Drake peered at the screen. ‘I think that’s a TFU officer, isn’t it? From this distance, it could be anyone Ruth.’
Ruth stared at the screen for a few seconds and Drake watched.
Maybe I’m seeing things? Maybe I’m starting to lose my mind?
‘You think Rachel Ryan is still alive, don’t you?’ he asked.
Yes, I do. But how do I answer that.
‘I’m not sure,’ she answered with a shrug. She wasn’t about to tell Drake what was actually going on in her head.
‘I know it’s very likely that Rachel Ryan murdered Sian. But we have a body with her necklace and an eye-witness that saw her die. She didn’t just vanish into thin air, did she?’ Drake said gently.
Weighing up her options, Ruth realised that this time she might have to bend the rules a little. She hated the thought of lying to Drake, but if she was going to find out what happened, she didn’t have a choice.
Glancing back at the screen again, Ruth looked at the figure on the screen.
That is her. That is Rachel Ryan. I know it is.
‘You know what, boss? I think I will take some time off today. I might go home and see if I can get some sleep.’
Drake nodded. ‘I’m really glad you’ve said that Ruth. Take as much time as you need. I know that whatever happened, you and Sian were very close.’
Ruth gave him a smile as she gathered her things and put on her coat.
‘I’ll keep in touch, boss,’ she said as she went to the door.
‘Good. Go home, take some time. We need you, Ruth’.
Ruth nodded, but she had no intention of going home. She was going to get some answers.
RUTH MARCHED DOWN THE basement corridor of Llancastell University Hospital towards the morgue. Even though she knew that Sian’s body was down there somewhere, she had to speak to Amis. She was self-aware enough to know that her quest to find Rachel Ryan was being fuelled by anger and worrying thoughts of revenge. She also knew that this was diverting her from the feelings of pain and guilt. It seemed to be working at the moment, and she would take whatever relief she could.
Pushing against the double doors, she was suddenly aware that this time she had no anxiety or apprehension as she strode into a mortuary.
Bloody hell. How did I do that?
‘Detective Hunter? An unannounced visit, how marvellous,’ Amis said from behind his green mask.
Try not to get irritated at his sarcasm, Ruth told herself.
From the look of the three bodies that were laid out on gurneys, Amis was working on the victims of the Solace Farm fire. The bodies were a twisted mess of black and red flesh and bone. Even now, there was a strong aroma of burnt flesh in the icy air of the room.
‘Sorry. I should have called,’ Ruth said as she approached. She wasn’t sorry at all.
‘Don’t be daft. There’s always a warm welcome here for you Detective. No Tonto?’ Amis asked.
‘No, I’m on a solo mission today.’
Amis adjusted the camouflaged bandana that covered his hair. ‘How can I help?’
‘I want to try and identify one of the bodies. The woman that you found the necklace on,’ Ruth explained.
He nodded, and beckoned Ruth to follow him to the body on the far side of the room. ‘This is her, over here. No forensics or DNA back yet. What’s the problem?’
Ruth looked at the burnt body. Usually it would have turned her stomach but she was so numb, so all over the place, that it hardly registered.
‘I can’t wait for the tests to come back. I just don’t think she is who we think she is ... if that makes any sense?’ Ruth said with an urgency in her voice.
‘Sort of,’ Amis said with his trademark wry smile.
Ruth gestured to the body. ‘What can you tell me about this woman right now?’
‘Female, middle-aged or a little bit older, and disabled.’
Ruth’s eyes widened. ‘Disabled? Sorry, I don’t understand.’
What the hell is he talking about?
‘This woman had degenerative disc disease. It’s quite advanced.’ He went over, turned the body gently to the side, and pointed to the base of the back. ‘The discs here between the vertebrae of the spinal cord would have started to deteriorate ten, maybe fifteen, years ago. They can’t repair themselves. This woman would have had severe weakness, numbness, and pain in her legs,’ he explained in a clinical tone.
‘Are you saying that this woman wouldn’t have been able to walk?’ Ruth asked.
‘God, no she wouldn’t. Not with a spine like that. She would have been in a wheelchair for quite a few years.’
