Page 67 of No Safe Place

Saturday | Morning

Field

The Jacobs’ home was in Erith, a large detached red-brick house.

Wilson pulled onto the drive, parking next to a smart little Corsa.

There were no curtains in the downstairs windows, and as they approached the front door, Field could see straight into the bare living room. The driveway was neat and well maintained, no weeds sprouting through the cracks in the paving – a war Field had long given up on in her courtyard at home.

Ruby opened the door within a few seconds, and Field wondered whether she’d been waiting in the hall for them.

‘Hi, Ruby, I’m DCI Field, and this is DS Wilson.’

They held out their warrant cards, but the girl didn’t look at them.

Ruby was a tiny wisp of a girl with big dark eyes and dyed-purple hair. She was wearing a long-sleeved black dress and, despite the weather, black tights.

‘You spoke to my colleague, I believe?’ Field asked, gently. ‘You were expecting us?’

‘Yes, God. Sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I think it’s the heat.’

She led them through the hallway, which was stacked high with moving boxes. There were marks on the walls, where pictures once hung, and a large mirror was on its side, leaning against the bottom banisters.

‘You’ll have to mind the mess,’ Ruby said, her voice a squeak. ‘Mum and Dad are getting the new place sorted. They complain about all the DIY, but—’ she kicked a black bag out of the way ‘—I think I drew the short straw, packing this place up.’

‘Moving house is the worst,’ Wilson said with feeling, as they made it to the kitchen. ‘My housemates and I are looking for somewhere at the moment. Total nightmare.’

Ruby seemed to relax a little. Gold star, Wilson.

The kitchen was empty too – nothing on the sides, apart from a kettle and a tea cannister. A temporary-looking dining table was set up against the far wall, consisting of a cheap white desk and a few garden chairs. Ruby didn’t offer them a drink.

‘Hopefully we won’t take up too much of your time, Ruby,’ Field said, as she sat down.

Wilson pulled her daybook from her bag, and produced a pen from her breast pocket.

Ruby nodded, went to speak, hesitated. ‘You already know about my sister, don’t you?’

She looked crestfallen. Field kept her voice gentle. ‘Yes, Ruby. I think DS Riley explained on the phone, that in the course of our investigation, we’ve been looking into Dr David Moore’s past patients.’

‘And the trial?’ Ruby pressed.

‘Yes,’ Field answered. ‘And the trial.’

The girl’s hands were on the table. They looked dry and painful, like she’d scrubbed at the skin. The fingernails were bitten down to painful-looking stubs, the skin around the nail beds picked at and raw.

Ruby flopped back into her seat. ‘I thought so. I was shocked when I saw the news about David, but then Sam too—’

Sam’s name hadn’t hit the press yet.

Ruby must have caught Field’s expression, because her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened a little. ‘I saw it on Facebook. I’m friends with Sam on there.’

They were going to need to tread carefully. Ruby could clearly give them valuable information, but if Field wasn’t careful she’d clam up like Lily.

‘I wanted to ask you about Paige’s time at the Maudsley, Ruby. Did you visit Paige in the hospital?’

‘Every week,’ she said, looking away from them, towards the door. ‘Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.’

‘That must have been hard,’ Wilson said.

Ruby wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, but didn’t say anything. It had to take a toll, being the child your parents weren’t terrified for.

‘Look, Ruby. I’ll be perfectly honest with you. We know the attacks were linked. That means we’re looking for a double murderer.’

Ruby’s head cocked in her direction.

‘There’s good reason to believe it’s linked to the trial. We’ve traced some of the patients, but—’

‘Oh no.’ Ruby shook her head firmly. ‘Paige wouldn’t want me to betray her – her friends.’

Field’s silence was Wilson’s signal to pick up from her. Ruby had already shared a moment with her; they were closer in age.

‘It’s not betraying them, Ruby,’ Wilson said earnestly. ‘You could be keeping them safe. We can’t protect them, not when we don’t know who they are.’

Her voice was a whine, more tears falling. ‘I don’t know if I should tell you.’

Wilson passed the notebook and pen to Field, and leaned forward to hold one of Ruby’s battered hands. ‘We’ve spoken to Callum Mulligan—’ a sharp intake of breath from Ruby ‘—and Lily Stewart.’

Ruby nodded miserably, wiped her face with her free hand.

Field had the pen poised.

‘That last person, whoever they might be, that could be the key to us finding out what happened to Sam.’

