The Thursday Murder Club

In her diary, Joyce writes that while people should not speak ill of the dead, “there are exceptions to every rule” and Ian falls under that. She says that everyone has their day one day, and yesterday was his, so while “it is sad that he is dead, it hasn’t made [Joyce] sad” (127-28). Elizabeth claims Ian was murdered, and Joyce believes her. Chapter 55 reveals the cause of Ian’s death, with Chris stating he died due to a fentanyl poisoning overdose that was “delivered into the muscle in his upper arm” (129). Perspective is shifted back to the Thursday Murder Club in Chapter 56, with Elizabeth remarking how wonderful it is that they all got to be witnesses to a murder. Elizabeth tells them it was fentanyl poisoning, which she learned through “a man who has access to the email correspondence of the Kent Police Forensic Service” (130). The group comes to the conclusion that someone who was there the day Ian died must have killed him, and that they are somewhere in the photographs that were taken that day; they are all suspects. After some work, the group narrows down the list of suspects to 30 people, themselves included.

Chris, Donna, and the other colleagues on the investigation, are having a similar conversation; the team goes over those who were in attendance that day and who were close enough to inject Ian. Before leaving, Chris reiterates to his team that they need to keep trying to get the traffic-camera footage in order to find out if Ian’s car was on the road the afternoon that Tony died, as well as to find out where Bobby is and who took the photograph that the murderer left behind. Back at Willows Elizabeth talking to Penny. John was a vet with medical experience, so she asks if he knows what fentanyl is. Confirming that he does, he explains that while it would not be easy, someone could break into one of the pharmacies nearby to get it, or they could order it off the internet. In Chapter 59, Chris gets news that they got the traffic-camera footage, and there is a car that “took twelve minutes to travel the half mile between the two speed cameras” (138). Chris and Donna both feel that there is a chance this person is the killer, so Chris decides to go have a chat with them—although their identity is not given away in this chapter.

Before Chris can leave the station, Donna tells him that she recognized the number that called Tony three times the day of his murder. She says that it matches the number that Jason gave her when she took the photo of him and Chris. Chris reveals that the license plate number on the traffic camera footage matches Jason’s car as well. Chris and Donna enter a boxing arena in search of Jason. Chris is direct and asks Jason why he was at Tony’s home on the day he was murdered, and Jason says that it is none of their business. Without any proof, Jason leaves; the question that is left on Chris and Donna’s mind is, if Jason is guilty, then why would he leave a photo that includes himself? Elizabeth finally returns home in Chapter 63, meeting Bogdan there, who says that he has something to show her, and that it is best done at night. He tells Elizabeth to meet him at the cemetery and she happily agrees.