It was a rare and wondrous occasion to have time for a lunch break, but Ruby found herself with minutes to kill. The matron at the hospital where Sharon Connors was currently admitted had advised her to call back in half an hour. Having cleared it with DI Downes, Ruby decided to eat a sandwich on the go, while conducting a long overdue visit to her mother in Oakwood Care Home. She tried to squeeze in a visit every day, pushing back the guilt when the time would not allow. She liked Oakwood. It had been worth selling their family home to keep up the fees, subsidised by a monthly payment out of Ruby’s wage. Even so, the fees seemed remarkably low. Was Nathan assisting towards the payments without her knowledge? Did she need to know? The fact her mother was living in comfort was all that mattered. As she entered the bright, airy building, she took in the clear vases of freshly cut flowers from the beautiful landscape at the back of the home. Expansive French doors afforded a wonderful view, and patients were encouraged to step outside and enjoy the garden when they could. As she took a seat beside her mother, Ruby knew that she would not be judged. Due to her dementia, Joy had lost all sense of time. Giving her a hug, she inhaled the scent of lily of the valley, taking comfort in the perfume lacing her mother’s skin.
Ruby was pleased when she noted the red hairclip in her bun. Joy always wore something red. It was a throwback to the days when her father joked she was his little robin redbreast, always sporting a flash of red – a spark of her individuality. For Ruby, the dash of red lipstick she wore was in tribute to happier days: Mac Ruby Woo. It seemed kismet when she found the brand name, and she had worn it ever since.
‘How are you today, Mum?’ she asked, as her mother stared into space.
‘Killing the minutes and watching them die.’
It was her mother’s usual response, followed by a soft sigh. Ruby tried to ignore the fact that Joy had got a little thinner and paler since her last visit, her attention always that bit further from her reach. She knew it was inevitable that her mother would age and deteriorate, but she wasn’t ready to face it, not today.
Their small talk exhausted, they sat in silence, listening to the finches chirping as they bobbed from branch to branch in the garden outside. Ruby liked that the care home kept the windows open – forfeiting savings on heating bills to allow the residents the wistful pleasure of enjoying the birdsong.
‘Hey, girl, where you been? You look bushed,’ Harmony said, pushing a silver trolley laden with pots of tea, coffee and white china cups. Ruby had a particular fondness for the Jamaican woman whose personality was as broad as her waistline.
‘Oh, hi,’ Ruby said, so deep in her thoughts it took seconds to resurface. ‘Heavy workload. Is that tea you’re making?’
‘You know it,’ Harmony said, emitting a soft chuckle as she passed her a cup. ‘I’ve given these teabags an extra squeeze for you.’ She turned to Joy, handing her a cup of tea. ‘Here you go, precious.’
As Harmony walked away, filling the corridors with a song, Ruby felt a pang of envy for the woman who appeared happy with her lot. Ruby’s job as a sergeant made her feel fulfilled, but when was the last time she was truly happy at work? She thought of her last moments of pleasure, her snatched hours with Nathan as they curled up in bed.
‘You know what?’ she said. ‘I’ve been working really hard this week. It’s not easy being a woman in the police, but I lead a good team.’
‘Are you in the police?’ Joy said, her eyes offering recognition. ‘When did you do that?’
‘Years ago,’ Ruby said, happy that, at least today, her mother appeared to know who she was.
Joy frowned. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you’ve joined the police?’
Ruby shrugged. She had, many times. Even now she couldn’t help but bring it up in the hope her mother would say she was proud of her. She’d received a lukewarm reception when she first broke the news all those years ago. Ruby had grown up in a world where the police were best avoided, and liked as much as the debt collectors that called to her neighbours’ doors. Joy had her reasons. Back then it wasn’t the nicest establishment to be a part of, and people had their own perspectives on things. Joy wanted Ruby to work in retail, not part of a vocation where you put people in prison. But Ruby had told herself she was destined for greater things.
‘Ooh no, the police isn’t for you.’ Joy wrinkled her nose. ‘Why don’t you get a job on the shop floor? I hear that Debenhams is taking on. Mrs Delaney’s daughter works there, and she’s just been promoted.’
‘You know, Mum, I might just do that.’ Ruby stifled a smile. Some things would never change. She checked her watch: a visit to the hospital was due. The heavy weight she had walked in with seemed to have lightened, and being in her mother’s company had made her breathe easy again. She parked any concerns to the furthest recesses of her mind. Kissing Joy lightly on the forehead, she promised to visit again soon. Ruby was so close to finding the doctor she could almost taste it. Their enquiries had been intense, making her wonder how he had managed to elude them so far.
She stopped halfway across the car park as her mobile phone buzzed insistently from the back pocket of her trousers. It was Downes, and Ruby frowned as she answered the call. ‘I’m just on my way to the hospital now,’ she said, wishing he would not keep such close tabs on her.
‘I know,’ he said. ‘There’s something you need to be asking young Sharon when you see her.’
‘Go on,’ Ruby said, pulling the car keys from her bag.
‘We’ve had a look at Ash’s phone, which was seized at the murder scene. You were right to doubt his explanation of what took him to the Queen Elizabeth hospital.’
Ruby had explained it all in her police statement – how Ash had said he found the name of the hospital on a message spelt out with frozen chips on the freezer floor. She sighed with relief, glad that she had been truthful and explained her reservations of such an implausible excuse. ‘I had a feeling he was lying,’ she said, opening her car door and taking shelter from the biting winds.
‘Ash received a text from Nicky’s phone asking to meet him at the hospital,’ Downes said. ‘But it was sent while you were in the Robin Hood pub, where Nicky was found dead. Ash must have suspected his killer sent the request to meet.’
‘But why?’ Ruby said, answers already forming in her mind. ‘And why was his number on Nicky’s phone?’
‘That’s what I was about to tell you. It wasn’t just the girls Ash was seeing. Judging by the texts that passed between them, he was visiting Nicky too.’
‘Bloody hell!’ Ruby exhaled, almost dropping the phone from her grasp.
‘Exactly. Who knows what was going on there? He could have been blackmailing him,’ Downes said with a shrug. ‘We’ll never know for sure.’
‘All the more reason to end it all,’ Ruby said. ‘Ash would have been mortified at the thought of you finding this out.’
‘Hmm, well, we don’t want to be spreading that around. I was talking to his sister. He’s taken out some serious life insurance policies. Those daughters of his deserve the payout after everything they’ve lost.’