Jen sighed. Maybe there were worse things than those sorts of games. ‘Oh God, El. What will I do next year when you go off to university?’
Ella set down the phone and considered the question ser- iously. ‘Nothing different,’ she said. ‘You’ll never change. You’ll always take work seriously.’ A pause. ‘You know what? We really wouldn’t want you to be anything different. We admire what you do.’ She nodded towards the ceiling. ‘And he’ll grow up eventually. You might have to instruct him in the mysteries of the washing machine when I go, though.’
Jen laughed.
‘Saturday night,’ she said. ‘Takeaway?’
‘Mum! We’ve been living on takeaway all week. Or stuff from the freezer.’
‘I’ll cook then.’
There was a pause. ‘Nah,’ Ella said. ‘No offence, Mum, but your cooking? Takeaway.’ She wandered back to her room, taking a mug of tea with her.
The house was quiet. There was the background noise of traffic on the road outside, but Jen was used to that and it didn’t register. She was exhausted, but she knew she wasn’t ready for sleep. This was like jet lag. Best to keep awake all day and sleep properly tonight. She went through to the small living room. Her phone rang. Cynthia.
‘I’ve just told Roger to go,’ she said. ‘I said I’d be out of the house for a couple of hours and I wanted him gone by the time I get back.’
‘So you know? About the Suicide Club.’
‘After you told me about that website, I asked him what he was doing when he was shut up in the office. He was almost boasting. He said he was doing more to help his depressed patients than through his work in the hospital.’
Jen could tell her friend was crying. ‘Fancy a coffee? If you don’t mind slumming it, you could come here.’
Chapter Fifty
AFTER BREAKFAST, MATTHEW DROVE HOME across Braunton Great Marsh, past the pools rich with wading birds and waterfowl. The grey heron still stood, solitary and motionless, its eyes fixed on the water. Under the huge sky, Matthew felt the tension drain from his forehead and his limbs, and all he was left with was his own guilt. Although there was nothing that he could have done to save Nigel, he should have prevented Wesley’s death. He’d become so absorbed with Nigel’s work, had taken Mack’s suicide for granted, and fixated on the online Suicide Club. He should have realized that family was at the heart of most murders. Janey had played them, revelling in their confusion and her power over her victims. Still, Matthew had lived with guilt for many years, since leaving the Brethren, and he thought he could manage that.
He passed through the toll gate and onto the track that led to Crow Point and home. He parked by the house, and, climbing out of the car, he was surrounded by natural sounds: the long calls of the herring gulls on the beach and the cries of the lapwing in the marsh. The sea must have been wild and the tide must be in because he could hear the waves breaking, even from where he stood. The kitchen door was shut against the westerly breeze and Jonathan was taking a late breakfast inside.
The noise of the wind had obviously masked the sound of the car, because Jonathan wasn’t aware of him approaching. Matthew stood for a moment, looking in. He needed certainty, strong boundaries; it was what he’d grown up with. In his last two investigations work and home had blurred and collided and he knew that Jonathan had resented his attempts to keep the two entirely separate. Matthew had phoned home the night before, but the call had been short and he still wasn’t sure how things stood between them.
Jonathan turned and saw Matthew. Matthew wasn’t certain what the response would be and he waited, wary and anxious. Jonathan waved to him, mimed joy and an offer of coffee. All resentment apparently forgotten, at least for now. It seemed that his husband didn’t harbour grudges. Matthew went inside and closed the door behind him. He went up to Jonathan and put his arm around his shoulder.
‘I was thinking,’ he said, ‘that we could invite Eve and Lauren Miller for lunch tomorrow. If you don’t mind cooking.’
‘Is that appropriate? Before the case comes to court?’ Teasing.
‘Probably not. But I’m learning to be a bit more flexible. Let’s do it anyway.’
‘Speaking of lunch, the post came early today.’ Jonathan was grinning. He pushed an envelope across the table towards him.
Inside there was a card, with an image of a bunch of flowers on the front and Thanks in gold letters. Matthew opened it. Writing that he recognized immediately, but slightly less firm, less certain than he remembered.
Thank you for a delicious lunch.
No signature, but none was needed.
BY ANN CLEEVES
THE VERA STANHOPE SERIES
The Crow Trap
Telling Tales
Hidden Depths
Silent Voices
The Glass Room
Harbour Street
The Moth Catcher
The Seagull
Frozen (ebook short)
The Darkest Evening
THE SHETLAND SERIES
Raven Black
White Nights
Red Bones
Blue Lightning
Dead Water
Thin Air
Cold Earth
Wild Fire
THE TWO RIVERS SERIES
The Long Call
The Heron’s Cry
About the Author
ANN CLEEVES is the multi-million copy bestselling author behind two hit television series—Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall, and Vera, starring Academy Award Nominee Brenda Blethyn—both of which are watched and loved in the United States.
Shetland and Vera are available on BritBox in the United States. An adaptation of The Long Call, the first book in her Two Rivers series, will premiere on BritBox in 2022.
The first Shetland novel, Raven Black, won the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel, and Ann was awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2017. She lives in the United Kingdom. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Map
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
By Ann Cleeves
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE HERON’S CRY. Copyright © 2021 by Ann Cleeves. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Map artwork by ML Design Ltd
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cleeves, Ann, author.
Title: The heron’s cry / Ann Cleeves.
Description: First U.S. edition. | New York : Minotaur Books, 2021. | Series: The Two Rivers series ; 2
Identifiers: LCCN 2021015925 | ISBN 9781250204479 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250204493 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PR6053.L45 H47 2021 | DDC 823/.914—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021015925
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Originally published in Great Britain by Macmillan, an imprint of Pan Macmillan
First U.S. Edition: 2021