The Kate Fletcher Series

by Heleyne Hammersley

  ‘Ethan, I’m sorry. There’s not much more that I can tell you at the moment but, when we do know something, I promise I’ll let you know.’

  ‘And you’ll tell me the truth? I’m not a kid, you know.’

  ‘I’ll tell you the truth. It might be hard for you to hear it but I’ll make sure that you know everything that we find out.’

  He stood up as if to leave.

  ‘When can I see her?’

  ‘Tomorrow, probably. Is there somebody that can go with you? It’s not something you should have to do on your own. An uncle or aunt?’

  Ethan’s face clouded with resentment.

  ‘I said I’m not a kid. I can handle it. She’s my mum.’ His voice broke on the last word and he collapsed back into the chair, his body wracked with sobs.

  ‘I know this is awful, Ethan,’ Kate tried to reassure him. ‘But we’re going to do everything possible to find out what happened to your mum. Can you help us? If I give you some paper and a pen, could you write down the names of her friends, family members, anybody else that you can think of who might be able to help? And I’ll need the details of her GA meeting. Somebody there might have some information. The more we know about her life, Ethan, the more likely we are to find out the truth about her death.’

  It sounded trite, rehearsed, and Kate hated the statement as soon as it was out of her mouth but it galvanised Ethan. He held his hand out for a pen.

  ‘I’ll write down everything I know about her life. Whatever I can do to help.’

  Kate slid a piece of paper over to him and took a pen from her inside jacket pocket.

  Ten minutes later, Kate was racing upstairs to the team office, armed with the details of Maddie Cox’s life. Ethan had been thorough; the list consisted of friends from years earlier, work colleagues, and details of the day and venue of her regular GA meetings. He’d added his own details, including his mobile and home phone numbers and his contact details at school. Kate reminded him to include details of the friend he’d stayed with that first evening.

  Kate’s sorrow for the boy had deepened when he’d scanned through the pitifully short list, smiled up at her, and told her that he hoped it would help. He still didn’t know that they were looking for a murderer somewhere on his list. And, if the killer wasn’t on the list, somebody from Kate’s team would question him again for more names, more details. Ethan wasn’t a suspect, not in Kate’s view, but he might end up feeling like one as the investigation gathered pace.

  She’d texted Hollis as soon as she’d seen Ethan off the premises and he’d followed her instructions to assemble the members of her team. Barratt was swinging on his chair as he chatted to Cooper, and Hollis was at his computer searching for something on the internet. O’Connor was absent which wasn’t much of a surprise to Kate. Although officially one of her team, he was often far too involved with his own investigation into local gangs to be of much use. Raymond’s orders though; she had to keep him. The atmosphere was one of expectation. At last they had a lead on the body from the canal and now, with an identity, they could start to make some real progress and trace her movements and contacts. Three pairs of eyes turned to her as she slapped her notes down on her desk.

  ‘Right, listen up,’ she said. ‘We have an ID for the woman in the canal. Maddie Cox, aged forty-one. Works at the DRI as a clinical nurse specialist. Cooper, find out what that means. What’s her role? Who does it bring her into contact with? She was last seen at home two days ago, leaving for work after breakfast. We have a list of friends and colleagues. The son, Ethan, appears to be the only family.’

  ‘Is he a suspect?’ Hollis interrupted.

  Kate paused, remembering Ethan’s tears and desperation to retain control. ‘Not at this time, but keep an open mind. He’s got a solid alibi that we can easily follow up on.’

  ‘We need to check that she was at work two days ago, what she did there, and if anybody noticed anything unusual about her. Barratt, get over to the DRI and talk to her colleagues. She attended GA meetings regularly. We need to find out who she spoke to, who she was close to there. According to Ethan, there’s a meeting tonight. Barratt, can you get down there and ask around? See if anybody knows anything about her life. Was she in a lot of debt? That sort of thing.’

  Barratt raised two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute and leapt out of his chair.

  ‘What else?’ Kate asked the remaining members of her team.

  ‘CCTV,’ Hollis said. ‘Now we know who she was and where she worked, we can check cameras around the hospital and try to trace her movements on the night before she was found.’

