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Emad: says he ‘failed the macho test’. Says masked figure was female. Who?
Mark: resented ‘pampered students’. Saw Leo and Emily kissing. Not corroborated. Why would he make this up?
Leo: inappropriate relationships with students. Wanted students to ‘remain pure’. Last person to see Emily alive.
He thinks for a moment and then adds:
Freya: fascinated by Emily and friends but felt patronised by them. Sick of hearing about Ballard.
Peter: interested in legends and ‘earth magic’. Built wall in café.
He stares at the list, forcing himself not to look up or check his phone. He’s so deep in concentration that he jumps when the doorbell rings. Should he go downstairs to answer it? He’s meant to be isolating after all. But the thirst for companionship is too strong. Tony goes to the window and looks down. He can see the top of a man’s head. Grey hair in a ponytail.
Cathbad.
After Tanya and Bradley have left his office, Nelson opens his diary and sees the words,Appraisal meeting with Jo 10.30. Leah has underlined it and writtenDon’t cancel again!in the margin. Nelson looks at his watch. Ten fifteen. Time to call on Leo Ballard. He’ll phone Leah from his hands-free on the way.
Nelson doesn’t tell Ballard that he’s coming. He wants to catch the man unawares. Even so, he’s slightly shocked to find Ballard apparently wearing pyjamas at midday.
‘They’re lounging trousers,’ says Ballard, when Nelson can’t help mentioning the fact. Nelson mentally adds ‘lounging trousers’ to the list of things that he will one day make illegal. It joins wheelie suitcases, pumpkin-flavoured coffee and people who tell him to have a nice day.
Ballard leads him into a room that looks like it belongs to a mad librarian. Nelson is now used to Ruth’s house, where books seem to appear on every surface, but this is something else. There are musty volumes everywhere and the smell makes Nelson want to sneeze. The floorboards are dusty and cobwebs sprout in every corner. Michelle would have a fit.
Ballard offers Nelson a cup of coffee which he refuses. He’s not going to drink anything prepared in this house.
‘Apologies for calling unexpectedly,’ he says, ‘but there are a few things I’d like to check with you.’
Ballard doesn’t appear to be concerned by the visit. Like the Pickerings, he actually seems impressed by the presence of such a senior police officer.
‘A DCI,’ he says. ‘I’m honoured.’
Nelson smiles thinly. ‘We’ve been interviewing everyone who saw Emily on that last weekend,’ he says. ‘And a few anomalies have arisen.’
‘Anomalies,’ repeats Ballard as if it’s a new one on him. But, if he’s read half the books in the room, he must know every word ever invented.
‘Anomalies.’ Nelson ploughs on. ‘All the students, and Mark Oldbury, talked about a mysterious masked figure appearing on the last night. I wondered why this didn’t feature in your original statement and why you didn’t mention it to DS Fuller.’
‘It didn’t seem relevant,’ says Ballard. But he seems less relaxed now. His leg starts to jiggle and he stops it with an obvious effort.
‘Why not?’
‘It was obviously a prank. A student prank.’
‘Do you have a particular student in mind?’
‘No,’ says Ballard. A lie detector would be exploding by now, thinks Nelson. He waits before asking, ‘Why would a student play a prank like that?’
‘Everyone knows about my interest in Grime’s Graves. I’ve given lectures on Grim, the hooded one. I imagine that someone thought it was funny to dress up as him.’
‘And was it funny?’
‘Not really. Emotions were very high. We’d experienced great things that weekend, been on the edge of mystical discoveries. It didn’t take much to tip those feelings into hysteria.’
‘Who was hysterical?’
‘Emily, for one. She was visibly shaking.’
‘Is that why you comforted her in the middle of the night?’
