The Man Who Died Twice 3 (Pages 145 - 256)

 SPOILERS!!!

The Thursday Murder club (with the exception of Ibrahim) meet with Sue and Lance from the MI5. Joyce and Elizabeth have already been questioned, and all they know is that they found the two dead bodies. Elizabeth took photographs with her mobile, but she is not forthcoming in this respect as she hid her mobile in some hole in a wall in that street. Later when Sue and Lance are with Elizabeth and the others, Elizabeth voices the idea that the body may not be Douglas, and this has been a way for him to escape with the diamonds. His face was unrecognisable, and he has no next of kin, and even dental records and DNA may have been tampered with.

Elizabeth remembers when she and Douglas talked that first time when they went for a walk, and he mentioned a hollow tree which he thought could be a perfect dead-letter drop. This is something that Elizabeth hides from the MI5, and she and Joyce check that tree, and they find a letter from Douglas. In the letter he tells her that if she is reading the letter, it may mean that he is dead or he has faked his death. The way to find out is to go to a locker in Fairhaven's train station. A key is attached to the letter. If the diamonds are there, it means that Douglas is dead, but if the locker is empty, that means that he has run away. 

Elizabeth and Joyce go to the train station, and when they manage to open the locker (it was stuck at first and Elizabeth had to use a hairpin), the locker is empty except for an old packet of crisps. Elizabeth knows this is not a forgotten packet, and when at home Elizabeth examines the packet with an ultralight laser, she can read a message, telling her that she must know where she needs to check next. Elizabeth has no idea, but she is certain that it will come to her eventually.

More and more interesting. It seems that Lomax is not the killer, and we don't even know if Douglas is dead. So what does it mean? If the body is not Douglas's, whose is it, and how did Douglas get hold of a dead body? And what about Poppy? Did he kill her?