Thursday Murder Club, #2
The Man Who Died Twice
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 43
Overview
Elizabeth and Joyce open locker 531 and find it empty except for a crisp packet. Using an infra-red light, Donna reveals a hidden message from Douglas implying Elizabeth knows where the diamonds are. Suspicious of a damaged lock, Elizabeth requests CCTV; Donna agrees to obtain it and loop in Ibrahim.
Their discovery deepens the mystery of Douglas’s fate and shifts the hunt toward Elizabeth’s own deductions, while the team coordinates next steps and shares brief updates on other cases.
Summary
Elizabeth and Joyce arrive at Fairhaven’s left-luggage lockers and locate 531, a convenient middle unit. The key resists; Elizabeth picks the lock with Joyce’s hairpin and opens it to find the locker empty except for a discarded crisp packet, suggesting the diamonds have been removed.
They leave with the packet and meet Donna outside the police station. Elizabeth flattens the foil and Donna uses an infra-red light to reveal a hidden message from Douglas: a taunting note implying that Elizabeth already knows where the diamonds are and that the locker clue was an extra security layer.
Elizabeth withholds judgment on Douglas’s fate, resolving to think through his hint. Joyce raises a key observation: the damaged lock makes no sense if Douglas last secured it with a working key, implying someone else accessed the locker. Elizabeth treats this as significant and requests recent CCTV from the locker room.
Donna agrees to try to obtain the footage but balks at reviewing it; Elizabeth suggests Ibrahim can watch it, giving him purpose during recovery. They exchange brief updates: Ryan Baird’s court case is next week; Donna is staking out dealer Connie Johnson; and they plan to reconvene later, including meeting Patrice. Elizabeth focuses on deducing the diamonds’ true location.
Who Appears
- ElizabethLeads the locker search, finds it empty, deciphers Douglas’s IR message, notes the damaged lock, and requests CCTV.
- JoyceAssists Elizabeth, provides the hairpin, keeps the crisp packet, and astutely questions the damaged lock.
- Donna De FreitasMeets them at the station, uses an infra-red light to reveal Douglas’s hidden message, agrees to obtain CCTV.
- Douglas MiddlemissAbsent but leaves a hidden message implying Elizabeth knows the diamonds’ location.
- Left-luggage attendantTeenage receptionist who lets them through; brief exchange about her headphones and haircut.