for interrogation.
Steve reflects on his lunch with Georgie Glazier, acknowledging that while she is attractive, he will never move on from Debbie. Weeping beneath his cap, Steve resolves to remain faithful to Debbie’s memory forever.
Chapter 63
Amy travels by taxi toward The Hunter’s Rest when she notices a motorbike in mock-police colors tailing her vehicle. Suspecting an assassin, Amy forces the cab onto the verge, leaps out with her gun drawn, and corners the rider.
The rider removes his helmet, revealing himself as her husband, Adam. Adam explains he flew home to celebrate their seventh “copper” anniversary, having coordinated “Operation Lilongwe” with Steve and Rosie, and the couple shares a passionate reunion.
Chapter 64
At We Solve Murders headquarters, Ernesto locks himself inside the conference room to interrogate the cuffed bald prisoner alone. Rosie attempts to eavesdrop with a glass against the door, frustrated by the lack of progress.
Suddenly, Felicity returns to the office, draws a snub-nosed revolver from her bag, and insists on confronting the man who ordered Tony’s assault.
Chapter 65
At his cottage, Steve reviews airport surveillance photos while Trouble the cat sits on the printouts. Steve opens the digital image Carlos Moss sent from Palm Springs and compares it to Ernesto’s printout.
Steve discovers a critical discrepancy: Carlos’s photo clearly shows Mark Drury in the queue behind the bald man, whereas Ernesto’s photo had Drury digitally edited out. Realizing Ernesto is orchestrating a cover-up, Steve grabs his weapons and rushes to intercept him.
Chapter 66
Outside the conference room, Rosie tackles Felicity to prevent her from entering with the gun, initiating a desperate wrestling match. During their struggle, the revolver accidentally discharges, striking Rosie in the shoulder.
Ernesto rushes out, applies a tourniquet to Rosie’s wound, and discovers that the prisoner has escaped through the rear exit. Ernesto sprints into the forest after the fugitive, leaving Felicity cradling an unconscious Rosie while calling emergency services.
Chapter 67
Amy and Steve arrive at the office, discover Rosie being treated by paramedics, and immediately track the fugitive and Ernesto into the woods. Amy follows footprints to a secluded bird hide.
Peering inside, Amy sees Ernesto kick open the door and raise his firearm at the cowering prisoner. Before Ernesto can pull the trigger, a gunshot echoes through the trees, and Ernesto collapses to the ground—shot in the leg by Steve.
Chapter 68
With Ernesto incapacitated, Steve explains that Ernesto doctored the airport photo, murdered Drury, and executed Vern. When Steve addresses the captive as Connor Brooks, the man clarifies that he is Eric Jacobs, a retired gardener Vern paid to pose as “Jakob Eriksson.”
Ernesto confesses that he discovered Vern’s secret archives: Vern murdered the real Connor Brooks in 2001, invented the phantom “Jakob Eriksson” to absorb police scrutiny, and ran both sides of the illegal empire. Ernesto killed Drury and Vern to seize control of the empire for himself.
Chapter 69
At the hospital, Steve and Amy keep vigil beside Rosie’s bed before visiting a cuffed Ernesto. Supervised by his colleague Clara, Ernesto admits he executed Vern and Mark Drury out of pure greed.
Ernesto reveals he planned to bribe Eric Jacobs into silence with cash found in Vern’s attic. Steve and Amy reject Ernesto’s attempts at reconciliation, leaving him to face extradition and trial in Spain.
Interlude: Málaga, 2001
In a historical flashback from Vern Blackwood’s perspective, Vern recounts executing Connor “Baldy” Brooks in Málaga in 2001. Vern describes burying Brooks’s corpse and staging the fake drowning suicide.
Vern articulates his capitalist philosophy: by creating a terrifying, fictional rival named “Jakob Eriksson” and utilizing a harmless lookalike, he constructed an indestructible corporate shadow who could absorb law enforcement scrutiny and never betray him.
Chapter 70
At Steve’s cottage, retired gardener Eric Jacobs tends to Steve’s dying marigold bed. Steve explains that Vern selected Eric because his bald dome matched Brooks’s description.
Eric reveals that cat urine from Trouble is killing the marigolds, and Steve happily prepares tea for his new friend. Steve reflects that Georgie Glazier recognized Eric from the start and concealed the truth, confirming he can never trust her.
Chapter 71
In her luxury hospital suite, Rosie conducts press conferences, embellishing her survival into a heroic tale. The sensational publicity propels her novel to number one in 47 countries, with film rights acquired by Netflix.
Rosie fires Elspeth and hires Felicity as her new literary manager. Amy prepares to take a romantic anniversary holiday to Lanzarote with Adam, while the trio reconciles their solved homicides: Esteban, Korbin, Tommy Griffin, Vern, Drury, and Connor Brooks.
Epilogue: Two Weeks Later
At a garden centre cafĂ© in Sussex, Georgie Glazier shares lunch with Eric Jacobs, offering to buy him a home in a Kent retirement village. Georgie reflects on splitting Vern’s hidden villa cash with Ernesto.
With all five cartel rivals dead and Ernesto in prison, Georgie quietly takes over Vern’s lucrative counterfeit wellness enterprise, content with her wealth while leaving the honest Steve Wheeler in peace.
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