  ‘Good. Sam?’

  ‘A clinical nurse specialist is somebody who’s studied to Master’s level,’ Sam said from behind her monitor. ‘She’ll have had a specialism. Presumably, from what the son said, oncology.’

  Kate felt the beginnings of a blush at the second mention of Nick Tsappis’s field of expertise. She’d been trying not to think about her conversation with him or about his business card that hung heavily in her trouser pocket. This wasn’t the time.

  ‘Thanks, Sam,’ Kate said. ‘Could you…?’

  ‘I know, I know, CCTV,’ Cooper said with a grin. ‘I can try the phone companies as well. We can get her records now we’ve got a name. Did you get a network?’

  Checking Ethan’s notes, Kate was impressed to discover Maddie’s mobile number and the network provider. The boy had been thorough. Kate passed the details on to Cooper and checked her watch. ‘Look, guys. It’s getting on for seven. We can pick this up tomorrow. There’s no point in trying the hospital this late and there’ll be nobody at the council who can give us CCTV tonight.’

  She couldn’t resist a sympathetic glance at Sam Cooper as she made a note of Maddie Cox’s phone details and then started the log-off process on her computer. Sam was in for a tough night when she got back to her boat.

  Chapter 18

  ‘God, I hate hospitals,’ Hollis said as the doors slid open with a welcoming hum. ‘They smell funny and everybody always has this false quietness about them. I can’t believe we’re back here again.’

  ‘Everybody hates hospitals,’ Kate said, scanning the walls for the sign that would take them to the ward where Maddie Cox had worked. ‘I bet even the people that work here hate the place.’

  They walked in silence down the corridor, Kate lost in childhood memories of visits to her mother when she’d been hospitalised for cancer treatment when Kate was eight. She hadn’t had to face the memories last time, probably because she’d been in a hurry and was being rushed through the corridors, but this time she was inundated with images of holding Karen’s hand and trying to keep her sister quiet as they padded along narrow corridors in search of her mother.

  Kate hadn’t really been aware of her surroundings the previous day. Everything had been such a rush. The corridor was wider and brighter than the ones in her memory and the doors off were pale wood with porthole style windows rather than the darkly painted solid ones that she recalled from previous visits. The floor was tiled with a mosaic in green and white and an orderly was busy with a mop and bucket making sure that the place was clean for visiting hours.

  ‘This is it,’ Hollis said pointing to a closed double door. ‘Aspen ward.’

  ‘Aspen?’ Kate looked round at the corridor. ‘This is where we were yesterday.’

  She pushed one side of the door, expecting it to be locked, but it yielded to her touch and allowed them access to the semi-circular nurses’ station. A familiar face looked up from a page of notes that she was reading.

  ‘Back so soon, detectives?’

  Kate stared at her, still waiting for her brain to process the coincidence.

  ‘I assume you’re here for further information.’

  ‘Yes,’ Kate said. ‘Well, actually, no. We’re here about another matter. Can we talk in private?’

  The nurse sighed and picked up the telephone next to a keyboard. A hushed conversation ensued and the
n she stood up. ‘I’ve called for somebody to cover me for twenty minutes. It’s all I can spare.’

  She led them to the deserted staff room behind the desk. There was an air of neglect to the mugs draining next to the sink and the battered-looking fridge. The row of dilapidated chairs along one side gave the space a waiting-room-like quality as though the nurses were no different from the patients.

  There was no offer of tea or coffee as the nurse pointed to the chairs.

  ‘Have a seat.’

  She leaned against the sink as Kate and Hollis settled in chairs, allowing Kate the opportunity to study her more closely. In her mid-twenties with her hair in a ponytail instead of the previous day’s bun, she looked more like a college student than a seasoned professional. Only her expression gave away her experience. Her grey eyes regarded them with annoyance and her arms were crossed, closing off her body.

  ‘I’m sorry to bother you again,’ Kate began. ‘I can see that you’re really busy but this is important. I didn’t get your name yesterday.’

  ‘No, you didn’t,’ the nurse responded. ‘I’m Staff Nurse McGlynn. Gemma.’

  Kate caught a movement in her peripheral vision. Hollis had taken out his notebook.

