慤nlikely, if it抯 an articulated skeleton,?says David. This is one of the things that annoys Ruth about him. She knows very well that the process of putrefaction can destroy DNA and it seems to work faster with articulated remains. David does not need to point this out to her, the forensics expert.
慦as there anything else??she says.
慪ou know I抦 on the board of the Friends of Tombland??
慪es.?Ruth had actually recommended David for the post, because she didn抰 have time herself. She feels like reminding him of this.
慪our friend Janet Meadows is on the board too.?
慖 know.?
慡he wants to put on a plague festival.?
慉 plague festival??This must have been what Janet wanted to talk about yesterday.
慦ell, an exhibition about the Norwich plague pits. But it抯 nonsense. They haven抰 found any plague pits in Norwich.?
慖 thought there was one near the coach park at Blackfriars??Ruth suddenly thinks of her school reunion in the Blackheath pub. She read once that the area took its name from plague pits dug there during the Black Death. She doesn抰 share this nugget with David, who is still talking about Tombland.
慦hy would anyone bury their dead in the centre of the city? It抯 just pandering to the ignorant. Tombs, plague, the Grey Lady, ring-a-ring-a-roses. It抯 sensationalising archaeology.?
慖 thought you were keen on plagues.?It抯 one of David抯 pet theories that, when the Beaker People came to Britain in the Bronze Age, they brought with them a deadly virus that wiped out the native population.
慣hat抯 different,?says David. 慗anet Meadows just wants to dress up as the Grey Lady and frighten tourists.?
Ruth thinks of Janet in her cloak and of Ted抯 comment. Blimey, it抯 the Grey Lady.
慣hat抯 unfair,?she says. 慗anet抯 a serious historian.?
慣here抣l be a fight about this,?says David, sounding as if he relishes the prospect. 慉nd I hope you抣l be on my side.?
慖抣l be on the side of truth,?says Ruth, but only in her head. She doesn抰 need Cathbad to tell her that truth can be a very slippery concept.
慜n balance, I think Samantha Wilson committed suicide,?says Judy. 慦e may never know why.?
慦hat about the ready meal in the microwave??says Nelson.
慦e can抰 know what was in Samantha抯 mind,?says Judy. 態ut there抯 no sign of forced entry. No suggestion that anyone was in the house with her. All the evidence points to her lying down on her bed and taking an overdose of sleeping pills. It抯 very sad but it抯 not suspicious. In my opinion.?
慖抳e got the post-mortem results here.?Nelson turns his screen to face Judy. 慍hris Stephenson agrees with you. Cause of death: respiratory failure due to chemical overdose.?
慣he daughter said her mother suffered from insomnia,?says Judy. 慔ence the sleeping pills.?
慏id the children say anything else??asks Nelson. Judy knows that he抯 not about to give up. His persistence is one of the things that makes him a good detective but it抯 rather trying when you抮e on the receiving end of it. 慔ad their mother seemed depressed recently??
慛o,?admits Judy. 慣hey were very shocked. They seem a close family. Samantha was devoted to her children and to her granddaughter. The son, Brady, saw his mother the day before she died when she seemed in good spirits.?
Nelson is silent for a minute, tapping a pen against his desk. Then he says, 慔ave a word with Intel. See if there have been any other suicides in the area recently. See if there抯 a pattern.?
慦hat sort of pattern??
慉 suicide where the person wasn抰 previously known as depressed. Something that came out of the blue. Like this one.?
慜K, boss.?Judy will talk to her friend Liz, a civilian data analyst. At least that will get Nelson off her back.