Bloody hell! Wheelchair? That rules out Rachel Ryan. I was right.
‘Is that helpful?’ he asked.
‘Very. I owe you one, Tony,’ she said as she turned and left.
CHAPTER 40
Ruth was now back at Llancastell nick and tucked away in an IT suite far from her office. She didn’t want Drake to know that she was back in and snooping around the case. It seemed prudent to let him think she was at home.
On the computer in front of her, Ruth had various pieces of CCTV footage that she had pulled up from the CID central database. She watched carefully as Maria Santos left Llancastell Police Station on the day of the fire. Residents from Solace Farm had been processed, fingerprinted, had their DNA taken, and then given witness statements.
Every so often, the sudden realisation of what had happened to Sian came thundering into her like a steam train and sent her reeling. Then she would cry, take deep breaths, and collect herself.
A knock on the door startled her, and she turned to see Nick opening the door with a frown.
‘You okay?’ he asked gently.
‘Depends on what you mean by okay?’
Nick looked awkward. ‘Yeah, sorry. What are you doing skulking around in here?’
‘I’m not skulking. I’m hiding from Drake. He thinks I’ve gone home.’
‘Why aren’t you at home?’ Nick asked as he wandered over and sat down.
‘And do what? Drink wine, smoke cigarettes, and listen to sad songs?’
‘Well that wouldn’t be a bad idea,’ Nick said. ‘Maybe a cup of tea and some chocolate.’
‘I need to run something past you,’ Ruth said.
‘Is this a good idea?’ he asked, gesturing to the computer screen.
‘What? I need to keep busy and watching ‘The Chase’ at home isn’t going to cut it,’ Ruth snapped.
‘Okay, sorry. What are you doing?’
‘I went to the morgue ...’ Ruth said.
‘On your own?’ Nick asked with a half smile.
‘Funny ... The body with the necklace isn’t Rachel Ryan. I’m convinced that the woman’s body I saw today was Maria Santos.’
Nick frowned. ‘You are aware that I spoke to Maria Santos yesterday, boss?’
‘How would you know? You’d never met her before.’
‘Eh? Sorry, I’m lost here, boss,’ he said, leaning forward on his chair.
‘Bear with me for a minute. Amis told me the woman whose body I saw in the morgue was disabled. There was no way she could walk, due to her spinal condition. So that body can’t be Rachel Ryan. Except she was wearing the same necklace that we saw Ryan wearing a few days ago.’
Nick shrugged. ‘Coincidence?’
‘Do you believe in coincidences?’
‘No,’ Nick said, ‘but that would mean that Ryan gave the victim the necklace ...’
‘... or placed it on her dead body during the fire,’ Ruth continued. ‘She told us that she had helped build a ramp for Maria. She made a little joke about disabled access. She didn’t mention anyone else. She didn’t say “we built a ramp for all our disabled residents.”’
Nick nodded. ‘Maria Santos is the body in the morgue because she might have been the only disabled resident of Solace Farm?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Then who the hell was I speaking to yesterday?’ Nick said raising an ey
ebrow.
‘I’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s say that the person I saw walking through the farm buildings during the evacuation was Ryan. Where did she go? The place is swarming with coppers. Everyone from Solace Farm was taken to Llancastell nick for questioning. There have been SOCO and the fire brigade at the site ever since. And despite being a holy appointed prophet, Ryan didn’t vanish into thin air and whizz up to heaven. There was also a figure on a police bodycam that looks like her,’ Ruth said.
‘You think Ryan was the woman that Dan and I talked to yesterday at Maria Santos’ house? In her wheelchair?’ Nick asked uncertainly. ‘Sorry, it can’t have been.’
‘Ryan wears a wig,’ Ruth said.
‘Does she?’ Nick asked sounding surprised.
‘Yes, of course. Take it from me, I’m a woman. Without that wig, tinted glasses, wheelchair, dark room. Could it have been Ryan?’ Ruth asked.
Nick thought for a second. ‘No, sorry. I would have recognised her.’
