The Evidence: A completely unputdownable psychological thriller with a shocking twist

by K. L. Slater

  Little by little, I’d begun to pick up the threads of the business I’d built with my own sweat and tears. It was just me and Justine now, but we were managing. Everything was very low-key, but The Speaking Fox still existed, and that was a miracle in itself.

  Mo seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth, taking with him lots of valuable documentation. We discovered several remittances had been billed under the company name but using his own bank account details.

  The police were investigating, and had frozen his financial assets.

  I let the office lease go and Justine and I started using the two spare bedrooms upstairs in the house. Toby had stayed with us, and was like a different young man now that he no longer worked with Mo. The meekness had gone and he was blossoming.

  ‘I strongly suspected something was happening between Mo and Michelle and a few times, I came close to telling you, Esme. But I kept running scared, and my mum told me not to get involved or I might lose my job.’

  ‘There’s no fear of that, Toby,’ I told him. ‘We’re lucky to have you.’

  When Mo disappeared, Justine worked miracles. Single-handedly she kept the remaining episodes of the podcast on track. With her production experience she was able to release each subsequent episode on time so the listeners hadn’t a clue of the chaos that was happening behind the scenes.

  The Fischer Files had been a resounding success. Streaming and download records had been smashed, and we were now considering options for our next project. There had been a big surprise in a recent phone call; TrueLife Media were back on the scene. Thanks to the local journalist, Colin Wade – who’d turned out to be an enormous support and had produced a detailed article about my ordeal – Damon Yorke, the CEO of TrueLife, had heard the truth of what had happened, and wanted to restart talks. Early days but exciting times.

  I wasn’t yet ready to think about taking on new staff yet to replace Mo or Michelle. But it was wonderful to feel a growing interest in potential new projects, and there were a couple of cases I had my eye on. Cases that sparked that interest in me, that I felt I could believe in. Just like how I felt about Simone Fischer’s case back at the beginning.

  Simone. I’d had to make a call as to what to do. Did I tell the detectives she’d already confessed to me that Andrew had attacked his father first, but that she’d finished the job? I decided, as Andrew had been charged with manslaughter for Michelle’s death and the detectives were investigating the death of Grant Fischer again, justice would prevail one way or another.

  I knew plenty of people would disagree with the path I’d chosen, the one of least resistance, but I settled on what I believed to be the right decision for myself and my son. So I said nothing.

  And then I got a call from DI Sharpe.

  ‘I wanted to let you know everything is tied up with the case now, but we had a bit of a last-minute surprise,’ he said. ‘You’re not going to believe it.’

  ‘I can try,’ I said.

  ‘OK, well, Andrew Fischer has confessed that actually, it was him who murdered his father. Simone didn’t kill Grant at all.’

  He paused, waited for my stunned reaction.

  ‘Wow!’ I managed. ‘What will happen now?’

  ‘Simone has confirmed she didn’t kill her husband and the wheels are in motion for her release. That would probably have happened anyway, with the change of law on coercive control, but now… well, turns out she was always innocent. Nothing like the love of a mother, I guess.’

  ‘And Andrew? Will this add to his sentence?’

  ‘He was a child when he killed his father, so probably not. But I thought you’d want to know.’

  ‘Thank you,’ I said, just before the end of the call. ‘It’s the final piece of the puzzle.’

  Simone wasn’t a killer. She’d been forced, under extreme circumstances, to protect herself and her son. I couldn’t condemn her for that. Would I get in touch when she was free? I wasn’t sure. The only thing I felt certain of was that when Grant Fischer died, the world contained one less abusive, misogynistic bully, and I wasn’t going to waste a moment feeling bad about that.

  Peter Harvey had been in touch, just a short note to say he was looking after Simone’s affairs together with Janice Poulter from FSF, and that he was sincerely sorry about what had happened to Michelle. I sent a note back thanking him and apologising for accusing him instead of the real culprit, his nephew.

  I sat next to Zachary on the sofa. He was playing a computer game, and I slid my arm around his shoulders.

  I’d been surrounded by people who’d consistently buried their emotions, buried the truth, and now I’d added myself to that list. I was far from over Michelle’s betrayal and her subsequent death. I was still confused about whether I’d done the right thing trying to keep quiet about Simone’s confession to me, and probably always would be.

