The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)(40)

She props her laptop up on a garden chair. As she does so, a large animal appears in front of her. It’s the size of a small dog but is striped like a tiger. Ruth takes a step backwards, but Kate says, ‘That’s Derek.’ A voice says, ‘Is he with you? It’s the first time he’s been outside.’

Zoe, wearing what looks like pyjamas, appears at the other side of the fence.

‘Yes, he’s here,’ says Ruth. ‘He’s gorgeous.’

Derek is looking at the laptop with interest. Ruth feels that she has to explain, for his sake as much as Zoe’s.

‘We’re doing yoga with my friend via FaceTime.’

‘Can I join in?’ says Zoe. ‘I’m wearing the right clothes.’

Zoe may be in her pyjamas, thinks Ruth, but they are stylish ones, dark green with white spots. Zoe’s hair is tied back with a matching scarf. When Cathbad appears on screen, Ruth explains that they have an extra participant.

‘All are welcome,’ says Cathbad graciously. He is dressed in loose white trousers and a T-shirt with chemical symbols on it. His grey hair gleams in the sunlight. Ruth can see Michael and Miranda in the background. Miranda is standing on her head.

‘Let’s start by greeting the dawn,’ says Cathbad.



‘Are you saying that these women died because of slimming?’ says Nelson. He says the word like it’s the most outlandish activity known to humankind.

‘I’m saying it’s a link,’ says Judy patiently. ‘I’m been checking, and Samantha Wilson, Avril Flowers and Karen Head all attended Lean Zone meetings. Maggie O’Flynn too, Avril’s friend who died. Samantha and Karen were even in the same group.’

‘Lean Zone,’ says Nelson. ‘That rings a bell.’

‘Does it?’ says Judy, surprised. She can’t imagine that Michelle has ever attended a weight loss group in her life.

‘It might be worth checking,’ says Nelson. ‘It’s the first definite connection, any road.’

‘I’ve got numbers for the consultants who run the meetings,’ says Judy. She looks at her notes. ‘Jacquie Maitland and Barb Blakeborough. I’ll give them a ring later. At the very least they’ll give us some more background information.’

‘That’ll be something,’ says Nelson. ‘I suppose we’re no nearer to tracing the person whose prints were on Avril’s bedroom door?’

‘No,’ says Judy. ‘There’s no CCTV that we can find, and Tanya didn’t get anything from the door-to-door.’

There’s a brief silence during which Judy’s phone pings. She glances at it and laughs. ‘Look!’ She shows the picture to Nelson. ‘Cathbad’s taken a screen shot of his yoga session.’ Ruth and Kate are in their garden, both in the lunging pose Judy recognises as warrior one. From the other side of the fence another woman is joining in, laughing as she raises her hands above her head.

Judy thought that Nelson would laugh too but he says, rather dourly, ‘That bloody next-door neighbour gets in on everything.’

How does Nelson know about Ruth’s next-door neighbour? thinks Judy. She looks more closely at the picture and, from somewhere, comes a tiny twinge of recognition. And disquiet.





Chapter 21


That tiny chord of – memory? unease? – continues to play in Judy’s head as she returns to the empty incident room to telephone Jacquie Maitland and Barb Blakeborough. Both women have, very conveniently, included their mobile phone numbers on the Facebook page about group meetings.

‘Is this a convenient time?’ says Judy.

‘It’s fine,’ says Jacquie, who has a pleasant, slightly husky, voice. ‘It’s not as if I’m doing anything else.’

‘Is Lean Zone still going on in lockdown?’

‘Well, we obviously can’t have meetings,’ says Jacquie. ‘We’ve offered online meetings or Zoom but who wants to be weighed in a Zoom meeting?’

‘Is that what happens?’ asks Judy.

‘Yes,’ says Jacquie. ‘You get weighed at the start of the meeting. Some women – some members – go home after that but most stay for my talk.’ She laughs. ‘I can’t think why because I always say the same thing.’

‘As I said in my text,’ says Judy, ‘I’d like to ask you about Samantha Wilson and Karen Head. I believe they both used to come to your group?’

‘I’ve looked through my records,’ says Jacquie. ‘Karen only came to a few meetings in early 2019. Samantha was a regular. I was really sorry when I heard what happened to her.’

She sounds sorry too. Judy also thinks she detects an intake of smoke. Has Jacquie replaced eating with smoking?

‘When did you last see Samantha?’ asks Judy.

‘I think it was the week before . . . it happened. She came to the meeting as usual. She’d maintained that week, but she didn’t seem too down about it.’

‘Maintained?’

‘Stayed the same weight. That happens sometimes. It’s dispiriting but it’s not as bad as gaining.’

Nothing’s as bad as that, she seems to imply.

‘Was Samantha friendly with anyone else in the group?’

‘She got on with everyone, as I remember, but I don’t think she had a special friend. People do become very close sometimes. We’ve even had a few romances.’ She sounds rather wistful. Judy wonders if Jacquie is spending lockdown alone.