The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)(20)

‘The key was in the lock,’ she says. ‘All the rooms have keys but I was surprised to find it locked. I opened the door and Avril was there on her bed. I went over to her and took her pulse. I work in a care home so I know first aid, but I could see it was too late. I rang an ambulance though, just in case. Even tried CPR. But, like I say, it was too late. Her body was cold.’

Tina sounds sad but her voice is quite steady. She’s seen death before, thinks Tanya.

‘Can you think of any reason why the door might have been locked?’ asks Judy.

‘No,’ says Tina, now sounding troubled. ‘At first I didn’t think anything of it. I was just concentrating on Avril but later, when the policeman called, the one in uniform, I started to think about it. I even wondered if I’d imagined it, but the door was definitely locked. I remember turning the key.’

‘And there’s no way Avril could have done it from the inside?’ asks Tanya.

‘I don’t think so,’ says Tina. ‘And why would she do that?’

So she couldn’t change her mind, thinks Tanya. She is starting to think that lovely community-minded Avril, who didn’t believe in medication, knew exactly what she was doing when she lay down on her bed in front of the mirrored wardrobes. She wonders if Judy has come to the same conclusion.

Judy doesn’t give anything away but, after a few more questions, Tina says, ‘Excuse me,’ and rushes into the garden where her grandchildren have begun pelting each other with chickenfeed.

Time to go. Judy calls out her thanks and they leave.



When Ruth gets back to the university, she finds someone waiting outside her door. This is unusual these days when most students prefer to email their requests for essay extensions and complaints about the curriculum. Ruth composes her face into a welcoming smile although she was looking forward to a few minutes’ peace before her meeting on ‘Pandemic Precautions’.

‘Hi,’ she says. ‘Were you waiting for me?’

Her visitor is a girl. A young woman, Ruth corrects herself. But the figure in front of her really doesn’t look much older than Kate and has the same long, dark hair. It predisposes Ruth in her favour.

‘Yes,’ says the girl. ‘I hope you don’t mind. I’m Eileen. Eileen Gribbon. I was at the excavation on Monday. I just wanted to ask you about it.’

This must mean that she’s one of the first years. Ruth unlocks her office and ushers Eileen inside. Within a few minutes she has learnt that her visitor is from Guildford, she went to Spain on her gap year and that she loves hip-hop and modern dance.

‘But my family were originally from Norfolk,’ she says. ‘Gribbon is an old Norfolk name.’

In Ruth’s experience, people either live in Norfolk for ever or get out as soon as they can. She asks why Eileen chose to study archaeology.

‘I think it was watching Time Team with my dad when I was a little girl,’ says Eileen.

Ruth has lost count of the number of students delivered to her by Tony Robinson and Time Team.

‘It was a great programme,’ she says. ‘Though things happen a bit more slowly on real digs.’

‘That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,’ says Eileen. ‘People are saying that there’s going to be a dig in Tombland, and I wondered if I could be part of it.’

Ruth sighs. ‘I’m not planning a dig,’ she says. ‘Tombland’s a popular tourist destination. I’d never get funding.’

‘Aren’t you looking for a plague pit?’ says Eileen, sounding disappointed.

‘There’s no evidence for a plague pit,’ says Ruth, thinking of her conversation with Janet. ‘The skeleton I excavated on Monday was probably originally buried at St George’s.’

‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ says Eileen. ‘If the skeleton was buried away from the other graves, do you think it was someone who committed suicide?’

Ruth looks at Eileen’s open, youthful face. What gave her that idea? she wonders. It’s actually not a bad theory. Suicides used to be buried on so-called unhallowed ground, outside the church walls. She’s not sure of the theological reason. To prevent them posthumously infecting other, less desperate, souls?

‘It’s an interesting thought,’ she says. ‘We’ll do some more research into our skeleton when I have the carbon-14 and isotope results back. Isotope analysis will tell us where she grew up. I think it’s a woman, by the way.’

‘A woman?’ says Eileen.

‘Yes, from the pelvic bones I think the skeleton is female. Also, from the shape of the skull. I’ve sent off for DNA testing but I’m not hopeful given the age of the bones. I’ll send you the isotope results though, if you’re interested.’

Eileen looks pleased by this and Ruth manages to bring the conversation to an end. She’s almost late for her meeting. At the door she thinks to ask Eileen the name of her bearded classmate.

‘Oh, that’s Joe McMahon,’ says Eileen. ‘He was the one who told me about the plague pits.’

Ruth does not know why this information makes her feel uneasy.



Judy and Tanya drive straight to a chip shop. Tanya will do an extra circuit of the gym tonight to compensate. Eating the comforting carbs in the fug of the car, Tanya says, ‘Tina Prentice seemed more of a friend to Avril than her next-door neighbour was.’