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The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)(110)

Author:Elly Griffiths

慒abricated or induced illness,?says Tanya.

慔ugh抯 wife committed suicide,?says Nelson, 慳nd he may have enjoyed the attention he got in the wake of that. He enjoyed comforting women who felt bad about themselves even though he was the one who抎 made them feel that way.?

慖t was quite a leap kidnapping Zoe Hilton,?says Jo.

慍riminals escalate,?says Nelson. 慦e know that. It may just have been that he had the means to hand ?the underground room ?and saw a way to lure Zoe here.?

慖t抯 amazing that the woman living there didn抰 hear anything,?says Jo.

慣ony and I spoke to Janet Meadows this morning,?says Tanya. 慡he says she heard noises, but she thought it was a poltergeist.?

慗esus wept,?says Nelson.

慖 can抰 believe I抦 talking to you,?says Judy.

The iPad seems too small for the joy it contains. Cathbad still has a tube coming out of his nose but his eyes are bright and his voice is the same, just a bit croakier.

慖 can抰 believe it either. I抦 a medical miracle, Abbas says.?

慉bbas has been brilliant.?

慔e抯 an earth angel,?says Cathbad. 慔is aura is pure light.?

慪ou抮e embarrassing me,?says an offscreen voice.

慦hen can you come home??

慖t抣l be a while, they say. I still need oxygen and antiviral drugs.?

慦e抳e been so worried,?says Judy. 慐veryone has. Ruth, Nelson, Tanya, all the team. Clough even came to see me, breaking all the rules, of course.?

慔e抯 a good soul.?

慣he boss has been fretting. You know how he hates it when he can抰 do anything.?

慣ell him he did do something,?says Cathbad. 慔e was in my dream. He guided me back to life.?

The children are clamouring to talk so Judy relinquishes the device. Afterwards, she feels restless. The children are running wildly round the garden, using up their pent-up energy. Thing is barking his accompaniment. Maddie says she抯 going to bake a cake. There抯 only one thing Judy really wants to do.

慖抦 going into the station,?she says.

慖s that allowed??says Maddie, squinting at the recipe on her phone.

慖抣l socially distance,?says Judy. 慖抣l wear a mask.?

The desk sergeant greets her with a wave, but Judy isn抰 prepared for the reception she gets in the incident room. Tanya and Tony burst into applause. Nelson comes to the door of his office, grinning broadly, and even Super Jo emerges from her inner sanctum, wearing a visor and a rather sinister Joker mask.

慖 wish I could give you a hug,?says Tony, over-sharing as usual.

慦hat news of Cathbad??says Tanya. She doesn抰 look as if she is disappointed at the lack of physical contact, but Judy can tell that she is smiling broadly underneath her multicoloured mask.

慖t抯 incredible,?says Judy. 慔e抯 awake and talking. I was able to FaceTime him this morning. He asked after you all. He said you were in his dream, Nelson.?

Nelson says nothing but Tanya pipes up, 慪ou said the same thing, boss. When you came round after being knocked out.?

慪ou were knocked out??says Jo. 慖 didn抰 hear about this.?

慖 tripped over something,?says Nelson. 態loody silly thing to do. I missed all the fun while Tanya rushed around solving the crime and arresting people.?

慖t wasn抰 quite like that,?says Tanya but Judy can tell that her colleague concurs completely with this description of events and, for once, she doesn抰 feel irritated or envious. More important things were going on last night.

And, it seems, she has underestimated Tanya. 慖t was Judy who cracked the case,?she says. 慡he sent me the picture of Hugh Baxter in Avril抯 garden.?