‘Before you start hitting me with all that experience bullshit, I may have only been in the job a few months but I know that things aren’t always as they seem. Now, I know what you’re going to say but I’m just looking at things as they are presented to me and I’m telling you something’s not right!’
Cooper stared at Ruby for a few moments before glancing over her shoulder and nodding at what he’d seen. ‘Well, just like this morning, I guess we’ll just see what the DCI makes of this.’
Ruby couldn’t help but roll her eyes; in her keenness to find out from the woman in the ambulance why she had managed to survive when others had ended up dead, she had almost forgotten that Nelson was only a few minutes behind them.
‘Well, what have we got?’ he demanded loudly as he marched towards them.
‘We were just going in now,’ Cooper replied simply.
‘Just going in?! What the hell have you two been doing?’
‘Ruby wanted to speak to the survivor first,’ he replied. ‘She has some concerns… she thinks this may be unconnected.’
‘I never said that,’ Ruby snapped. ‘Guv, it’s just that…’
‘I haven’t got time for more of your wild theories,’ Nelson interrupted irritably, waving a dismissive hand. ‘We’ve got three in custody and still we have people being attacked and killed in their own homes. Whilst you two were fannying around I’ve had DSI Robson chewing my arse about things getting out of control. Now get in there and find out what the fuck happened and who the bloody hell did this!’
A glance at Cooper’s shocked expression confirmed that he too found Nelson’s latest outburst beyond anything he had experienced before. ‘Fine,’ Ruby replied sulkily and marched into the house, nearly knocking over a Forensics guy in his white boiler suit, who was dusting for prints around the door.
Everything inside was how she had been led to believe by the information coming through over the radio. The dead man still lay on the laminate flooring of the hallway, a pool of blood circling his head from the massive trauma delivered by what she assumed to be the golf club discarded near the body. A quick scout of the downstairs room showed signs of ransacking and it was a similar scene when she went up to the bedrooms. Not wanting to go back outside and face more of Nelson’s wrath, Ruby found herself stood by the ladder leading into the loft. It was one of those small folding designs that stored away neatly when not in use and Ruby could see how an intruder in a hurry wouldn’t consider the attic a place worth investigating but, again, something just didn’t seem right.
In the last instance when there had been a wife, the scene suggested she had been dispatched quickly and efficiently. Ruby could see where the woman from the ambulance, Kate, had been in the process of changing the bed linen but even from a standing start, to hear the commotion by the front door, dash to the loft hatch, lower the ladder, climb it, and then be able to retract it again before any of the intruders thought to check the upstairs seemed unlikely.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Cooper said from over her shoulder and causing Ruby to jump at his stealthy arrival. ‘Well, it could be one of two things. Either you’re wondering why sounds of a struggle from downstairs would cause someone to flee rather than go and assist or you’re figuring out how long it would have taken her to get into the loft.’
‘Go on,’ Ruby replied, attempting to sound disinterested and covering up how ever so slightly impressed she was by Cooper’s acumen.
‘If it’s the first one then not everyone’s like you, Ruby. And I’m not referring to you being a woman either. People tend to avoid physical confrontation and that’s made all the more likely when it’s their home that’s been invaded; the place that is meant to be their sanctuary. But if it’s the second then I must admit it crossed my mind too, given what we knew from the previous crime scenes.’
‘So, you agree with me?’ Ruby asked, scanning her partner’s face for a sign that this might be some kind of trick. ‘Like the scene in the flat this morning, something just doesn’t add up.’
‘Either that,’ Cooper responded evenly, ‘or again it’s the case of the simplest explanation being the best. A few moments ago you were insisting that the gang only had four members. If that’s the case, and with three of them currently in custody, I just make it one left.’
‘Oh,’ Ruby replied, accepting that Cooper had offered a reasonable explanation for the amount of time Kate had been afforded to find a suitable hiding place. ‘But surely it would be crazy for Jordan to come back here.’