Ruby tipped her head back, and Wilson let her hand go. ‘Okay.’

Field’s jaw was clenched. This was it – the last of the five.

‘His name is Andy.’ Her voice was steadier. ‘Andrew Levey. He lives in Blackheath. Works in IT or software, or something.’

Patient C.

Field tempered her relief and exhilaration.

He was in Blackheath. That meant they’d all stayed local to South East London. Unusual, maybe, these days. Most young people wanted to live in Clapham or Dalston, somewhere things were happening.

Field wrote it down as Wilson spoke.

‘Andy was at the hospital with your sister? And he was part of the trial?’

‘Yes.’ Ruby tugged the hem of her short dress closer to her knees. ‘He was my favourite, if I’m honest. Quiet, a bit shy. Like me.’

‘Have you had any contact with him recently? Or anyone else from the trial – Callum, Lily, Sam?’

‘No.’

Field gave her a warm smile. ‘I know this is hard for you Ruby—’

‘Yeah it is. I don’t know – I wasn’t expecting—’ Ruby’s voice rose, hands clenched on the table. ‘I just thought you’d want to know about Paige.’

‘This situation, it must be incredibly difficult for you, and your family—’ Wilson started, but Ruby cut her off.

‘I dug some photos of her out of the boxes, because I thought you’d want to see. I even—’ Her breath hitched. ‘I thought you might be looking into what happened to her.’

Surprise was written all over Wilson’s face.

Ruby chewed the inside of her cheek, then her anger seemed to pass. ‘She had her whole life ahead of her.’

‘I’ve seen a photo of her,’ Field lied. ‘She was beautiful.’

Ruby nodded, miserably.

‘It was actually Lily, who told us about Paige,’ Field said, watching closely for a reaction. ‘Lily spoke very highly of her. It sounds like she was a force to be reckoned with.’

‘She was,’ Ruby squeaked. ‘She was amazing.’

‘And she was in the Maudsley for just under two years?’

‘Yes.’ The girl exhaled. ‘She went in a kid, and then it was like she came out a grown-up. It changed her, being in there. I missed having her at home, even if life was easier—’

She broke off, looked stricken.

‘I understand. It can be hard, watching a loved one go through something like that.’ Field’s voice cracked, and she reddened, clearing her throat like she had a frog in it. ‘Did you see David Moore there, when you visited?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Ruby picked at her nail varnish. ‘And Paige never stopped talking about him, even after she came home.’

Field wasn’t really sure where to take their conversation next. The big win had been Andrew Levey’s name.

‘It must have been very hard for your parents, Ruby. Losing Paige, after she’d worked so hard to get better.’

Ruby waved a hand around the kitchen. ‘Well, look how long it took them to move out of our house.’ Ruby sniffed. ‘Her room was the same as it was. Totally untouched for years, until a couple of months ago. They couldn’t face it, so—’

‘You had to pack her things away?’ Field asked.

‘Yeah.’

Field couldn’t blame them for staying on in the house for so long. Losing a child, especially in an accident—

It seemed like Ruby wasn’t happy about the move. Field wondered what she saw when she looked at the empty rooms, whether she visualised them full of their old belongings.

‘Are you going with them, Ruby? To the coast?’

‘Yes, I am. Someone has to look after them. I work in a pharmacy, so I should be okay.’

With her gothic look and dark eye make-up, Field couldn’t imagine Ruby offering out cheerful greetings alongside prescriptions.

Field needed to wrap up the interview. She needed to call Bellamy, get him onto tracing Andrew.

But it was clear Ruby was wrestling with something.

Ruby chewed the inside of her cheek, then let the words out in a torrent. ‘It’s hard to explain, but the five of them were so close. Like they knew each other inside out – and I find it weird. They all went their separate ways after the trial, like it was just all done, you know?

‘Paige didn’t really speak to them anymore, and I wonder if she was struggling. The car accident – it was raining and she’d seemed tired that week, like she was getting ill.’

Field didn’t need to ask what kind of ill Ruby meant.

Ruby reached across the table, gripping Field’s hand, with surprising force. ‘You have to understand, I’m all she’s got. My parents have this golden view of her, off to RADA, cured – but I think there was more to it all.’

Ruby’s intensity was unsettling.

‘More to it all?’ Field echoed.

Ruby puffed out her cheeks; her grip went limp. ‘I sound crazy. I don’t know.’

Field waited.

‘I just think, if there was something to know – they’d have all known it.’