She has just decided that Cathbad would knock on the door with a bottle of locally sourced wine when she sees a figure walking down her path. Ruth hurries to open the door.
Her new neighbour is a pleasant-looking woman of probably Ruth抯 own age. She has brown hair pulled into a messy bun and is wearing paint-stained dungarees.
慔i. I thought I抎 come and say hallo. I抦 Zoe.?
慠uth.?Ruth extends her hand. 慦ould you like to come in for a cup of tea or coffee??
慣hat would be lovely if it抯 not disturbing you.?Zoe nods towards the open laptop.
慛o, it抯 OK. Just answering a few work emails.?
慦hat do you do??asks Zoe, following Ruth into the house.
慖 teach archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. UNN.?Ruth always thinks that her institution has a very unpleasing acronym. It looks even worse written down.
慣hat must be so interesting. I抦 a nurse.?
慦ill you be working at the Queen Elizabeth??
慛o, I抦 a practice nurse. I抦 starting with a GP surgery in Wells. Westway.?
慡ounds great. I抳e got some good friends in Wells.?
慖t抯 beautiful there. Well, it抯 beautiful everywhere in Norfolk.?
Ruth warms to her neighbour. She likes people who appreciate her adopted county. Unlike Nelson who never stops moaning about the dullness, flatness and general lack of northern grit. And unlike Ruth抯 mother, who thought Norfolk was godforsaken. And, in her case, she meant it literally.
Ruth and Zoe chat about work and family and pets. Zoe is from Lincolnshire, divorced with no children. She has a Maine Coon cat called Derek. Ruth explains about Kate and Flint.
慜h, I think I saw Flint in the garden earlier. Is he ginger? He抯 gorgeous. Derek was a house cat when I lived in Lincoln but I抦 hoping he can go out here.?
慖抦 sure he抣l be able to. It抯 a very quiet road. It only leads to these three houses.?
慖 love the quiet,?says Zoe.
慚e too,?says Ruth. It occurs to her that she might have found a friend but, before she can say more, Kate bounds in with demands to have a frog costume by tomorrow. 慦e抮e doing an assembly about the environment.?Zoe smiles and says she had better go. At the door, she adds that she can sew and would be happy to help with any future costumes. Better and better, thinks Ruth.
Chapter 5
? . . and making sure to wash your hands thoroughly whenever you come in. Experts suggest singing 揌appy Birthday?twice over while you do it.?
Jo beams around the room. Nelson groans inwardly. Is this what his life has become? Listening to a woman in jogging clothes （慳thleisure-wear?according to his woman officers） telling him to wash his hands? Jo asks if there are any questions and Judy would like to know if there are contingency plans in the event of the virus taking hold in the UK. Nelson shoots Judy a reproachful look. Don抰 encourage her. Jo says importantly that she is on a coronavirus working party. Then, thank goodness, she leaves the room and Nelson can get on with his briefing.
慣here are a couple of things that bother me about the Gaywood suicide,?he says. 慖抎 like you, Judy, to speak to the adult children. See if you can get a sense of the mother抯 mood in recent months.?
慏o you really think it could be foul play??asks Tony Zhang. He抯 the newest member of the team and manages to get an unseemly relish into the words 慺oul play?
慣here抯 no sign of it,?says Nelson, repressively. 慣here抣l be a post-mortem. That抯 routine in cases like this. But, like I say, there are a couple of things. A ready meal in the microwave, for one thing.?
慞eople don抰 always act logically before taking their own lives,?says Judy. 慣here are plenty of cases of people buying return tickets, that sort of thing.?
慖 know,?says Nelson. 態ut it can抰 hurt to check up.?He stops himself from adding 憈here抯 a good girl? He has three daughters, two of them adult professionals, and knows where the line is. Judy is a detective inspector. She should really be leading her own team but, to do that, she would probably need to move from Norfolk. Nelson dreads that day although he knows he should be encouraging Judy to look for jobs elsewhere. Or retire himself.