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‘Let’s all keep calm,’ says Nelson.
He’s obviously worried too.
Judy is in the kitchen, trying to keep up a jolly conversation with Miranda about sports day. Michael and Kate are watching her silently. Kate gives Ruth a hug, which is unusual in company.
‘Stay for supper,’ Judy says to Ruth.
‘Do you want me to?’ Judy’s a reserved person but once before, on an occasion like this, she had seemed to welcome Ruth’s company.
‘Yes please.’
‘I’ll go back to the station,’ says Nelson. ‘Get this misper thing moving.’
‘OK,’ says Judy. ‘Thanks, boss.’
When Nelson has left, Judy and Ruth look at each other. The children are in the garden with Thing and, suddenly, the house feels very empty.
‘Cathbad will be OK,’ says Ruth. ‘He’s like a cat with nine lives.’
As she says this, she thinks of Flint. He’ll be desperate for his supper by now. Perhaps Zoe will feed him.
‘He’s used up a good few of them,’ says Judy. She has taken some fresh pasta out of the fridge and is looking at it rather helplessly.
‘He’ll turn up soon,’ says Ruth. ‘He’ll come in through that door talking about the summer solstice and spiritual energy.’
They both jump when the door is blown open by a sudden breeze. The wind chimes sing and the dog barks but Cathbad does not appear.
Chapter 20
Saturday 19 June
When Nelson arrives for work the next day, he sees a girl– a young woman, he corrects himself– waiting in the lobby.
‘DCI Nelson?’
‘Yes,’ he says, rather warily. She looks harmless enough– dark hair in a ponytail, blue shirt and jeans– but she could easily be a reporter.
‘I’m DC Lucy Vanstone. From Cambridge CID.’
‘Oh yes.’ Nelson tries to rearrange his face into a welcoming smile. ‘Good to have you on board. Come upstairs and meet the team.’ What’s left of them, he thinks.
Tanya is already at her desk, frowning at her computer. Nelson introduces her to Lucy. ‘You’ll report to DS Fuller on this case. You can learn a lot from her.’
‘I’m sure I will,’ says Lucy earnestly. Tanya looks slightly friendlier.
‘We’ll have a briefing at nine,’ says Nelson. ‘There have been a few developments.’
He had fully expected to wake up to a message from Judy to say that Cathbad had turned up at midnight, fully refreshed from walking the pilgrims’ way to Walsingham or some such nonsense. But, instead, his alarm call had been Bruno breathing meat fumes in his face. When Michelle was in residence, Bruno wasn’t allowed in the bedrooms, but Nelson has let things slip. Nelson got up and checked his phone. Nothing from Judy. He took Bruno for a quick walk round the block and couldn’t resist texting her. ‘Nothing’ is her answer to his question.
Tanya, Bradley and Lucy gather in Nelson’s office for the briefing. Tony, thanks to Leah’s IT skills, joins them via Zoom link.
‘This is Tony,’ Nelson says to Lucy. ‘We keep him in a box.’
‘Hi, Lucy.’ Tony tries to project extreme friendliness from the confines of the screen.
Nelson tells the team about his interview with Leo Ballard. ‘His manner is very odd but I’m still not sure he is our killer. He has an alibi for the day Emily disappeared, for one thing. We’re still trying to trace the car he had in 2001. Forensics might be able to find something. Of course, we know Emily was in the car, so her DNA might well be there, but traces of blood, for example, would prove foul play.’
‘I talked to Emily’s sister, Sophie,’ says Tanya. ‘She seemed convinced that Ballard was innocent. It sounded like she once had feelings for him. Maybe she still does.’
