Tina sounds sad but her voice is quite steady. She抯 seen death before, thinks Tanya.
慍an you think of any reason why the door might have been locked??asks Judy.
慛o,?says Tina, now sounding troubled. 慉t first I didn抰 think anything of it. I was just concentrating on Avril but later, when the policeman called, the one in uniform, I started to think about it. I even wondered if I抎 imagined it, but the door was definitely locked. I remember turning the key.?
慉nd there抯 no way Avril could have done it from the inside??asks Tanya.
慖 don抰 think so,?says Tina. 慉nd why would she do that??
So she couldn抰 change her mind, thinks Tanya. She is starting to think that lovely community-minded Avril, who didn抰 believe in medication, knew exactly what she was doing when she lay down on her bed in front of the mirrored wardrobes. She wonders if Judy has come to the same conclusion.
Judy doesn抰 give anything away but, after a few more questions, Tina says, 慐xcuse me,?and rushes into the garden where her grandchildren have begun pelting each other with chickenfeed.
Time to go. Judy calls out her thanks and they leave.
When Ruth gets back to the university, she finds someone waiting outside her door. This is unusual these days when most students prefer to email their requests for essay extensions and complaints about the curriculum. Ruth composes her face into a welcoming smile although she was looking forward to a few minutes?peace before her meeting on 慞andemic Precautions?
慔i,?she says. 慦ere you waiting for me??
Her visitor is a girl. A young woman, Ruth corrects herself. But the figure in front of her really doesn抰 look much older than Kate and has the same long, dark hair. It predisposes Ruth in her favour.
慪es,?says the girl. 慖 hope you don抰 mind. I抦 Eileen. Eileen Gribbon. I was at the excavation on Monday. I just wanted to ask you about it.?
This must mean that she抯 one of the first years. Ruth unlocks her office and ushers Eileen inside. Within a few minutes she has learnt that her visitor is from Guildford, she went to Spain on her gap year and that she loves hip-hop and modern dance.
態ut my family were originally from Norfolk,?she says. 慓ribbon is an old Norfolk name.?
In Ruth抯 experience, people either live in Norfolk for ever or get out as soon as they can. She asks why Eileen chose to study archaeology.
慖 think it was watching Time Team with my dad when I was a little girl,?says Eileen.
Ruth has lost count of the number of students delivered to her by Tony Robinson and Time Team.
慖t was a great programme,?she says. 慣hough things happen a bit more slowly on real digs.?
慣hat抯 what I wanted to talk to you about,?says Eileen. 慞eople are saying that there抯 going to be a dig in Tombland, and I wondered if I could be part of it.?
Ruth sighs. 慖抦 not planning a dig,?she says. 慣ombland抯 a popular tourist destination. I抎 never get funding.?
慉ren抰 you looking for a plague pit??says Eileen, sounding disappointed.
慣here抯 no evidence for a plague pit,?says Ruth, thinking of her conversation with Janet. 慣he skeleton I excavated on Monday was probably originally buried at St George抯。？
慖抳e been thinking about that,?says Eileen. 慖f the skeleton was buried away from the other graves, do you think it was someone who committed suicide??
Ruth looks at Eileen抯 open, youthful face. What gave her that idea? she wonders. It抯 actually not a bad theory. Suicides used to be buried on so-called unhallowed ground, outside the church walls. She抯 not sure of the theological reason. To prevent them posthumously infecting other, less desperate, souls?
慖t抯 an interesting thought,?she says. 慦e抣l do some more research into our skeleton when I have the carbon-14 and isotope results back. Isotope analysis will tell us where she grew up. I think it抯 a woman, by the way.?