Thursday Murder Club, #2
The Man Who Died Twice
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 61
Overview
By the wild lake at Coopers Chase, the group confirms the biker is Siobhan, Poppy’s mother, wearing Joyce’s bracelet. They struggle to explain how Siobhan knew about the station locker before anyone else. Suspicion shifts toward Poppy as the likely source, and Joyce hints she has deduced the answer.
Summary
Ron brings Ibrahim out for air to the older, untamed lake at Coopers Chase, where the Thursday Murder Club gathers with Sue Reardon, Elizabeth, Joyce, Chris Hudson, and Donna. They meet outdoors despite Ron’s preference for the manicured lake, aiming to ease Ibrahim back into the world after the attack.
Ibrahim circulates a printed CCTV still: the biker, helmet off, is revealed to be Siobhan, Poppy’s mother, wearing Joyce’s sequined bracelet. The timing places Siobhan at Left-Luggage on the evening before the shootings of Poppy and Douglas and before anyone at Coopers Chase supposedly knew about the locker.
The group debates how Siobhan could have known. Sue and Elizabeth agree that only Poppy could have told her, but both doubt Douglas would have told Poppy about the locker. Ron suggests Poppy and Douglas might have been collaborating, but Ibrahim points out the flaw: Douglas never put the diamonds in the locker, making a deliberate tip-off to Siobhan a senseless wild-goose chase.
They search for alternatives, with Ron floating an outlandish surveillance theory and being promptly shut down. The conversation stalls as they confront the central puzzle: the locker’s existence was only in the letter. Joyce, notably calm and observant, indicates she has worked out the explanation and gently chides Elizabeth for missing it, setting up a forthcoming reveal.
Who Appears
- JoyceSpots and comments on Siobhan’s bracelet; calmly signals she has solved how Siobhan knew about the locker.
- ElizabethLeads the reasoning, doubts Douglas told Poppy; is teased by Joyce for missing the solution.
- RonBrings Ibrahim out to the lake; proposes a far-fetched surveillance theory; reacts to Siobhan revelation.
- IbrahimDistributes the CCTV still; logically dismantles the Douglas–Poppy collusion theory.
- Sue ReardonMI5 liaison; pushes the idea that only Poppy could have told Siobhan.
- DonnaConfirms the timing before the shootings; explores a Douglas–Poppy plan before conceding flaws.
- Chris HudsonAttends the meeting; confirms Siobhan as the woman who visited Joyce.
- SiobhanIdentified via CCTV as the biker at Left-Luggage, wearing Joyce’s bracelet.
- PoppyConsidered the likely source who told Siobhan about the locker.