‘I think you’d be surprised how much someone can change their appearance,’ Ruth said but she could see that she was starting to worry Nick.
‘And what are you looking at now?’ he asked.
Ruth gestured to the CCTV on the screen. ‘I’ve just found the footage of Maria Santos coming out of the station and getting into a car.’
Ruth played the footage. It showed a woman in the distance wheeling herself to a car, opening the door, pushing herself up into the driver’s seat, and then collapsing down the wheelchair.
‘Problem is, there’s nothing suspicious in that is there?’ Nick said. ‘Boss, I really do think you should go home and rest.’
‘Shut up, Nick. I’m not going home. And I’m not losing my sodding mind. Come on,’ she said, getting up from the computer.
‘Where are we going?’ he asked.
‘I’m going to prove to you that miracles do happen and that Rachel bloody Ryan has risen from the dead.’
CHAPTER 41
‘You think I’ve lost the plot, don’t you?’ Ruth asked Nick as she undid her seatbelt.
They had just pulled up a short distance away from the sheltered housing where Maria Santos was now staying.
‘I wouldn’t go that far. I just think it’s a bit of a stretch to think that Rachel Ryan is still alive and is impersonating a disabled woman called Maria Santos. I can’t see it ... and I know what you’ve been through in the last twenty-four hours,’ Nick added sympathetically.
‘That’s got nothing to do with it,’ Ruth replied, but she knew that it probably did. She didn’t want the woman who was responsible for Sian’s death to have any chance of getting away.
‘Okay. Well let’s go and see,’ Nick said.
Ruth looked up and saw the front door to the sheltered home starting to open. ‘Wait a sec.’
A woman wearing a scarf and sitting in a wheelchair eased herself out of the front door and then shut it.
Bloody hell! We’re too far away to see properly.
The woman wheeled herself to a VW Golf, opened it, and pulled herself in as she had done on the CCTV that Ruth had seen earlier. She then collapsed the wheelchair, lifted it inside the car, and closed the door.
Nick shot Ruth a ‘told you so’ look.
‘What? She’s not exactly going to come out dancing and then jump into the car in front of anyone who happens to be watching, is she?’ Ruth sneered.
‘Or, that is actually just Maria Santos,’ Nick suggested.
He’s starting to annoy me.
‘Don’t be a dick. Who is the woman in the mortuary then, smartarse?’ Ruth snapped.
‘I don’t know. We don’t know that there wasn’t another disabled resident at Solace Farm. That’s just a guess based on one comment,’ Nick said.
‘Okay, but we’re going to follow and see where she’s going,’ Ruth growled as the Golf pulled away from the pavement.
‘You’re the boss,’ Nick said with a grin.
Yes, I bloody well am, she thought.
They pulled out into the traffic and followed the car at a discreet distance.
There was an uneasy silence between them for a while. It was rare for them to disagree on anything or to argue.
Along the main road into Llancastell, they stopped two cars behind the Golf at some traffic lights.
‘Sorry ...’ Nick said, breaking the silence. ‘I know your instinct is always right, but I’m worried about you. That’s all.’
Ruth nodded. The grief over Sian’s death had come again, and the tears fell down her face.
Bloody hell! This isn’t professional. What the hell am I doing?
She glanced over at Nick and blinked away the tears. ‘Thank you. I’ll be fine ... you’ve got your own stuff to deal with,’ she said, sniffing. ‘What’s that song? Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.’
Nick pulled a face. ‘It’s Coldplay, I think.’
Ruth shook her head and forced a smile. ‘Don’t tell me you don’t like Coldplay?’
‘We’ve been through this before. Coldplay is a band for people who don’t like music,’ Nick said with a smirk.
‘You’re such a bloody snob.’
They both laughed as the lights changed and the cars pulled away.
A few minutes later, they were in the town centre. To their left was Llancastell Cathedral, a glorious building that dominated the skyline. Some of the cathedral had been built as early as the 13th century, but most of it had been constructed in the Tudor period.
Ruth watched as the Golf indicated left and turned into a small road. It led to the back of the cathedral, and a car park that was reserved for employees or clergy.
