The next morning, Tanya interviews Hugh Baxter in the largest custody suite. His solicitor, Shobna Harris, is present only via Zoom, which is the way they have to do things these days. But Tanya is taking no chances and there’s an ‘appropriate adult’, a social worker called Belinda Carter, sitting two metres away from Hugh. Shobna is on screen wearing a neat white blouse and black jacket. Tanya wonders if she has her pyjamas on underneath. Tony is also in the room and everyone is masked except Hugh who says he is exempt for medical reasons. Nelson is watching through the two-way mirror.
‘This is DS Tanya Fuller. With me is DC Tony Zhang. We’re interviewing Hugh Everard Baxter under caution in the presence of his legal representative, via Zoom, and Belinda Carter, acting as an appropriate adult.’
Hugh Baxter blinks at her. He has mild blue eyes, but Tanya is not taken in by this or by his sparse comb-over. When she’d apprehended Baxter last night, he had flashed her a look that was pure evil.
‘Do you understand that this is an interview under caution?’ she says. ‘You have the right to silence but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something when questioned that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
Hugh looks towards the screen and Shobna nods. He says, ‘I understand.’
‘Do you know Zoe Hilton? She’s a practice nurse at Westway Surgery.’
‘I do go to Westway. I have angina and high blood pressure.’ Hugh gives Tanya a pathetic look, which she ignores.
‘And do you know Zoe?’ Tanya pushes a photograph across the table.
‘I think I recognise her.’
‘On Tuesday, thirty-first of March, did you telephone Zoe and ask her to meet you at Steward’s House tourist information centre? I should remind you that we have your phone records.’
‘I can’t remember,’ says Hugh.
‘And, when Zoe arrived at Steward’s House, did you imprison her against her will in the cellar?’
‘No!’ Hugh sounds shocked. ‘I wouldn’t do that.’
‘We have CCTV footage that shows you entering Steward’s House on Wednesday the first and Thursday the second,’ says Tanya.
‘CCTV?’ Hugh sounds as if he’s never heard of it.
‘You’re on camera,’ says Tanya. The footage arrived that morning. She thanks God for the cathedral’s security system. ‘We have photographs.’
‘I don’t remember,’ says Hugh.
Tony leans forward, his voice full of sympathy. ‘Would you like a glass of water?’
‘Yes please,’ says Hugh quaveringly. Tony pours a glass from the jug on the table.
‘Mr Baxter,’ he says, ‘you were good friends with Avril Flowers, weren’t you?’
Tanya sees that Hugh prefers this form of address. He says, almost proudly, ‘Yes. We were very close.’
‘Did you visit her house on the morning of Tuesday the twenty-fifth of February?’
‘I don’t remember,’ says Hugh. ‘So much has happened since then. This terrible Covid . . .’
‘We’ve got a photograph,’ says Tanya.
Hugh shoots her a look of dislike. ‘So many photographs.’
‘Did you visit her that day?’ asks Tony.
‘It’s possible.’
‘We’ve got a picture of you by the pond,’ says Tony. ‘There’s a heron there. I remember that you like birds.’
‘I do like birds,’ Hugh admits.
‘Did you go into the house?’ says Tanya. ‘Did you lock the door of Avril’s bedroom?’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘You were Avril’s boyfriend, were you?’ says Tony.
‘Hardly boyfriend at my age.’ But Tanya thinks Hugh sounds flattered. ‘We were companions.’
‘Were you also Karen Head’s boyfriend?’
‘Karen . . .?’
‘Karen was a teacher who killed herself in November 2019,’ says Tanya. ‘Did you know her?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Her friend sent us a photograph of you together,’ says Tony. ‘Do you want to see it?’
Hugh doesn’t answer but Tony puts the photograph, emailed by Sue Elver that morning, on the table anyway.
‘What about Samantha Wilson?’ says Tanya. ‘Did you know her? Samantha’s daughter Saffron identified you from a photograph we sent her.’
‘That’s him,’ Saffron had said. ‘Creepy old man. Always talking about his wife who committed suicide. Almost as if he was encouraging Mum to do the same.’
‘I can’t remember any of these people,’ says Hugh. ‘I’m tired. I need a break.’
‘Interview suspended at eight thirty-five a.m.,’ says Tanya.
‘He remembers, all right,’ says Nelson, when they gather in his office. Super Jo is there too, wearing a see-through visor that makes her look as if she’s about to perform dental surgery.
