Aslan is a gloriously-named researcher. Ruth blushes. Did he? Well …
The thing is, says Dani. We need someone to give us some archaeology, otherwise its all going to be Corinna flitting around talking about ghoulies and ghosties. Frank here will give us some proper history, wont you?
Ill certainly try.
So we need some proper archaeology to go with it. OK, Ruth? Well do a longer interview with you.
OK, says Ruth. Phil is looking over. She waves back cheerily.
Carbon 14 is present in the earths atmosphere in the form of gas carbon dioxide. Plants take in the gas through their leaves, animals eat the plants, carnivores eat the animals. So we all absorb the Carbon 14 and, when we die, we immediately stop taking it in and the Carbon 14 in our bones – or in the wood of trees, for example – starts breaking down. So by measuring the amount of Carbon 14 left in a bone, or a piece of charcoal or cloth, its possible to estimate its age.
Ruth stares fixedly at the red light in front of her. The cameraman gives her a discreet thumbs up. The sound engineer brings the furry microphone closer to her mouth.
So, says Corinna, glancing down at the notes in her hand, how accurate are these tests?
Well, theyre very useful when were dealing with ancient finds where we just want to know the date within a certain historical period. But with modern finds its more problematical. Radiocarbon dating can be skewed by sudden surges in the radiation, for example sunspots or solar flares. So we would only be ever able to give a date within a range of, say, a hundred years.
Corinna seems to find this answer exasperating. So are you telling me that Carbon 14 tests wont give us a definite date for the skeleton of Mother Hook?
Yes, says Ruth.
Cut!
Corinna turns round. Dani! Can I have a word? She stalks away, stepping carefully over cables. Ruth is left alone with the cameraman. She finds him rather a soothing presence, much less frightening than Dani or the researchers. Was that OK? she asks.
Great, says the cameraman. I love all that stuff. Never miss Time Team. Corinna wont like it though. She wants you to tell her exactly what Mother Whatsit had for tea.
You need stable isotope analysis for that, says Ruth. She feels surprisingly exhilarated. After the first nerves, it hadnt been so terrible after all. Shed had nightmares about being struck completely dumb in front of the cameras but, in the event, she had just imagined that she was talking to a room full of students and the words had come quite easily. She wonders what she looks like though. Dani had told her to dress casually so shes wearing linen trousers and a loose blue shirt. Corinna, on the other hand, is in a tight red dress and high heels.
A runner brings Ruth coffee and she drinks it gratefully. She feels quite important for a moment. She can see Phil watching her and a flash of red hair which shows that Shona has joined her partner. But whos that next to Shona? Ruth looks again. Theres no disguising the breadth of those shoulders, the thick greying hair, the scowl. Christ, its Nelson.
Are you ready to go again, Ruth? Dani appears beside her.
Did you ask the police to come? asks Ruth. She gestures towards Nelson who ignores her. Its just I know that man over there.
Oh, we had some trouble clearing the traffic, says Dani airily. But its all sorted now. Ive got a letter of authorisation. She pats her pocket.
Ruth isnt convinced. She knows that Nelson would never lower himself to be involved with traffic calming. But, if not, why is he here?
OK, says Dani, darting behind the monitor. Can you tell us about Carbon 14 again? Straight to camera this time, Corinnas taking a break.
Ruth goes again. She talks about Carbon 14, stable isotope values and the importance of calibration. She ignores Dani and addresses herself directly to the sympathetic cameraman. She tries not to think about Phil or Nelson or whether her stomach is sticking out. When its over, Dani says I think we can use this, which Ruth takes to be a compliment. The cameraman gives her another thumbs up and Ruth finds herself free to go. She walks slowly back towards the knot of people standing behind the catering van. Shona waves but Ruth is looking at Nelson. Hes accompanied by two young women; one looks like she might be his daughter, the other, a slim figure with long blonde hair, also looks vaguely familiar.
Hallo Nelson.
Quite the TV star.
Hardly. Ruth laughs, rather wildly. The girls are looking giggly and awestruck. Ruth looks round to see the source of this excitement but nothing much is happening on the set and the film people are all in a huddle round the monitor. Then it occurs to her that they are in awe of her. Because shes on TV. Wonders will never cease.
You know my daughter Rebecca. Ruth doesnt know Rebecca though shes certainly interested in her, partly because shes Kates half-sister. Rebecca Nelson is a good-looking girl with Michelles grace and Nelsons dark hair. She shakes hands with Ruth and says how cool it must be to be on television. Id like to get into TV, she says. Im doing media studies at uni.
