慖s that what you normally do? Hit first and ask questions later??
慛o. I抦 morally opposed to violence.?
慖抦 glad to hear it. Dr Galloway is one of your lecturers, isn抰 she??
慪es.?They are walking two metres apart, but Nelson catches the quick, sidelong glance. 慡he抯 the best in her field.?
慖s that why your room is full of pictures of her??
Joe is silent for a moment and then he says, 慖t was the body.?
慦hat??says Nelson. Is he going to have to hit Joe after all?
慣he body we found in Tombland,?says Joe. 慣he medieval woman. Ruth said she had dark hair and blue eyes like my mum. That抯 why I wanted to call her Martha. After my mother.?
慙et me get this straight,?says Nelson. 慣he body that was excavated in Tombland, that reminded you of your mother, so that抯 why you抮e obsessed with Ruth??
慡ort of,?says Joe, looking down at his feet. He抯 wearing black DMs. 態ovver boy shoes,?Nelson抯 mum would call them. 態ut I already admired her.?
Nelson thinks the young man抯 feelings go way beyond admiration. 慏id you send Ruth those emails telling her to beware the Grey Lady??he asks, trying to keep his tone neutral.
慖 just wanted her to be careful,?says Joe. 慣ombland is a dark place. I knew she was friends with Janet, but I wanted her to stay away.?
慪es,?says Nelson. 慗anet said she saw you sneaking around her house.?
慖 wasn抰 sneaking,?says Joe. 慖 was keeping watch. Like the Watchers in plague times.?
慦hatever you call it,?says Nelson, 慽t has to stop. You can抰 keep prowling around, sending sinister messages to your lecturers. You have to change universities.?
態ut I like it at UNN.?
慖 don抰 care if you do,?says Nelson. 慖抣l be checking up and, if I don抰 hear that you抳e switched courses, I might just remember that you hit me over the head with a large torch.?
慖抎 never harm Ruth,?says Joe. 慖 think she抯 wonderful.?
慦e all do, son. We don抰 all cover our walls with pictures of her.?
Joe gives him another quizzical look but doesn抰 say anything more until they are back at Steward抯 House.
慦ell, goodbye and good luck,?says Nelson. 慖 hope our paths don抰 cross again. Can you send Eileen out to me??
Eileen appears, looking slightly more cheerful than when Nelson last saw her. Their discussion is brief.
慐ileen,?says Nelson. 慓o home to your mum.?
As he walks back to his car Nelson suddenly feels very tired. His head is still pounding, and he feels slightly dizzy. He texts Judy to say that he won抰 be going back to the station and he drives straight home. He wants to sleep for about ten hours.
As he turns into the cul-de-sac, he realises that something is different. There抯 a new sound in the air, as there was when he first heard the clapping for carers. But this is louder and somehow more heart-warming. Barking. He opens the door and is hit by a solid wedge of fur and muscle.
慖 got him back from Jan抯，？says Laura, who is sitting on the stairs. 慖 hope you don抰 mind.?
慜f course not.?Nelson squats next to the dog, patting him and pulling his ears.
慖抦 going to be working from home next week,?says Laura, 憇o I can take him for walks. He抯 so happy to be back.?
Bruno licks Nelson抯 face and goes in search of a present. He comes back with Michelle抯 bra, which is still hanging over the banister.
慔e misses Mum too,?says Laura. 慔ere, you stupid dog. Give that back.?
Nelson gets to his feet. 慖 need a shower.?
慦hat happened to you last night??says Laura.