‘I’m sure he does,’ says Tanya.
‘He’ll put in a plea of temporary insanity if we’re not careful,’ says Nelson, ‘but the way that he kept Zoe locked up, bringing her food and drink – not to mention pills in case she wanted to top herself – shows planning and forethought.’
‘What about the other women?’ says Jo. ‘He didn’t lock them up, did he? It seems he just talked to them about suicide.’
‘That’s what Saffron Evans said,’ says Tanya. ‘Hugh went to Samantha’s slimming club and they became friends. Saffron said he kept making disparaging comments about her weight and talking about ending it all.’
‘Nice,’ says Nelson. ‘Hugh must have been the bearded man the neighbour saw going into the house. The one the son mentioned.’
‘That’s right,’ says Tanya. ‘It’s funny how you don’t notice a beard so much when it’s white.’
‘And he knew Karen Head too,’ says Nelson. ‘That was bright of you to see the connection, Tony.’
Tony looks modest. ‘I remembered that she had a boyfriend with an unsuitable age difference. I thought it might be a younger man, perhaps Joe McMahon, but it turned out to be an older man. Hugh Baxter.’
‘But none of this adds up to anything,’ says Jo. ‘He didn’t imprison those women. He just talked to them.’
‘If his fingerprints are on Avril Flowers’ door, we’ll have some evidence,’ says Nelson. ‘The picture Judy sent Tanya shows that Hugh was at her house that morning.’
‘Why did he do it?’ asks Jo, who always feels offended if criminals don’t act in the way she expects. Nelson expects nothing so is rarely disappointed.
‘I spoke to Madge Hudson earlier,’ he says. He sees Tanya and Tony exchanging looks. They know that the forensic psychologist is not on Nelson’s list of favourite people, though he’d admit it’s not a long list. ‘She said that it might be a form of Munchausen’s by proxy or whatever it’s called these days.’
‘Fabricated or induced illness,’ says Tanya.
‘Hugh’s wife committed suicide,’ says Nelson, ‘and he may have enjoyed the attention he got in the wake of that. He enjoyed comforting women who felt bad about themselves even though he was the one who’d made them feel that way.’
‘It was quite a leap kidnapping Zoe Hilton,’ says Jo.
‘Criminals escalate,’ says Nelson. ‘We know that. It may just have been that he had the means to hand – the underground room – and saw a way to lure Zoe here.’
‘It’s amazing that the woman living there didn’t hear anything,’ says Jo.
‘Tony and I spoke to Janet Meadows this morning,’ says Tanya. ‘She says she heard noises, but she thought it was a poltergeist.’
‘Jesus wept,’ says Nelson.
‘I can’t believe I’m talking to you,’ says Judy.
The iPad seems too small for the joy it contains. Cathbad still has a tube coming out of his nose but his eyes are bright and his voice is the same, just a bit croakier.
‘I can’t believe it either. I’m a medical miracle, Abbas says.’
‘Abbas has been brilliant.’
‘He’s an earth angel,’ says Cathbad. ‘His aura is pure light.’
‘You’re embarrassing me,’ says an offscreen voice.
‘When can you come home?’
‘It’ll be a while, they say. I still need oxygen and antiviral drugs.’
‘We’ve been so worried,’ says Judy. ‘Everyone has. Ruth, Nelson, Tanya, all the team. Clough even came to see me, breaking all the rules, of course.’
‘He’s a good soul.’
‘The boss has been fretting. You know how he hates it when he can’t do anything.’
‘Tell him he did do something,’ says Cathbad. ‘He was in my dream. He guided me back to life.’
The children are clamouring to talk so Judy relinquishes the device. Afterwards, she feels restless. The children are running wildly round the garden, using up their pent-up energy. Thing is barking his accompaniment. Maddie says she’s going to bake a cake. There’s only one thing Judy really wants to do.
‘I’m going into the station,’ she says.
‘Is that allowed?’ says Maddie, squinting at the recipe on her phone.
‘I’ll socially distance,’ says Judy. ‘I’ll wear a mask.’
The desk sergeant greets her with a wave, but Judy isn’t prepared for the reception she gets in the incident room. Tanya and Tony burst into applause. Nelson comes to the door of his office, grinning broadly, and even Super Jo emerges from her inner sanctum, wearing a visor and a rather sinister Joker mask.
‘I wish I could give you a hug,’ says Tony, over-sharing as usual.