Ruth distrusts any discipline with studies in the title but she smiles at Rebecca and wishes her good luck with her ambition.
The girls heard that there was some filming at the castle, Nelson is saying, so I thought wed pop over to see what was happening. This is Maddie. Maddie Henderson.
Ruth looks at the blonde girl. Maddie. Cathbads daughter. Scarlets sister. She remembers her dimly from four years ago. Then she was a watchful adolescent, now she seems to have grown into a beautiful young woman with something of her fathers other-worldly manner. She wonders how on earth Maddie has ended up in Nelsons company, best buddies with his daughter.
Nelson seems to know what shes thinking. Maddie came to see me. She had some questions about a case. Shes studying journalism. She was staying in a squat so I invited her back to our place.
This seems to leave a hell of a lot unanswered. What case? And why is Maddie, who she knows is at university up north somewhere, in Norfolk? Didnt Cathbad say that the family had moved away? But Nelson is frowning in a way that doesnt invite further questioning. Rebecca asks what they are filming.
Its a programme called Women Who Kill, says Ruth. About Jemima Green. Mother Hook.
Oooh. Rebecca and Maddie look at each other in delicious horror. Mother Hook. Dont cry little darling. I used to have nightmares about her when I was younger.
Nelson looks outraged. Who told you about her?
Oh Dad! Everyone knows about Mother Hook. She killed all those babies and cut them up with her hook.
Theres no evidence for that, says a voice behind them. Frank is smiling at the girls, clearly more used to admiration than Ruth.
Youre the history man, arent you? says Rebecca. I saw you on that programme about Jack the Ripper.
Frank looks at Ruth. I get all the classy gigs.
Nelson, says Ruth, nervous though she couldnt have said why. This is Frank Barker, a historian on the programme. Frank, this is DCI Harry Nelson, of the Kings Lynn police.
Frank looks politely interested, Nelson glowers. Ruth feels that she needs to explain why a senior policeman would be visiting her on the set. Should she mention the traffic?
She is saved by Shona, who floats over to kiss Ruth on both cheeks and tell her that theres a button missing on her shirt.
CHAPTER 13
Nelson drives back through the rush-hour traffic, listening to Rebecca and Maddie chatting and feeling as if hes gone back in time. Though hed complained then, he misses the days when he provided an unpaid taxi service for his daughters, lurking outside parties (Dont get out of the car, Dad!) and freezing on the touchline at netball matches. When hed invited Maddie back to his house hed been motivated by a vague desire to save her from a squat described (admiringly) as a proper commune, like in the Sixties. If he could save Maddie from three nights of free love and marijuana, perhaps Cathbad might forgive him for arresting Liz Donaldson. Michelle had been happy to invite Maddie to stay – she likes Cathbad, and perhaps she too missed the time when the house resembled a non-stop pyjama party. Only Rebecca had been inclined to grumble. She had just arrived home from university and had counted on having the house to herself. Her older sister, Laura, who took her finals last month, was on holiday in Ibiza. Ive got essays to write, Dad, Rebecca had said from a recumbent position on the sofa. You and Mum never seem to appreciate how hard I have to work. But, in the end, she and Maddie had hit it off immediately. Before the evening was over, they were huddled under a duvet watching CSI Miami. Nelson, watching them, reflected that he had never really understood women.
But he had been happy to see the two girls enjoying themselves. When he first met her, Maddie had struck him as dangerously intense and nervous. Within minutes of meeting Rebecca, she was just another incomprehensible female, giggling at videos on YouTube and rolling her eyes whenever he told a joke. So when Rebecca had expressed an interest in the filming, he had volunteered to drive into Norwich. Was it because he had hoped that he would see Ruth Galloway? He doesnt like to think that he could be so obvious, though, by the look that Michelle gave him, she obviously suspected his motives. Its just that I feel like a change of scene, he told himself, an afternoon off after a week investigating the most horrible crime imaginable. Hed expected the programme being filmed at the castle to be one of those earnest productions where they dig for five days, find half a pot and then pretend to be happy about it. But when he got there he found Ruth making a programme about a notorious child killer. Its irrational, he knows (given their history), but he expects Ruth to be somehow above such sordid matters. And then his daughter had come out with all that stuff about Mother Hook. Hed been quite shocked. He likes to think that he has shielded his daughters from most of the horrors in life. Hed forgotten how much teenage girls like horror.