  ‘Thanks, Gemma. And thanks for yesterday. I may have been a little abrupt with you.’

  ‘I don’t see what else I can tell you,’ Gemma said. ‘I gave you everything I knew about Dennis Lambert yesterday.’

  ‘We’re not here about Dennis Lambert,’ Hollis interjected. ‘This is a different case.’

  ‘I think you should sit down,’ Kate said. ‘We have some bad news.’

  The woman followed Kate’s instruction almost automatically as though she understood the code. Perhaps she’d used it herself, many times, to prepare a family member for the worst.

  ‘You worked with Madeline, Maddie Cox?’

  A nod in response, wide grey eyes fixed on Kate’s face.

  ‘And you haven’t seen her for a few days?’

  ‘She’s not been at work. I assumed she was off sick.’

  ‘Why did you assume that? Did she have a lot of time off?’ Hollis asked.

  ‘No. She was hardly ever off sick.’ The woman was starting to look uncomfortable, preparing herself for bad news.

  ‘And you last saw her when?’

  Gemma’s eyes flicked up to the ceiling as she tried to work out the answer to the question. ‘Tuesday. She was here on Tuesday. We had a bad day. Two patients died on the ward and another was sent home because there wasn’t much else that we could do.’

  ‘And how did she seem?’

  Gemma pursed her lips. ‘Fine. Same as ever.’

  ‘Nothing bothering her?’

  A snort. ‘Only the same things that bother all of us in this job: long hours with little support, that sort of thing. I’m sure you two get it.’

  Kate smiled her understanding. ‘Had you noticed anything different about her in the past few weeks? Was she especially stressed, depressed?’

  Gemma shook her head. ‘Not really. She’s very professional. Good at her job. We’re not really friends so I’m not sure I’d have noticed any difference unless it affected her work.’

  ‘Did she have any friends on staff?’

  ‘Not that I know of,’ Gemma said. ‘She’s quite a private person. Has something happened to her?’

  ‘Possibly,’ Kate said. ‘We’re just talking to people who knew her, trying to make sense of what we know so far. Her son reported her missing yesterday.’

  ‘Missing? How? Like she ran away or she’s been kidnapped or something?’

  Kate remained silent, hoping that Hollis had the sense to do the same.

  ‘She wouldn’t just take off. Her son, Ethan. She thinks the sun shines out of him.’ The nurse stood up and walked up and down the small space. ‘She’d never leave Ethan. Oh Christ. Oh shit.’ Gemma collapsed into the chair next to Hollis. ‘That body in the canal. I heard about it on the radio last night. You think it’s her.’

  She took their continuing silence for confirmation.

  ‘But I don’t understand what this has to do with yesterday. Why the questions about Dennis Lambert? Yes, she was the nurse practitioner on his case but what’s that got to do with her ending up…’ She tailed off, lost in her own thoughts and speculation.

  ‘She was on Dennis Lambert’s case?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Yes. Yesterday, when I said you needed to talk to somebody else, it was Maddie. I told you she hadn’t been in. You left your card. I was going to pass it on to her when she came back.’ Gemma’s face froze as she realized the implication of her final sentence. Maddie wasn’t coming back. Hollis reached out and patted Gemma’s arm but she pulled away.

  ‘I can’t believe this. She was here on Tuesday and everything was normal and now…’

  Kate’s brain kicked up a gear. Two murders in the last couple of days and now there was a link. Coincidence? She’d been trained not to believe in coincidence, not to trust it; to examine it from all angles, strip-search it and breathalyse it if necessary before accepting it as genuine.

  ‘Did Maddie know Dennis’s daughter? Did she speak to her when Dennis was here?’

  Gemma looked bewildered. ‘I suppose so. If the daughter was his primary contact then she would have done.’

  ‘But you don’t remember them having any other contact? Maddie never mentioned Caroline Lambert in any other context?’

  Gemma shook her head. ‘Not that I recall. It would have been unusual. We’re discouraged from anything other than a professional relationship with patients and their families.’ She began picking at a bit of loose foam that was bursting out of the seat cover next to her leg. ‘I can’t believe she’s gone.’

