The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)(75)

This was going to be Ruth’s first question too. ‘No,’ she says, trying to squash down her anxiety.

‘Well, let’s go and see what’s going on,’ says Tanya. Tony appears behind her. Ruth has only met the DC a few times but he seems pleasant enough. Very young, of course, but isn’t that what all middle-aged people say about police officers and doctors?

‘Hi, Ruth,’ says Tony. ‘Hi, Katie.’

‘It’s Kate,’ says Ruth.

‘Hi, Kate,’ Tony grins at her. ‘Do you want to play battleships with me?’

‘OK,’ says Kate, allowing herself a slight smile.

‘We won’t be long,’ says Tanya. ‘It’s probably nothing.’

Ruth doesn’t know whether to be reassured or offended.



Nelson has keyed Leah’s address into his satnav but still gets lost in the suburban streets of Gaywood. Eventually, the smug voice tells him, ‘You have reached your destination.’ Nelson parks outside a semi-detached in a cul-de-sac very like his own. The curving street, like every other street he has passed, is completely deserted. It’s not yet dark but the street lamps have come on, casting unnatural, theatrical shadows across tidy lawns and neat hedges.

Nelson marches up the garden path and raps on the door. After a few minutes’ delay, the door is opened by a man Nelson vaguely recognises as Leah’s husband. He has picked her up from a work a few times, an inoffensive-looking sandy-haired chap. Nelson thinks he has an inoffensive job too. Something to do with banking or insurance.

‘DCI Nelson,’ says the man. What’s his name? Something short, Nelson thinks. Lee? Ian? Jay, that’s it. ‘To what do we owe this pleasure?’

‘Is Leah in?’

‘I think she’s taking a bath.’

Nelson’s antenna are now on full alert. Who takes a bath at six thirty on a Thursday evening? A shower, maybe, but a bath?

‘Can I talk to her?’ he says.

‘She’s in the bath,’ repeats Jay, sounding slightly less genial.

‘All the same,’ says Nelson, ‘I’d like a word.’

Jay looks as if he’s about to refuse. For a moment he and Nelson stare at each other then Jay turns and shouts up the stairs, ‘Leah! Your boss is here.’

After a few seconds, Leah appears, fully dressed, at the top of the stairs.

‘Hallo,’ she says. Her voice sounds odd, as if she’s trying to warn him about something.

‘Hallo, Leah,’ says Nelson. ‘Can we have a word in private?’

‘Now look here,’ says Jay, ‘this is my house. And we’re under lockdown. I can’t allow it.’

‘Let me in,’ says Nelson, ‘or I’ll arrest you.’



Tanya doesn’t talk much on the drive to Norwich. She drives fast and well, arms braced at the wheel. Judy drives like that too. Maybe it’s how they are taught on police training courses. Tanya is wearing a red mask with blue and white stars on it. The effect is incongruously cheerful. Ruth has forgotten to bring a mask and surreptitiously opens her window slightly, trying not to breathe in Tanya’s direction. She checks her phone repeatedly. No messages from Janet or Nelson. The A47 is dark and empty but, when they drive through Dereham, the streetlights illuminate people standing by the side of the road and framed in open doorways. It seems almost sinister, as if they are waiting for a signal. Then a siren sounds. Ruth opens her window completely and hears a ripple of applause punctuated by the clatter of pots and pans.

‘Clapping for carers,’ says Tanya, without taking her eyes off the road.





Chapter 38


Nelson takes a step forward. Jay takes one back. Leah is now halfway down the stairs.

‘Want to step outside, love?’ says Nelson. ‘So that we can talk.’

‘You can’t talk to my wife behind my back,’ says Jay.

Leah flashes her husband a look and, in that second, Nelson sees it all: the fear, the days off work, the polo necks.

‘Pack a bag,’ he says to Leah. ‘And I’ll take you somewhere safe.’

‘Now look here . . .’ Jay grabs Nelson’s arm. Nelson spins round and knocks him out with one punch. Leah screams.

‘Hurry up and pack that bag,’ says Nelson, breathing slightly heavily.

‘Is he dead?’ says Leah.

‘No such luck,’ says Nelson, although the man does not seem to be moving much.

By the time Leah descends the stairs carrying a small suitcase, Jay is making groaning sounds. Nelson takes the case and ushers Leah out of the door. She almost runs to the car. Nelson resists the temptation to deliver a farewell kick to Jay’s ribs. As he shuts the door, the next-door neighbour opens his, like a cuckoo clock.

‘Everything OK, Leah?’ says the man.

‘Yes,’ says Leah.

‘You should have asked that a bit earlier,’ says Nelson. ‘Weeks earlier. Months earlier.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ says the neighbour.

‘I forgive you,’ says Nelson, wondering if he can forgive himself. He clicks open the car and puts the suitcase into the boot. Leah gets into the passenger seat. Nelson sits beside her and keys the postcode of the women’s refuge into the satnav. The neighbour is still watching from his front porch.