Cooper merely shrugged and headed back down the stairs, leaving Ruby to wonder if her notion of instinct was merely a positive spin on allowing her imagination to run away with itself.
‘And?’ Nelson asked, glaring at her as she exited the property a couple of minutes later. Even if Ruby still had the same courage of her convictions as before, she could guess by Cooper being stood next to the DCI that he had already been appraised of the situation.
‘I need to get back to the station.’
‘No you don’t,’ he responded, a softness entering his tone. ‘It’s been a hell of a long day. Shit, it’s been a hell of a long week. Those suspects aren’t going anywhere, and we’ll all be able to approach things better once we’ve had a few hours’ rest.’
‘Okay,’ she conceded, the mere mention of sleep forcing her to stifle a yawn. Much as she wanted to gain some clarity about what was going on, she knew that a few hours away from everyone would not just allow her to recharge her batteries but would assist her in getting a better handle on her conflict of emotions. ‘But can we agree to start early? I want those three more bleary eyed than we are.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Nelson chuckled. ‘I’ll have it relayed to uniform that they’re to be on the lookout for a few late-night drunks to have sobering up in the cells.’
Ruby fought against the crease of a smile forming on her lips and, with a brief nod of farewell, headed for the street. She had been in two minds about still going to see Danny tonight, but the decision had been made once she realised that his flat was only a short walk, and consequently far more favourable than having to ride with Cooper back to the station to retrieve her car.
Chapter Fifty-six
Kate knew she should be relieved to see the detectives leave but there was something about the way that woman, DC Knight, strutted off that offended her. Whereas the men had shown her some compassion, especially the one who had arrived last and introduced himself as DCI Nelson, DC Knight had been cold to the point of rudeness. Her impertinent questions wouldn’t have been quite so concerning if they hadn’t followed the revelation Kate had overheard on their approach.
We have most of the suspects in custody…
Perhaps that explained the scepticism in the woman’s tone when she had asked for Kate to recount what had happened. But surely she wouldn’t have sloped off like that if she suspected that the person sitting in the back of the ambulance had been more than a victim? Kate had been desperate to find out more but it was only now that the uniformed officers were left that she dared make some tentative enquiries. Her time was short because that suspicious bitch had insisted on knowing who was going to come and collect her and where she was going to spend the night; prompting Kate into making a call to her mother she hadn’t intended doing until things were wrapped up here.
She picked on an officer whom she hadn’t spoken to before, a young woman busy rolling out the cordon tape despite anyone who had come out to gawp having now left. ‘Miss,’ Kate called timidly. ‘Have they worked out who did this?’
The officer stopped what she was doing; her eyes swimming with empathetic understanding. ‘I’m very sorry for your loss, madam, but these things take a little time. Forensics are in there right now, scouring for evidence that will hopefully lead to us discovering the identity of the attackers.’
‘Oh, I see,’ Kate replied, adding a nod that suggested the answer had provided a little reassurance in such challenging circumstances. ‘I must ha
ve misunderstood when I overheard someone speaking about suspects already being arrested.’
The officer looked at her blankly and for a moment Kate believed she had selected the wrong person and she would have to go through the same routine with someone else. ‘You’re thinking this might be the same gang?’ came the eventual response.
Kate didn’t like the way it was being phrased; it was meant to be them thinking that, not her. ‘Well I don’t know much about it, I just caught something on the news earlier…’
‘Yes, well, I wasn’t involved, you see, and only recently came on shift but I understand that arrests were made earlier.’
Kate waited in the hope the officer might reveal more than she already knew. ‘But I don’t believe anyone has been charged yet.’
‘Thank you,’ Kate responded before turning and walking away. Perhaps it was too much to hope that the police arrested the wrong people and the gang was still out there, but it did give Kate some hope that all was not lost.
‘I really think we should take you to the hospital to get checked out,’ the paramedic said as she returned to the ambulance.
‘I’m…’ Kate stopped herself from finishing her instinctual reply that she was fine. ‘I just… I just need my mum,’ she claimed instead.