  I was more concerned in doing the right thing by my son, and I couldn’t shake the feeling I was making a mess of that, too. He was still under the impression that Michelle was in hospital.

  There was a steep uphill climb ahead of us, and the time had to be right to sit my son down to face a truly awful reality. Next week, with the help of a family liaison worker from Zachary’s school, we’d start to address the very difficult issues he needed to know about.

  Justine had accompanied him a couple of times on a visit to the park with his father, and soon I’d be telling him a whole host of truths that a nine-year-old boy should never have to hear. The death of his auntie and exactly what had happened. The terrible truth about the hit-and-run accident that would probably break his heart.

  But the shining star amid all the horror and gloom was that I had come to appreciate the present moment. Instead of worrying about Zachary’s future and working all the hours God sent to combat what might go wrong in years to come, I was counting my blessings right now. Yes, Zachary would have issues with his health as he grew older, but he was here now, he was happy and we had each other. We had today.

  I glanced at the clock. ‘Come on, sweetie, time for our swimming session.’

  ‘Yesss!’ He immediately cast aside his gaming controls and jumped up to gather his things. Swimming was just one of the activities we took part in together now. We’d enrolled on a baking class together, and Zachary was teaching me how to appreciate football, even though, to his increasing frustration, I continued to struggle with grasping the offside rule.

  Before he could take off upstairs to get his things, I grabbed his arm.

  ‘I love you,’ I said softly.

  ‘Mu-um!’ He wailed, trying to free his arm. ‘I love you too, but we’re going to be late for swimming class if we don’t get a move on!’

  I smiled and hugged him tighter. DI Sharpe was right. There was nothing like the love of a mother. And in a world where nothing was simple, nothing was certain, I now knew one thing that was surely cast in stone.

  Nothing would ever come between me and my son again.

  If The Evidence had you hooked in and turning pages, then you’ll love Blink, a completely compelling psychological thriller about a little girl who goes missing from school.

  Available to download here.

  Blink

  What if the person you love most in the world was in terrible danger … because of you?

  Three years ago, Toni’s five-year-old daughter Evie disappeared after leaving school. The police have never been able to find her. There were no witnesses, no CCTV, no trace.

  But Toni believes her daughter is alive. And as she begins to silently piece together her memories, the full story of the past begins to reveal itself, and a devastating truth.

  Toni’s mind is trapped in a world of silence, her only chance to save herself is to manage the impossible. She must find a way to make herself heard. She must find her daughter.

  A compelling, gripping thriller with a breathtaking twist that will keep you awake until the early hours. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, Behind Close
d Doors and The Sister.

  Get it here!

  Hear More from K.L. Slater

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  Books by K.L. Slater

  The Evidence

  The Marriage

  The Girl She Wanted

  Little Whispers

  Single

  The Silent Ones

  Finding Grace

  Closer

  The Secret

  The Visitor

  The Mistake

  Liar

  Blink

  Safe With Me

  A Letter from K.L. Slater

  Thank you so much for reading The Evidence; I really hope you enjoyed the book. If you did enjoy it and would like to keep up to date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

  Sign up here!

  Readers are always interested in how ideas for stories come to be, and The Evidence started to develop when I had the idea of incorporating podcast extracts within a story. I’ve been a fan of podcasts since listening to the gripping Serial by Sarah Koenig in 2014 and, as The Evidence was initially released exclusively in audio format, this spurred me on to create the character of Simone Fischer, a British woman serving a long sentence for the murder of her abusive husband. At the same time, the character of Esme Fox, an investigative podcast journalist, began to take shape.

  As the character of Simone Fischer developed, I began to research women who kill and became interested in exploring how society and the justice system often view and treat women accused of violent crime in contrast to men. During this research period, I looked at real-life cases involving Sally Challen, Emma-Jayne Magson, Farieissia Martin and Emma Humphreys. I read about cases where there was strong evidence of chronic psychological abuse and/or violence, and yet the victims were charged and convicted of murder as opposed to manslaughter. On the website justiceforwomen.org.uk, I was shocked to discover a long list of similar cases documented there.

  The thing about control, particularly coercive control, is that the traumatised victim (usually female) doesn’t necessarily recognise what’s happening to her and can’t always articulate why she killed her partner.

