Thursday Murder Club, #2
The Man Who Died Twice
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 77
Overview
Held at gunpoint in a coroner’s van, Elizabeth coaxes Sue Reardon into confirming she and Douglas were lovers who conspired to steal the diamonds, then killed Poppy and Douglas when plans soured. Sue admits hiring Siobhan and ex-special forces to pressure witnesses. At Coopers Chase, Bogdan ambushes the trio in the lift and shoots Sue, ending her escape and securing the diamonds’ seekers.
Summary
In the coroner’s van en route to Coopers Chase, Sue Reardon holds Elizabeth and Joyce at gunpoint. Elizabeth keeps Sue talking, reconstructing the scheme: Poppy found Douglas’s letter and gave it to Sue, who was already Douglas’s lover and accomplice. Learning Douglas still loved Elizabeth, Sue decided to take the diamonds alone.
Elizabeth outlines Sue’s first attempt to eliminate Douglas by tipping off Martin Lomax, which led Andrew Hastings to the safe house—only for Poppy to shoot Hastings. Sue then moved Douglas and Poppy to Hove, killed Poppy for seeing the letter, and shot Douglas after he refused to reveal the diamonds’ location, telling her only to “stick close to Elizabeth.”
Sue admits hiring Siobhan and three ex–special forces men (via Lomax) to stage removals, plant misdirection, and pressure people at Coopers Chase. She orchestrated security-camera breadcrumbs to frame a faked death angle and manipulate Elizabeth into finding the diamonds first.
Arriving at Coopers Chase, the women head to Joyce’s building. In the lift, with Sue behind them, Elizabeth cues an ambush. Elizabeth and Joyce drop as the doors open, giving Bogdan a clear shot; he hits Sue in the shoulder, disarms her, and secures the scene, inviting them in with the kettle already on.
Who Appears
- ElizabethKeeps Sue talking at gunpoint, deduces the full conspiracy, and triggers Bogdan’s ambush in the lift.
- Sue ReardonRevealed as Douglas’s lover and co-conspirator; admits hiring help and killing Poppy and Douglas; shot and disarmed.
- JoyceStays calm beside Elizabeth, provides cover by playing along, drops on cue during the ambush.
- BogdanLays an ambush at Joyce’s, shoots Sue in the shoulder, disarms her, and secures Elizabeth and Joyce.
- SiobhanSue’s paid accomplice, used for logistics and misdirection; checked lockers and aided operations off the books.