‘Of course,’ he responded, shaking his head as though finding himself unable to comprehend the horror she was going through. ‘It’s probably best that you leave now anyway.’
The comment may have been ambiguous but, with the paramedic no longer looking at her, Kate only had to turn to follow his line of sight to understand what he was referring to.
Scott was being stretchered out of the house and, despite all the concerns Kate held about her chances of getting away with it, she was forced to raise a hand to her face to cover the smile the sight provoked.
Chapter Fifty-seven
‘It’s far too early,’ Danny protested sleepily.
‘Shhh, go back to sleep,’ Ruby soothed, using the light of her mobile phone to find her way in the darkness. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked a moment later when the bedside lamp next to Danny came on.
‘You need looking after, Miss Knight,’ he said officiously, whilst using his hand to shield his eyes as they attempted to adjust to the brightness. ‘If you haven’t got the common sense to get more than a couple of hours’ sleep, at least I can pack you off with a good breakfast.’
‘You gave me all the nourishment I needed last night.’
‘It was only what I could cobble together from the leftovers but…’ Danny paused. ‘Oh, I see what you mean!’
Despite her exhaustion Ruby couldn’t help but giggle at how prudish he sounded. In many respects it was a relief, because she wasn’t sure she could resist him if he attempted to lure her back to bed. ‘Just small though, okay? I can grab something more substantial once we’ve got the interviews out of the way.’
‘Fine’, Danny replied in the middle of a yawn, before padding away towards the kitchen.
Although Ruby had wanted to get to the station as quickly as possible and have the three suspects roused nice and early from what little slumber they could get, she welcomed the opportunity to have a shower whilst her breakfast was being made. On the first few occasions Ruby had stayed over at Danny’s flat she’d had the unenviable decision the next morning of travelling all the way back to Hemel for a change of clothes or to venture into the station wearing the same items as the previous day.
The offer of giving over some of his wardrobe space may have been a throwaway comment in an effort to get Ruby to stay a little longer in the mornings but she had jumped at the chance and seeing her clothes neatly hung up was also a reminder that she needed to get on with convincing Danny to ask her to move in with him.
‘Aren’t you having anything?’ she asked a few minutes later, entering the kitchen whilst still towelling her hair.
‘Nah, it’s too early for me. I’ll grab something when I…’
‘When you get up for a second time?’
‘Yeah,’ he replied a little guiltily. ‘It may be one thing to show some solidarity by getting up with you but it would be something else altogether to remain up once you’ve gone. In fact, I think I might shift my first meeting of the day so I can have a lie-in and gain back some of the sleep I’ll have lost.’
Ruby looked at Danny to try and determine if he was joking or not. She shrugged; what did it matter anyway? Not only did his job appear to pay considerably more than hers, it afforded him the luxury of deciding his own working pattern.
‘All the more reason to…’ Ruby looked up in shock, barely able to believe she had started saying what she’d been thinking out loud.
‘What’s that?’
‘Nothing,’ she replied, shovelling a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth in the hope that it would signal an end to this brief conversation.
Although they tasted delicious, Ruby only allowed herself a few scoops more before placing her cutlery down with an appreciative smile. ‘I really have to go now, hun,’ she said, knowing that he would look beyond the mocking regret of her tone and see the impatience to get to work glinting in her eyes.
‘Will I see you tonight?’
‘You never know your luck,’ she replied, giving him a huge smack on the lips and heading for the door. ‘I’ll give you a call or something.’
Danny didn’t choose to protest at her aloofness, or at least do it loudly so that she could hear, which was further confirmation to Ruby that she had struck gold with this man. She had needed to establish early on that the nature of her work placed some unique demands on her and he seemed content to fit around them.
‘Perhaps a little too content,’ she muttered to herself, as she considered whether provoking a spark of jealousy might provide him with the boost he needed to make their sleeping arrangements more permanent.