  In The Evidence, Simone Fischer talks about her own experiences at the hands of her abusive husband, Grant. I wanted to underline the concept of this ‘invisible’ control and have the main character, Esme, slowly becoming aware that she may also have been subject to manipulation and control in her own marriage.

  There are excellent resources available, for anyone who wants more information or needs help and support, by searching generally online. Also, the Resources section of the Justice for Women website provides a good place to start.

  This book is set in Nottinghamshire, the place I was born and have lived all my life. Local readers should be aware I sometimes take the liberty of changing street names or geographical details to suit the story.

  I do hope you enjoyed reading The Evidence and getting to know the characters. If you did, I would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to write a review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.

  I love hearing from my readers – you can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website.

  Until next time…

  Kim x

  www.KLSlaterAuthor.com

  The Girl She Wanted

  What was my sister doing standing over Florence’s cot in the middle of the night?

  I trust my sister Carrie with my daughter’s life.

  But then she’s accused of a terrible crime.

  Carrie lives under our roof, she pushes my daughter on the swings, she takes her out for ice cream.

  You might ask, why do I let her? Why would I risk my darling baby? How could I let my sister stay?

  Because I have a dangerous secret too. One that only Carrie knows about. And if that secret gets out, I could lose my little girl…

  A completely gripping rollercoaster of a read about the darkness families hide behind closed doors. Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will be hooked on The Girl She Wanted.

  Get it here!

  Little Whispers

  You shared a secret with the wrong person.

  Janey Markham is thrilled to be moving with her family to Buckingham Crescent, the smartest address in a desirable suburban town.

  Worried she’ll be excluded by the glossy local mothers, Janey is thrilled when she meets Tanya, the kind of woman she has always looked up to. Tanya takes Janey under her wing, and her teenage daughter Angel is amazing with Janey’s little boy. As Janey and Tanya grow closer, Janey feels she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

  But then everything changes…

  In a weak moment over a bottle of wine, Janey finds herself telling Tanya her most shocking secret. Why wouldn’t she trust her new friend?

  The following day, Janey sees Angel, with a man old enough to be her father, pushing someone into a car. The next day a body is found and police appeal for witnesses – and share a picture of the same car…

  When Janey tells Tanya she is going to the police, Tanya turns threatening. She’ll stop at nothing to defend Angel, even if her daughter is guilty. If Janey says anything, Tanya will make sure that her dark secret gets out.

  Janey faces an impossible choice. Stay quiet about what she saw that terrible day. Or speak up, and destroy the family she has worked so hard to protect…

  From million-copy bestseller K.L. Slater comes this twisty and absolutely unputdownable roller-coaster ride of a read. Fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl will be totally hooked on Little Whispers.

  Get it here!

  Single

  ORDER NOW!

  ‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched – dropping the boys off at school, choosing wine at the supermarket – but when I turn around there’s nobody there…’

  When single mother Darcy’s son falls from a rope bridge at a local playground, life stands still. She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life.

  George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate.

  But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter.

  Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger…

  From the million-copy-bestselling author K.L. Slater this utterly gripping psychological thriller will make you gasp out loud as you race towards the unforgettable twist. If you loved The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you.

  ORDER NOW!

  What everyone is saying about K.L. Slater:

  ‘I want to take it and scream from the rooftops. I want to make everyone I know read a copy. I want to knock on doors and leave this book in mailboxes. If you can’t tell, I LOVED Blink by K.L Slater. Enthralling, fast-paced and dark… I read this one into the night, I left the book open on my bed so I could try and absorb more as I slept… if you want a hair-raising thriller, then look no further. Blink is a must-read.’ Clues and Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  ‘Omg! Slater is ama
zing!… Up to the very last page you will be shocked!… Such a memorable book! The end will have you gasping in disbelief! Whoa!!!!! 10 Stars!’ Two Girls and a Book Obsession, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  The Silent Ones

  This morning, I was packing up lunches, ironing, putting on the laundry I should have done last night. Now my precious daughter is accused of murder.

  When ten-year-old cousins Maddy and Brianna are arrested for a terrible crime, Maddy’s mother Juliet cannot believe it. How could her bright, joyful daughter be capable of such a thing?

  As the small village community recoils in horror, the pressure of the tragedy blows Juliet and her sister’s lives apart. And things get even worse when their daughters retreat into a self-imposed silence. Can anyone reach Maddy and discover the truth before her fate is sealed?