‘What news of Cathbad?’ says Tanya. She doesn’t look as if she is disappointed at the lack of physical contact, but Judy can tell that she is smiling broadly underneath her multicoloured mask.
‘It’s incredible,’ says Judy. ‘He’s awake and talking. I was able to FaceTime him this morning. He asked after you all. He said you were in his dream, Nelson.’
Nelson says nothing but Tanya pipes up, ‘You said the same thing, boss. When you came round after being knocked out.’
‘You were knocked out?’ says Jo. ‘I didn’t hear about this.’
‘I tripped over something,’ says Nelson. ‘Bloody silly thing to do. I missed all the fun while Tanya rushed around solving the crime and arresting people.’
‘It wasn’t quite like that,’ says Tanya but Judy can tell that her colleague concurs completely with this description of events and, for once, she doesn’t feel irritated or envious. More important things were going on last night.
And, it seems, she has underestimated Tanya. ‘It was Judy who cracked the case,’ she says. ‘She sent me the picture of Hugh Baxter in Avril’s garden.’
‘How did you get that, Judy?’ asks Nelson, sitting on one of the desks, which is the cue for everyone else to sit down. Jo looks as if she is missing her yoga ball.
‘Tina’s daughter sent it to me,’ says Judy. ‘Tina was Avril’s cleaner and she mentioned taking the picture of the heron on the day that she found Avril’s body. Tina tried to contact me, saying that someone had been at Avril’s house that day. But, before I could speak to Tina, she was taken ill with Covid and died later. Her daughter said that Tina had sent me a message. “Tell Judy it was you.” Last night I realised she was saying, “It was Hugh.” I wondered how she’d guessed and thought that the evidence must be in the picture.’
‘Great work, Judy,’ says Nelson. ‘We’ve been finding out a bit more about friend Hugh, haven’t we?’
‘Yes,’ says Tanya. ‘It turns out he specialised in befriending women and then belittling them, putting thoughts of suicide into their heads. Saffron Wilson said that he was creepy, always going on about women’s weight.’
Judy remembers the picture of Hugh and Avril on Cromer pier. ‘She said that dress made her look fat.’ She remembers too the dead wife who was ‘as slim as anything’. She should have seen the warning signs, but she’d been taken in by the elderly man with his interest in local history and touching friendship with the dead woman. She says, ‘I think Hugh locked Avril’s door to make sure she didn’t escape. If his fingerprints are on the handle, we’ll have evidence.’
‘That’s true,’ says Nelson. ‘The rest is almost impossible to prove, sadly. If he hadn’t kidnapped Zoe Hilton, we’d have nothing on him.’
‘Is he in custody?’ asks Judy.
‘Yes,’ says Tanya. ‘We’re holding him for twenty-four hours. We’ve done an interview under caution but haven’t charged him yet.’
‘We need to get this right,’ says Nelson. ‘I don’t want Baxter claiming that he was just confused, playing the Alzheimer’s card. He locked Zoe in that underground room at Steward’s House and kept her there for two days. He brought her painkillers and tried to persuade her to take an overdose. She said she almost gave in.’
‘That’s horrible,’ says Judy.
‘Janet Meadows says that she heard noises but she put it down to ghosts,’ says Nelson. ‘Like you do.’
‘It is a very haunted place,’ says Judy. ‘Cathbad says so.’
‘I can’t wait until Cathbad’s better so I can tell him what I think of his lunatic ideas,’ says Nelson.
‘Weren’t you in his dream?’ says Judy slyly. ‘You could have told him then.’ She has the pleasure of seeing the boss colour up behind his mask.
‘Joe McMahon heard voices too,’ says Tony. ‘He said he thought it was unquiet spirits.’
‘Who’s talking about spirits?’ says a voice. ‘Mine’s a double brandy.’
And there in the doorway, wearing a Chelsea scarf over his nose and mouth instead of a mask, is Clough.
Ruth hardly notices Nelson leave. She sleeps until nine and is woken up by Kate and Flint, both demanding breakfast. It’s another lovely day so she and Kate take their toast into the back garden. This is one of the only good things about lockdown, thinks Ruth – no six-thirty starts, waking in the darkness with the radio alarm flashing, no drive through the rush hour to deposit Kate at school or childminder. The sun is warm on her face and she has just had a text from Judy saying that Cathbad is sitting up in bed and talking. Flint is testing his claws on the apple tree and Kate practising crow pose. The real thing, Corbyn, is sitting on a fence post as if carved in wood.