  ‘We need to try to piece together her last movements in order to work out what happened,’ Hollis said. ‘You say she was in work on Tuesday?’

  Gemma stopped picking at the seat and stared at Hollis gratefully. It was instinctive in her to try to help, Kate could see that, it was part of her job, her training. Hollis had struck just the right tone.

  ‘Yes. She worked from nine to six on Tuesday. I was on from eleven.’

  ‘So you saw her leave?’ Kate prompted.

  ‘She left just after six.’

  ‘Did she look like she was going home or going out somewhere?’

  ‘She wasn’t dressed up or anything, if that’s what you mean. She looked like she’d just changed out of her uniform like normal.’

  ‘Did she mention any plans for the evening?’

  ‘No. But, like I said, she was a private person. I just assumed she was going home but she might have had plans I… oh…’

  Gemma sat back in her seat suddenly, struck by a memory. Her eyes lost focus as though she was struggling to remember something important.

  ‘She was on the phone that afternoon. In here. I came in on my break to make a cup of coffee and she was sitting there.’ She pointed to where Kate was sitting. ‘She was hunched over a bit like she didn’t want anybody to overhear her.’

  Hollis was scribbling frantically. If Cooper could work her magic with her contact at the phone company she might be able to find out who had been calling.

  ‘What time was this?’

  ‘It must have been around four. That’s the time I take my tea break when I’m on eleven to eight.’

  ‘And you didn’t hear the conversation?’

  Gemma shook her head. ‘She was talking really quietly. She seemed a bit agitated. I put the kettle on and got a tea bag but she was gone by the time I turned round. I didn’t see much of her after that. Like I said, it was a bit of a rough day.’

  ‘That’s really helpful,’ Hollis reassured her, snapping his notebook shut and sliding it into the pocket of his suit jacket. He stood up to leave but Kate hadn’t quite finished. The Dennis Lambert case was still niggling at her and she couldn’t let it go.

  ‘Did you ever see Caroline Lambert here after her father had been discharged?’
r />   Gemma frowned, clearly thrown by the sudden change of subject. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘And Maddie didn’t mention her, or her father?’

  ‘Not that I recall.’

  It could be a coincidence, then. That hen’s tooth in any investigation. Just sheer chance. The nurse appeared to be baffled by her questions. It didn’t feel right, though. Kate’s instincts were telling her that there was something here. A link was a link for a reason and she couldn’t afford to ignore it. ‘Who was Maddie’s boss?’

  ‘Good question,’ Gemma said with an attempt at a smile. ‘Ultimately the head of oncology but there should be a doctor with oversight of this ward. Should be. Maddie and another NP were practically running the place themselves because we’re a bit short of consultants. I can give you the number for oncology.’

  Kate remembered Nick Tsappis’ card in her pocket. ‘That won’t be necessary. Thanks.’

  Gemma checked her watch. ‘I’m really sorry but I have to get back to work. Not that I feel much like it. I wish I could’ve been more helpful.’

  Kate thanked Gemma for her time and led Hollis back to the corridor, trying to make sense of what they’d just been told.

  ‘What did you make of that? Maddie was Dennis Lambert’s nurse.’

  Hollis grinned at her. ‘Seeing ghosts and shadows? It’s not that big a town and the hospital covers a wide area. Most people end up here at one time or another.’

  There was something solid and reassuring about Hollis’s certainty. He hadn’t seen what she had. He’d seen a coincidence that he could easily explain. Nothing sinister, nothing to follow up on, nothing to get concerned about.

  Kate set off back towards reception, convinced that he was right, that she was really seeing shadows. And then her phone rang.

  DECEMBER

  Dear Caroline,

  You’ve been there for a few weeks now so I’m not surprised to hear that everything’s getting on top of you. I’m here if you need to talk. We can meet up whenever you want. I wonder if you just need to get it over and done with. Is it really worth spending any more time in that house? You’re strong enough at the moment but will you be in a few days? A few weeks? Think about it. He’s not worth making yourself ill over. None of this is, really. I know that you’re determined to see this through but don’t you think it’s gone on long enough? Please think about getting it over with soon. For your own sake.