The Outcast Dead(44)

Alls well that ends well?

Yes, says Ruth. Michaels back with his parents.
 
 

 

Frank shakes his head. It all seems totally unreal. Why would Dani do something like that?

I dont know, says Ruth. Why does anyone do anything?

Back at the cars they find Clough deep in conversation with Nelson. Ruth just hears the words heart and tower. Nelson looks up as they approach. Ruth thinks that he seems irritated about something. Ill get a car to drive you home, Ruth. And you, he adds as an afterthought to Frank.

I need to go back to Norwich and pick up my car, says Ruth.

Ill have someone collect it in the morning, says Nelson. Right now, you need to get back to Katie.

Ruth opens her mouth to protest, then shuts it again. After all, it must be nearly two and she does need to get home. And Nelson has returned a missing child to its mother, why choose this moment to complain about his dictatorial tendencies?

I do need to get back to Norwich, Im afraid, says Frank. My cars there and I have to drive home to Cambridge tonight.

Cloughiell take you, says Nelson. I must get back to the station.

And he gets into his car without saying goodbye.



Nelson drives back to the station wondering if hes ever felt so many emotions at the same time. Theres relief  –  of course thats uppermost  –  utter joyous relief that Michael has been found safe and well. He will never forget the sound that Judy made as she sprang though the trees to launch herself on her son. It was almost inhuman, a moan of anguish and happiness and undiluted mothering instinct. Who would have thought that self-contained Judy could ever make a noise like that? Michael is back home and, whatevers going on with Judy, Cathbad and Darren, hes sure theyll sort it out. Whitcliffe will be pleased, a good news story at last, and Nelson will skim over the combination of luck and voodoo that took Clough to Danis hotel in the first place. He is still disturbed by the idea that his stolid sergeant not only consulted a psychic but actually acted on her words. Its pure codswallop of course, but Clough seemed really shaken by the combination of towers, hearts and white women. That was her name, you see, Boss. Danielle White. And Madame Rita told me to look out for a white lady. You see? Danielle White. White lady.

I get it, Cloughie, but its just a coincidence.

What about the tower? There was a picture of The Devils Tower in the bedroom. And the hotel overlooked the castle. And it was called The Red Hart. Thats what Madame Rita said, a red heart. Of course I thought she meant a heart like in your body  …

You did well, Cloughie, Nelson had interrupted him. Go home and get some rest now.

Now, as he negotiates the familiar roads, he asks himself if he is jealous that it was Clough (supernaturally inspired or not) who made the final breakthrough. He doesnt think that he is. Maybe its a sign of arrogance but he usually takes good work by his officers as a compliment to the team  –  and, by extension, to himself. He trained them, after all, and Clough is, in some ways, the officer closest to him. No, he doesnt resent the role that Clough played in the rescue. He is proud of the fact that Clough both trusted to his instincts and had the sense not to race after Dani with all guns blazing. Clough is growing up at last.

Its Ruths part in the whole thing that bothers him. Why did she have to be there and why did she have that American bloke with her? Is he really her new boyfriend, like Shona said? In one part of his mind he accepts that Ruth might find a new boyfriend  –  in his more rational moments he even hopes that this will happen  –  but a far greater part of him wants her to forswear men altogether and concentrate on Katie. Its unfair, he knows. Hes married, why shouldnt Ruth have a partner? But, in his heart, he likes it the way it is. He has both women, all three children. Michelle is his wife and he will never leave her, but over the years Ruth has somehow become essential to his happiness. Its not right, he knows that. Nelson isnt a Catholic for nothing. He knows that someone has to pay, and in the last few days he has sometimes wondered whether, in some ghastly Old Testament way, Michael was taken as a punishment for Nelsons sins.

But its all right. God has forgiven them all. Michael is safely home with his mother. But Nelson had better stop pushing his luck. If Ruth wants to start a relationship with a smug-looking American, he has to let her. Maybe thats his punishment. As he parks outside the station he considers that hed give almost anything  –  barring his children  –  for a good nights sleep.



Ruth opens her front door, trying not to make any sound. The house is quiet but theres a heap of blankets breathing gently. Ruth looks down at her brother. In sleep he looks much younger, his thinning hair ruffled, lips pursed slightly. A memory comes back to her. Looking down at Simon from her vantage point of the top bunk in the caravan. He would always fall asleep first and Ruth, who often used to feel frightened at night, was always comforted by the thought of the sleeping presence below her. It was kind of him, she thinks now, to let her have the top bunk. Hes not that bad, as brothers go.