‘Tell Cathbad we’re thinking of him,’ Ruth tells the bird.
The crow watches her for a moment. His bright, dark eyes reminding her of something. Of someone. Then he caws once, spreads his wings and rises into the air.
‘Hi!’ Zoe appears at the fence. She’s in her smart pyjamas and her hair is skewered in an artless bun on the top of her head. She’s been imprisoned underground with only bread and water for three days and she still looks better than Ruth. Only the dark shadows under her eyes betray her.
‘You’re back!’ Kate rolls onto her feet and skips over. ‘We looked after Derek. Where did you go?’
‘It’s a long story,’ says Zoe.
‘I like stories,’ says Kate. ‘I’m writing one about a time-travelling cat.’
‘I’d love to read it,’ says Zoe.
‘Actually,’ says Ruth. ‘Zoe and I have got a story to tell you, Kate.’
‘Heard you had some fun last night,’ says Clough.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ says Jo, but mildly. She’s always had a soft spot for Clough, thinks Nelson.
‘Too boring for you in Cambridge?’ says Nelson.
‘Yeah,’ says Clough, miming a high five with Judy. ‘Nothing going on. McDonald’s is shut. All the students have left and the criminals are all sitting at home watching box sets.’
‘It’s not too boring here,’ says Tanya. ‘I, we, have just caught a kidnapper. Possibly a murderer too.’
Nelson leaves Tanya recounting the events in Tombland and retreats to his office. He wants to check up on Leah and, though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, his head is aching badly. He tried to find some ibuprofen in Ruth’s bathroom cupboard that morning, but it was full of tea tree shampoo and old bottles of Calpol. Ordinarily, he’d ask Leah and she’d tactfully bring him some coffee with a couple of aspirins on the saucer. But Leah is elsewhere. Nelson sends her a text, ‘How r u?’ and, seconds later, his phone rings.
‘Hi, Leah. How are you doing?’
‘OK. They’re very kind here. Even so I can’t quite relax. I keep thinking that Jay will burst in and drag me home.’
‘Has that happened before?’
‘Once. I left to go to my sister’s. Jay came after me. He even persuaded my sister that I should come home with him. Said it was all in my head.’
‘Bastard,’ says Nelson. ‘You should press charges against him. Coercive control.’ He remembers Jo making him go on a course about it.
‘He’s more likely to press charges against you for hitting him.’
‘Let him try.’
‘I can never thank you enough,’ says Leah. ‘I really think you saved my life.’
‘I wish I’d known earlier,’ says Nelson.
‘I wanted to tell you,’ says Leah. ‘But I was ashamed.’
‘You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,’ says Nelson.
‘I know,’ says Leah, ‘but I was, all the same.’
‘Your job’s waiting for you,’ says Nelson. ‘Whenever you want to come back.’
‘I’ll be back,’ says Leah. ‘You’ll never be able to work out the new software that Jo’s ordered.’
Judy appears in the doorway. Nelson beckons her in and says goodbye to Leah.
‘Are you OK?’ says Judy. ‘You look a bit rough.’
‘I’m fine,’ says Nelson. ‘I’ve just got a bit of a headache from last night.’
‘Here.’ Judy rifles through her handbag. ‘Have some Nurofen.’
‘Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.’
‘Was that Leah on the phone? Is she still off sick?’
As succinctly as possible, Nelson tells Judy about Leah and Jay.
‘I should have guessed,’ says Judy. ‘I knew something was up. She was clearly afraid of going home. I should have known. I’ve done the training on spotting signs of domestic violence.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ says Nelson. ‘I was the one who saw her most and I didn’t realise until I saw her in the house with him.’
‘She won’t be the only one,’ says Judy. ‘Lockdown will mean lots of women locked away with abusive husbands.’
‘That’s what they said at the refuge,’ says Nelson. ‘We need to think of ways for women to ask for help. I’ve heard of giving coded messages to pizza delivery guys.’
‘Steady on,’ says Judy, ‘or Jo will recommend you for a modern policing award.’
‘I don’t think so,’ says Nelson. ‘I knocked Leah’s husband out last night. That’s old-fashioned policing for you.’
‘And what was all that about you being knocked out too?’ says Judy. ‘What happened?’
‘Joe McMahon hit me over the head with a Maglite,’ says Nelson. ‘I’m not pressing charges though. He thought I was the one who’d kidnapped Zoe. Got it into his head that he was protecting Ruth. Mind you, I will be having a little chat with Mr McMahon later. He’s a little too obsessed with Ruth for my liking.’
