The picture shows a white bird by a pond and a man in the distance, slightly blurred as if he is walking fast.
Ruth bangs on the door. 慔elp!?
慖t抯 no good,?says Zoe. 慖 keep calling and nobody comes.?
She抯 still in her nurse抯 scrubs and has a sleeping bag round her shoulders. Her hair is loose and matted. Ruth hardly recognises her stylish neighbour.
慣here are people here,?says Ruth. 慦e heard you crying.?
慔e left a phone here earlier,?says Zoe. 慗ust for a second. It was on the floor. When his back was turned, I managed to send a message. I hoped it was to you. Did you get it??
慪es, I did,?says Ruth. 慉nd I brought the police.?
慏CI Nelson??
慖 hope he抯 here somewhere but I抦 with an officer called Tanya. She抯 very sharp. She抣l find us.?Ruth says this with confidence but a few minutes in the underground room have already had their effect. She抯 beginning to feel that they will be there for ever, starving to death in the darkness, ending up as ghosts like the Grey Lady.
慖 thought I heard someone saying 損olice??says Zoe. 態ut I thought I might be imagining it.?
慦hat happened??says Ruth. 慔ow did you end up here??
慖 got a call from a patient,?says Zoe. 慔e said that he was taken ill while working at the information centre. He抯 an old man so I was worried. I should have thought that all the tourist places are closed because of lockdown. Anyway, I drove here on my way home. He tricked me. He said he felt faint, so I got him to sit down. Then he said he抎 left his inhaler in the cellar. I went into this room and he locked me in. That was Tuesday night, I think. What day is it today??
Ruth has to think. 慣hursday.?It seems years since they heard people clapping for the carers. 慣hey抮e clapping you,?she抎 said to Zoe that first time.
慖t seems longer,?says Zoe. 慖 think he might have drugged me. He抯 been coming to see me, every day, bringing me food and telling me to kill myself. It抯 really creepy.?
Ruth is shivering and not just from the cold. 慦hat抯 the man抯 name??
慔ugh Baxter. He always seemed a nice old thing.?
慪eah, he sounds a real sweetie,?says Ruth.
Zoe laughs but then the laugh goes on too long and she starts to sob. Ruth puts her arm round her. 慖t抯 OK,?she says, hoping that it is. Where is Tanya? Where is Nelson? Ruth peers at the metal door. Never has anything looked more closed. What if the man ?Hugh ?comes back? Ruth looks around for a weapon. Could she throw the noxious-smelling bucket at him?
慡hall we . . .?she begins, not knowing what to suggest. Shall we hide? Shall we get ready for hand-to-hand combat? But, before she can finish the sentence, the steel door opens and a bearded man stands in front of them.
Nelson still looks slightly unsteady on his feet but he dismisses Tanya抯 suggestion that he sit on the grass and wait for the ambulance. 慖抦 coming with you,?he says, in the tone that means he抯 not listening to reason. So Tanya leads the way back to Steward抯 house followed by Nelson, Janet and the weird student girl. Tanya wishes that she could shake them all off. The road is deserted apart from an elderly man walking towards the gateway to the cathedral. The shop lights are on and the door is open.
慠uth!?shouts Nelson, barging in front.
態e careful, DCI Nelson,?says Janet. 慏S Fuller, do tell him to be careful.?
But Tanya is off, sprinting after the old man.
慗oe??says Ruth.
慏r Galloway,?says Joe. 慖抳e come to save you.?
慣hank you,?says Ruth. All the same, she thinks she will only feel safe once she and Zoe are out of the underground room. Joe seems friendly enough, but she can抰 forget that he had a noticeboard full of pictures of her. Stone walls do not a prison make. She grabs Zoe抯 hand and tries to edge towards the door.