Ruth smiles as she climbs the stairs. Just now, she loves everyone. She could even be pleasant to Phil (though she wouldnt kiss him because hes grown a horrid little beard). Bloody hell, is this what her parents are always talking about? Heavenly bliss and all that. She doesnt know about heaven but this world is looking very good just at the moment. She bends to kiss the sleeping Kate, reflecting that Judy will now be able to do the same with Michael. In her own bedroom, she opens the Tennyson book, now a night-time ritual.

Peace and goodwill, she reads, goodwill and peace

Peace and goodwill to all mankind.

You said it Alfie, thinks Ruth, shutting her eyes.



Nelson is woken from the sleep of the just by his ring tone. Instinctively he stretches out an arm but Michelle isnt there. Nelson reaches for his phone. The digital clock says 9.10. Bloody hell, its been years since hes slept this late. A message flashes: Maddie Henderson calling.

Hi Maddie. Whats up?

Nelson, youd better come. Im at Lizs house.





CHAPTER 36


Liz Donaldson is dead. Nelson knew as soon as he entered the room, in fact as soon as he entered the house. Hed arrived to find Maddie sitting on the wall outside. Like her father, she doesnt waste much time in pleasantries.

Somethings wrong, Nelson. I know it. I arranged to meet her here at nine but theres no answer. I know shes inside. Her cars parked on the road.

Nelson peered through the window. The immaculate front room was the same, minus the cards and the flowers. Nothing out of place, no newspapers on the table, not a spare cardigan on a chair, cushions neatly plumped and standing on their points like ballet dancers. Nelson couldnt say why, but the perfect room struck a chill to his very soul. He turned to look at Maddie, who, despite the warmth of the summer day, was huddled in her green jacket, looking a lot younger than nineteen.

Could she have just popped to the shops? he asked.

She could but I dont think so. She was very particular about me getting here exactly at nine. Kept saying "you will be here wont you?" I thought then that she sounded odd.
 
 

 

Nelson hammered on the front door and the sound echoed up and down the street. No-one came to investigate the noise. It was nine-thirty on a Thursday morning. All the inhabitants of the neat terraced houses were either at work or involved in some equally respectable activity.

Have you called her? he asked Maddie.

Loads of times.

Sighing, Nelson set his shoulder to the front door. It gave way easily. After a quick look around the sitting room and kitchen, he took the stairs two at a time, Maddie following.

Liz Donaldson is lying on her bed. She is fully dressed, hands clasped on her chest. On the table next to the bed stands an empty pill bottle and a letter addressed in heavy black ink, To the police.

Nelson calls an ambulance but he knows, and he suspects Maddie knows too, despite her rather halfhearted attempts at mouth-to-mouth. He takes Lizs wrist in one hand and, with the other, pats Maddie on the back. Shes gone, love. Maddie nods, her mermaids eyes full of tears.

They wait in silence for the ambulance. Nelson calls the station and asks for a SOCO team. He doesnt think that a crime has taken place but he knows that in this house and with this woman he has to go by the book. He doesnt touch the letter. He is grateful that Maddie doesnt speculate why or how Liz took her life. They sit either side of the bed as if theyre visiting a patient in hospital. Nelson finds it unbearably poignant that Liz took off her shoes before climbing onto the bed.

The paramedics pronounce Liz dead at the scene. They cant take a dead woman in the ambulance so they call for the coroners van. The SOCO team arrive and begin dusting the room down. Nelson and Maddie wait in the silent sitting room which still, somehow, smells of lilies.

Air freshener, says Maddie when Nelson comments on this fact.

He is more relieved by this explanation than he cares to say. He asks Maddie if she has phoned Bob. What did Cathbad say about Maddie and Bob? It all seems so long ago.

I left a message on his answer phone, says Maddie.

Bob and the coroners private ambulance arrive at the same time. He stands back to let the covered stretcher go past.

Whats going on? he sounds very scared.

Maddie puts an arm round him and leads him back into the house. They sit side by side on the sofa, disturbing the cushions.

Lizs dead. Im so sorry, Bob.