‘How is Ruth?’ says Judy. ‘I hear she was involved last night.’
Nelson gives his DI a sharp look, but Judy’s face shows only polite interest.
‘She’s OK,’ he says. ‘It’s been an emotional time for her. Turns out Zoe’s her half-sister.’ He explains, as briefly as he can, about ‘Dawn 1963’.
‘It’s funny,’ says Judy, ‘when I saw the picture of them together, I thought they looked slightly similar.’
‘I can’t see it myself,’ says Nelson, ‘but I think it will mean a lot to Ruth. And she was really happy about Cathbad. She’s very fond of him.’
‘Cathbad says you saved him,’ says Judy.
‘He’s delirious,’ says Nelson. He’s not going to tell anyone, even Ruth, about the dark beach and the fairground music.
Despite the Nurofen, Nelson’s headache gets worse. Cloughie seems to have re-joined the team and even sends out for pizza at lunchtime. This reminds Nelson of women ordering pizza in a coded cry for help against domestic violence. He googles it and finds that it’s only an urban myth. There is, however, a scheme in bars and restaurants called ‘Ask Angela’ where, if women use the name Angela, it alerts staff to abuse or to a date that is going dangerously wrong. There ought to be more, thinks Nelson, picturing Leah’s face when he’d appeared at her house last night. If she hadn’t had the courage to text him, what would be happening to her now?
In the afternoon, Nelson drives back into Norwich. He parks outside the cathedral and crosses the road to Steward’s House. It looks even less stable in the daylight, as if the whole edifice would topple over with one push. Nelson leans on the doorbell, trying his luck.
Janet Meadows opens the door. Nelson remembers her telling him that she’d heard crashing and banging in the night but had turned over and gone back to sleep. I’m always hearing suspicious things. This is a haunted house, you know. Presumably the noise had been Zoe Hilton being imprisoned in the room downstairs. If only Janet had called the police rather than assuming paranormal activity, it might have saved a lot of trouble. But Janet isn’t charged with any crime. Tanya seems satisfied with her answers. And, if Janet hadn’t left her phone lying around, to be picked up by Hugh Baxter, Zoe wouldn’t have been able to call for help. Nelson gives Janet a curt nod. ‘Afternoon. Is Joe McMahon still with you?’
‘Yes. He and Eileen are staying until they find somewhere else. I’ve got plenty of room.’
‘Can I have a word with Joe?’
‘Yes. Do you want to come in?’
‘I’d better not.’ Nelson gestures to his mask thinking that Janet might be up to date on the plague but she seems to have forgotten the more recent health crisis. ‘Could Joe join me out here?’
The young man looks rather scared when he sees Nelson on the doorstep. He doesn’t look any less wary when Nelson suggests a walk in the cathedral grounds. They walk past the church and across a green bordered by hundreds of archways. Cloisters, he thinks they’re called. There are private houses here too, smugly looking out across the smooth lawns. Who lives here? Bishops? Priests? Well, none of the residents are in evidence today. Nelson and Joe walk in silence until Nelson says, ‘You know I could charge you for assault?’
‘I didn’t mean to hit you,’ says Joe. ‘I thought . . .’
‘I know what you thought. You thought you were protecting Ruth. Dr Galloway.’
‘I’d heard a woman crying. I knew she was locked in somewhere. I thought you’d locked her in.’
‘Is that what you normally do? Hit first and ask questions later?’
‘No. I’m morally opposed to violence.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. Dr Galloway is one of your lecturers, isn’t she?’
‘Yes.’ They are walking two metres apart, but Nelson catches the quick, sidelong glance. ‘She’s the best in her field.’
‘Is that why your room is full of pictures of her?’
Joe is silent for a moment and then he says, ‘It was the body.’
‘What?’ says Nelson. Is he going to have to hit Joe after all?
‘The body we found in Tombland,’ says Joe. ‘The medieval woman. Ruth said she had dark hair and blue eyes like my mum. That’s why I wanted to call her Martha. After my mother.’
‘Let me get this straight,’ says Nelson. ‘The body that was excavated in Tombland, that reminded you of your mother, so that’s why you’re obsessed with Ruth?’
‘Sort of,’ says Joe, looking down at his feet. He’s wearing black DMs. ‘Bovver boy shoes,’ Nelson’s mum would call them. ‘But I already admired her.’
