The Doll's House - [20]

Try and stay calm. Don’t give in. Ruby forced herself to think of happier things once more. She had only been here a couple of days, but already her anxiety about going mad in this hole was real. Total despair would lead to insanity, Ruby felt sure of that, so she once more turned her thoughts to her family. It was Sunday – what would they be doing? The washing-up from Sunday lunch would have eventually been done by Conor and Cassie – begrudgingly, as always – and Mum and Dad would have taken Max out for a walk -

It hit Ruby like a train, suddenly and without mercy. Her mum. It was her mum’s birthday in two days’ time. She would miss her mum’s birthday…

What would she go through this year? Ruby could picture the stifling mood of anxiety and distress, the total absence of presents or cards, the paralysing awfulness of a birthday spent missing a daughter who wasn’t there to give her a birthday hug. The horror of it took Ruby’s breath away. This was real. This was happening. She had been ripped from the heart of a family who loved her far more than she deserved and would probably never see them again.

Swallowing down her tears, Ruby tried to conjure up their familiar faces again. To relive those moments of family happiness that already seemed a lifetime ago. It was desperate stuff – her family existing only in these pointless imaginings – but this was her lot now. Retreating inside her memory, Ruby felt empty but oddly comforted. This would be her cocoon now.

33

‘My client has told you as much as he knows -’

‘Your client hasn’t told us a single thing,’ Helen barked back, already irritated by the by-the-book primness of Price’s duty brief. ‘And let me give you both a piece of advice. “No comment” is not a good defence. It makes you look guilty.’

Helen stressed the last word.

‘Do you know what you get for abduction and murder, Nathan?’ she continued, determined to keep the pressure up. ‘Fifteen to twenty minimum. How does that sound?’

‘I think we should take a break now,’ the brief resumed predictably.

‘We still have time,’ interjected Lloyd dismissively. ‘More importantly, we still have questions. The same questions. What happened in those two hours, Nathan? Did you let yourself into Ruby’s flat? Overpower her? Or had you already slipped something into her drink at the club?’

Still nothing in response.

‘Your client should know,’ Lloyd carried on, ‘that we have impounded his van. We found some interesting things in the back. The usual pots, tools, building stuff of course, but also a bedroll and several blankets. What are the blankets for?’

‘I sleep in there sometimes when I work. I need blankets,’ Nathan replied.

‘Four of them? In the height of summer? There were hairs on the bedroll, black hairs. You look to me like you’re a natural blond, Nathan, so why are there black hairs there?’

A long pause. Nathan’s brief shot a look at him, clearly waiting for his next move.

‘I’ve nothing to say,’ he eventually replied.

‘So I suggest you charge or release my client,’ his brief followed up quickly.

‘We’re just getting started,’ Lloyd replied, his professional politeness falling away now.

‘You’ve got nothing. You know that, we know that -’

‘Let’s see what the forensics team turn up in the van, shall we?’ Helen replied abruptly. ‘Silly to count our chickens before then. I make it we still have… almost forty hours left to hold your client. Which I’d say is more than enough time for a night in the cells, wouldn’t you, Nathan?’

Not for the first time that day, Helen enjoyed wiping the smile off Nathan Price’s face.

34

Night was slowly stealing over Southampton. The landmarks that had looked unfamiliar and work-a-day in the daylight now took on a more sinister appearance. From his viewpoint on the fourteenth flour, Daniel Briers looked out over the city. To some, the twinkling lights against the night sky would have looked exciting, full of promise. To him, it was just a world of shadows. He imagined all sorts of depraved characters out there – murderers, rapists, thieves – exploiting the darkness, using the cover of night to commit numerous unspeakable crimes.

Pippa had come here and been swallowed by this place. Though he was compelled to stay here now, to see justice done, he already hated Southampton with a passion.

Since Helen had left him, the day had seemed to drag on and on. He had made the necessary phone calls immediately, but they had been brief. He couldn’t trust himself to hold it together during a long conversation. There was no question of him trying to analyse events with others yet. He just imparted the dreadful news and made his excuses. As soon as he had finished the calls, he turned his mobile off, had a whisky and tried to get some rest.

He was exhausted from a sleepless night and the awful events of the day, but he couldn’t switch off. A kaleidoscope of images and memories swirled round his mind – Pippa’s birth, her bitter grief at her mother’s passing, the way she used to make him ‘Dad of the Year’ cards when she was small, her pride in her school prizes, the later arguments and recriminations – most of which had been his fault he now realized. An endless carousel of thoughts and feelings, some bad, but mostly very, very good.