Ruby failed to reach a conclusion because arriving at the bottom of the stairs and pushing out into the persevering blackness of night reminded her of her method of travel in getting here. With the chances of being able to flag down a cab at this hour slim, Ruby had to accept another unexpected delay and she began trudging up the pavement.
* * *
‘How are the patients?’ Ruby enquired with forced jollity as she walked into the duty area around twenty minutes later.
‘Are you referring to actual suspects or those I was forced to accommodate thanks to your commanding officer?’ Sergeant Phillips responded sourly from behind the counter.
‘Am I to understand, then, that it’s been quite a long night?’ she replied, putting a touch of forced sympathy into her tone.
‘Yes, and don’t you go upsetting things,’ he chided. ‘It’s only been quiet for the past half hour.’
‘You make them sound like little children.’
‘If only,’ Phillips scoffed. ‘They say you should neither work with children nor animals, but whoever said that hasn’t had to deal with pissed-up wankers intent on carrying on the party in here.’
‘I guess I’ll have to get someone else to wake them up then,’ Ruby responded with a wink.
‘You’d better!’ Phillips replied. ‘Just promise me you’ll leave the drunks alone until I’m due to turf them out.’
‘Sure thing!’ Ruby replied, already marching towards the cells.
Rather than the typical suspect she was used to seeing in these bleak surroundings, lying in the foetal position was a woman not much younger than Ruby herself. Sure, working in London had provided its fair share of pissed up females, needing a night to cool off after getting into a fight outside some seedy club, but Lexie seemed somehow different. It wasn’t just that her clothes were far too casual for a night on the tiles, even asleep, Ruby could sense the intelligence that lay inside her – all that untapped potential.
She wasn’t the sort of woman Ruby could see allowing herself to be used by men. Whilst Ruby accepted that anyone could get caught up in a situation where there seemed no way out, Lexie h
ad been presented with her chance yesterday and for this smart and resourceful woman not to take it could only have been through choice.
Ruby sighed. Her few hours of respite with Danny may have pushed back concerns she was misinterpreting being opinionated as intuition, but that didn’t stop her needing more to go on than a person’s aura if she was going to convince Cooper and then Nelson that Lexie wasn’t just a pawn in all this. Ruby’s ability to get Taylor to cooperate may have appeared a masterstroke at the time, but getting Lexie to admit the truth was going to be a far greater challenge. However unlikely Ruby had found her answers, the reality was that they were plausible. Maybe not enough to convince the Criminal Prosecution Service not to press charges, but when dressed up by a barrister, legal aid or not, Ruby could see the difficulty in proving her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
‘We’ll have to see what today brings then, won’t we?’ Ruby muttered to herself before taking in a deep breath. ‘Rise and shine, there’s no lie-in and cooked breakfast buffet at this particular guesthouse!’ she shouted, with a couple of bangs on the cell door for good measure.
With Lexie beginning to stir Ruby was about to close the hatch and rouse the other two suspects but something kept her watching, as though catching her in the limbo between sleep and full consciousness would somehow reveal the woman’s true identity.
But as soon as Lexie’s eyes fluttered opened, they latched onto Ruby’s. ‘Good morning, detective, I’ve been wanting to speak with you.’
‘You should be careful what you wish for,’ Ruby said with more confidence than that unnerving greeting provoked; slamming the hatch shut.
Chapter Fifty-eight
There were a multitude of reasons why Kate was awake early, chief among them wanting to be dressed and ready for when the police arrived. Giving a formal statement of what happened would come as a relief and another stage ticked off the list. The end goal was to be back in her own house and enjoying the knowledge that it was all hers. The first time she had even considered that Scott might have life insurance was whilst she was sat in her mother’s kitchen listening for sounds upstairs that would indicate her rising. Any money gained through Scott’s death would be a welcome bonus, and may even allow her to keep the house indefinitely, but she hoped that if there was a policy it was neither for too much nor had been taken out recently. The last thing she needed after the detective’s unsettling comments yesterday evening was to give them a possible motive for them to consider.
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