Nelson thinks the young man’s feelings go way beyond admiration. ‘Did you send Ruth those emails telling her to beware the Grey Lady?’ he asks, trying to keep his tone neutral.
‘I just wanted her to be careful,’ says Joe. ‘Tombland is a dark place. I knew she was friends with Janet, but I wanted her to stay away.’
‘Yes,’ says Nelson. ‘Janet said she saw you sneaking around her house.’
‘I wasn’t sneaking,’ says Joe. ‘I was keeping watch. Like the Watchers in plague times.’
‘Whatever you call it,’ says Nelson, ‘it has to stop. You can’t keep prowling around, sending sinister messages to your lecturers. You have to change universities.’
‘But I like it at UNN.’
‘I don’t care if you do,’ says Nelson. ‘I’ll be checking up and, if I don’t hear that you’ve switched courses, I might just remember that you hit me over the head with a large torch.’
‘I’d never harm Ruth,’ says Joe. ‘I think she’s wonderful.’
‘We all do, son. We don’t all cover our walls with pictures of her.’
Joe gives him another quizzical look but doesn’t say anything more until they are back at Steward’s House.
‘Well, goodbye and good luck,’ says Nelson. ‘I hope our paths don’t cross again. Can you send Eileen out to me?’
Eileen appears, looking slightly more cheerful than when Nelson last saw her. Their discussion is brief.
‘Eileen,’ says Nelson. ‘Go home to your mum.’
As he walks back to his car Nelson suddenly feels very tired. His head is still pounding, and he feels slightly dizzy. He texts Judy to say that he won’t be going back to the station and he drives straight home. He wants to sleep for about ten hours.
As he turns into the cul-de-sac, he realises that something is different. There’s a new sound in the air, as there was when he first heard the clapping for carers. But this is louder and somehow more heart-warming. Barking. He opens the door and is hit by a solid wedge of fur and muscle.
‘I got him back from Jan’s,’ says Laura, who is sitting on the stairs. ‘I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Of course not.’ Nelson squats next to the dog, patting him and pulling his ears.
‘I’m going to be working from home next week,’ says Laura, ‘so I can take him for walks. He’s so happy to be back.’
Bruno licks Nelson’s face and goes in search of a present. He comes back with Michelle’s bra, which is still hanging over the banister.
‘He misses Mum too,’ says Laura. ‘Here, you stupid dog. Give that back.’
Nelson gets to his feet. ‘I need a shower.’
‘What happened to you last night?’ says Laura.
‘I texted,’ says Nelson. ‘I got caught up in a case. I slept in the station. On one of the sofas in the custody suite.’ Tony had told him that Katie slept there last night. Katie made Tony a thank you card with one of her special pictures of Flint on the front. Nelson forgot to hand it over and it’s still in his pocket.
‘Did you catch the bad guys?’ says Laura, going into the kitchen.
‘I think so,’ says Nelson.
‘There’s a postcard for you from Grandma,’ says Laura. ‘I think she’s the only person on earth who still sends postcards.’
The card shows an illuminated Blackpool tower and the message on the back reads: ‘Having lots of fun (joke!). Wish you were here Mumxx’. Nelson feels strangely tearful. His mother misses him, that’s the reason she took the card from her stash, stuck on a stamp and braved the walk to the post box. And, strangely enough, he misses her too.
After his shower, Nelson comes downstairs to find Laura heating something up in the microwave. She’s in the garden with Bruno and he can hear the dog’s excited barks. Thank God there’s a can of beer in the fridge. Nelson drinks it while the plate revolves in the microwave. He thinks of Samantha Wilson and her Weight Watchers’ meal. When did she decide to kill herself? Between the defrosting and the eating? Did Hugh Baxter really persuade her to take her own life? Sadly, that will be impossible to prove but they should be able to get him for Zoe’s kidnapping. Even so, with a good lawyer and considering his age, Baxter might get away with a suspended sentence. How many people are there, thinks Nelson, who kill without using a lethal weapon? ‘He just talked to them,’ said Jo earlier. How many people whispering poisoned words in their victims’ ears? How many men like Jay, outwardly respectable, yet fiends of cruelty in their own home?
This line of thought is making Nelson very depressed. He takes his beer into the sitting room and switches on the TV. But there’s no sport because of lockdown and all the other programmes seem to be repeats. He’s looking for an American cop show, something like Colombo or Kojak, when his phone buzzes. It’s Michelle.
I’m coming home.