‘We’re going to the cathedral,’ Ruth said dryly.
‘Apparently so,’ Nick said, keeping his distance.
The Golf disappeared behind the cathedral for a few seconds.
Nick slowed the car to a crawl. As they came around the bend, Ruth could see that the small car park was virtually empty.
The Golf had pulled into a parking bay.
‘I think we’ll stay here,’ Nick said as he brought the car to a stop. It would be far too obvious to pull into the car park now.
Ruth watched the parked Golf. Were her suspicions right, or had she been confused by grief and exhaustion?
‘What’s she waiting for?’ Ruth grumbled impatiently.
‘She’s probably getting her wheelchair. You know, what with her being disabled and everything,’ Nick said mockingly.
‘We’ll see about that, clever dick.’
The tension built as they watched the car. It was clear that the driver was moving around inside but Ruth couldn’t see what was going on.
However, the car door from a small Fiat that was parked opposite opened instead. A small figure got out. A blonde boy of about seven or eight.
‘That’s Abel. That’s Rachel Ryan’s son,’ Ruth said to Nick.
The driver of the Fiat, a young muscular looking man in his twenties, got out and looked over at the Golf.
Then the driver’s door of the Golf opened slowly.
Ruth saw a leg appear, then another.
A figure got out of the car and stood up. A striking woman with silver hair.
Rachel Ryan!
‘Bloody hell!’ Nick exclaimed.
It was an incredible transformation from the scarfed woman they had seen lift herself in from the wheelchair.
They watched as Abel ran over to Rachel as she crouched and hugged him.
‘Bingo ... it was that bitch!’ Ruth growled.
‘Right, let’s go and nick her.’
The noise of the car doors opening alerted Rachel to their presence. Glancing up, she saw them getting out of the car. She turned, grabbed Abel by the hand, and ran into the cathedral.
‘Bollocks,’ Ruth grumbled.
‘Brilliant,’ Nick said dryly.
‘They can’t get very far,’ Ruth pointed out.
They sprinted through the car par
k and past the young man by the Fiat who seemed confused by what was going on.
‘Find out what his story is and then nick him,’ Ruth said breathlessly, gesturing to the man.
Nick frowned and pointed to where Rachel and Abel had gone. ‘What about ...?’
‘I’ve got this.’ Ruth was fired up and full of adrenaline.
Nick gave her a look. ‘Be careful and don’t do anything stupid. I’ll only be a minute.’
But Ruth wasn’t listening as she opened the door and went inside the cathedral.
She was already worrying about the fact that Rachel had Abel with her. What if she planned on doing something stupid to them both? If she believed in eternal salvation then she didn’t have much to lose.
The main body of the cathedral was freezing cold, and smelled of polish and old books.
Ruth walked in slowly and gazed up at the cavernous, buttressed stone roof and the enormous stained glass windows. The click of her shoes echoed noisily around the stone walls.
Where the bloody hell has she gone?
She stopped, listened, and heard movement from over by the pulpit. She jogged over and saw that an old wooden door that led to a stairwell was open.
As she began to walk up the stone steps, she heard the sound of voices from higher up. Then she heard a Shhhh. It had to be Rachel telling Abel to be quiet.
Where the hell are they going? And why are they going up the tower of the cathedral?
Picking up the pace, Ruth reached out and held onto the thick burgundy-coloured rope handrail to keep her balance.
The sound of movement and of doors opening came echoing from above.
There has to be a belfry up there.
Ruth yelled – her voice reverberating around the dark stone stairwell. ‘Rachel! You need to stop whatever you’re doing!’
She started to take two steps at a time, gasping for breath as she went. The muscles in her thighs began to burn.
The staircase narrowed, and then turned as it led up to a wooden landing which she could see was indeed the cathedral’s belfry.
There was a long row of thick red and white bell ropes. Above them, the huge cogs and wheels that were mechanically attached to the bells. In the centre of the floor was an open trapdoor.
The Solace Farm Killings: A Snowdonia Murder Mystery (A DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller Book 7) Page 22