The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)(72)

‘It’ll be too late for Cathbad,’ says Judy.

‘He’ll pull through,’ says Clough. ‘And you know I’m always right.’

Once this remark would have induced actual physical rage in Judy. But, just for that second, her biggest regret about Covid is that it stops her from giving her ex-colleague a hug.



In the end Ruth takes Kate shopping with her but leaves her in the car when she goes into the supermarket.

‘Text me if you’re worried about anything,’ she says. ‘I won’t be long.’ Ruth looks at the line of socially distanced shoppers. ‘Not that long anyway.’

‘I’ll be OK,’ says Kate. She’s playing a game on her phone that seems to involve a bird flying over a series of low hills.

Should Ruth lock the car? But what if Kate is trapped in it? But, if she leaves Kate with the keys, someone could steal her and the car. In the end she does lock it but tells Kate how to open the doors if necessary.

‘I know, Mum,’ says Kate, not looking up from the bird’s aerial adventures.

Ruth queues, looking back at the car every few minutes. Kate’s head is bent over the game. Would she even notice if an axe murderer tapped on the window? But axe murderers are in short supply in King’s Lynn this morning. ‘How would you know?’ Nelson would say. Ruth looks at her hands on the handle of her shopping trolley. She’s wearing plastic gloves today, which makes them look rather sinister. Maybe other people in the queue have hands that have been put to evil, murderous use. She stares hard at the elderly woman in front of her (surely, she should be shielding at home?) until the force of her scrutiny makes the woman turn and give her a timid smile, recognisable even behind her mask. Stop it, Ruth tells herself.

Once she is finally granted admission, Ruth throws food into her trolley without much regard for price or quality. She does remember the gourmet cat food though and scores the last packet of penne.

In the payment queue Ruth looks at the newspaper stand. ‘Shambles,’ says one headline. ‘Get a grip Bozo,’ says another. Ruth’s beloved Guardian has, ‘Virus patients more likely to die have ventilators taken away.’ Ruth doesn’t buy a copy. Eventually she is through the checkout, once again marvelling at the assistant’s unruffled good humour, and zigzagging her trolley through the car park. Kate is still intent on her game. Ruth opens the boot and starts heaving the bags in.

‘Did you get Jaffa Cakes?’ asks Kate.

‘Of course.’ She’s not about to forget the essentials.

‘Dad rang,’ says Kate. ‘He said he was trying to get through to you. He said to be careful because there are lots of funny people in supermarket car parks.’



Ruth doesn’t ring Nelson until she is home with a cup of tea and a Jaffa Cake. She knows he can’t have news of Cathbad because she has just had a text from Judy saying, ‘no change’. She assumes that he’s just ringing to check up on her because she mentioned the perilous supermarket trip that morning.

But Nelson starts out with, ‘What do you know about the Grey Lady?’

‘The Grey Lady of Tombland?’

‘How many Grey Ladies are there? No, don’t answer that one. Bloody Norfolk is probably full of them.’

‘Probably.’ It’s on the tip of Ruth’s tongue to say, ‘Ask Cathbad’ but no one can ask Cathbad anything, possibly ever again. ‘She’s a ghost that haunts Augustine Steward’s House by the cathedral,’ she says. ‘Why?’

‘Eileen Gribbon left a note for her friend in halls. It was a postcard of the Grey Lady. I wondered if there was a link to Joe McMahon. Didn’t you say he was obsessed with her?’

‘I don’t know about obsessed but my friend Janet said he was asking questions about her. And she’d seen Joe hanging around Tombland. I told you that.’

‘I rang Janet Meadows,’ says Nelson. ‘She said she didn’t think there was any harm in McMahon. Not that I trust her opinion. She kept going on about living in a haunted house. Practically said she was kept awake by ghoulies and ghosties.’

‘Janet is perfectly rational,’ says Ruth. ‘Just because she believes in things you don’t.’

‘I might try ringing her again,’ says Nelson. ‘Just in case McMahon has turned up. Or the girl. Eileen. I don’t like the fact that she seems to be a fan of this Grey Lady too.’

‘Janet’s actually living in Steward’s House,’ says Ruth. ‘I can’t say I’d like that very much.’

‘Tombland,’ says Nelson. ‘The address is enough to put you off.’

Ruth doesn’t tell Nelson the origin of the place name. Why spoil his fun?

‘Joe was also very interested in the skeleton we excavated in Tombland,’ she says. ‘He insisted we call her Martha.’

‘Martha was his mother’s name,’ says Nelson. ‘It’s in the case notes.’

‘Eileen said that his mother committed suicide.’

‘Did she?’ says Nelson. ‘That’s interesting. No sign of your missing neighbour, I suppose?’

Ruth doesn’t like the way his mind is working.

‘No,’ she says. ‘I’m still feeding her cat.’

‘That’s not a cat,’ says Nelson. ‘It’s bigger than Bruno.’