Refusing to take the card, Mrs Collins placed her hands in her pockets. ‘I’ve told you all I know, so now if you’ll excuse me, I need to lock this room. You know the way out, don’t you?’
Regretfully, Gina did and it was through the smelly hall. Within minutes they were getting back into the car. Gina pulled her seat belt on. ‘She knows about Scarlett Gregory, of that I’m sure. How do you feel that went?’
Jacob pulled a mint from his pocket and popped it into his mouth. ‘She looked worried, really worried. Especially when you asked for Mr Collins’s whereabouts at the weekend. I don’t think we can exclude him from our list of suspects.’
‘I know it’s a feeble start but maybe the least we can do is confirm that they were at Tesco’s on Saturday morning, just to establish whether that part was true. They were both lying, I’m sure of that, but being sure isn’t enough. We can’t arrest anyone because we think they are lying.’ She stared onto the dark playing field with only a glint of street lamp hitting the edge of a goalpost at the back. ‘But we do need to know what they’re lying about.’
25
Madison stood outside the hospital, taking in the freshness of the crisp winter air. It had been stuffy in the medical assessment ward her nanna was in but, thankfully, the damage wasn’t too bad. Just a minor cut and a couple of small bruises. She swallowed as she thought of the poor old woman lying in the corner of the kitchen after she’d slipped on some spilt milk. A whole hour had gone by before the carer visiting had called the ambulance her nanna didn’t really need.Best to be safe than sorry and get her checked out,the carer had said.
She tried Alice’s number again and this time she answered. ‘Alice. Glad I caught you. I don’t think I’ll be back tonight. Can you keep an eye on my apartment and feed my fish?’
‘Of course, mate. I still have your spare key from when you went on holiday.’
Madison smiled. ‘Thanks.’
‘Is everything okay with your nan? I tried to call you earlier but I couldn’t get through.’
As Madison spoke a plume of white mist coiled in the air. She shivered as she walked away from the main entrance of the hospital and stood beside a stationary ambulance. Cold, she continued to walk. She passed the smoking hut and headed towards the car park. ‘She had a fall, that’s all. Not a serious one but they just needed to check her out as she’s still healing from the last fall. I’m going to stay with her tonight, if they let her out. I need to be there to settle her in. She’s a bit shaken and needs to get her confidence back with the Zimmer frame.’
‘I’m really sorry to hear that. Tell her to get well soon from me. Are you okay? Is there anything else I can do? Do you need an overnight bag making up?’
Pausing, Madison stared into the darkness, just about able to make out the large expanse of land ahead with the helipad in the middle and a thick row of trees beyond the car park. She shivered and not because of the cold this time. It felt as though the darkness was about to swallow her up. As she turned back to the hospital entrance she almost crashed into a man in a wheelchair. ‘Sorry,’ she called.
‘Madison? Are you okay?’ Alice’s voice came through the phone.
‘Yes, I nearly crashed into someone. I best go and thanks for the offer but I’m okay. I have a spare of everything at Nanna’s. Are you alright?’
‘Don’t worry about me. Even Tyrone has brushed me off tonight. I bet he’s got another date with that man he liked. Anyway, I’ve decided I’ve been a wimp. I’m about to land a few smileys on a whole load of profiles so who knows where that will take me. I might be out on a hot date this weekend or even sooner. I think I’m going to head to the pub for a couple, see who’s there.’
Madison let out a chuckle. ‘Well, have a good one and have a drink for me, even if you are going to be a Billy no-mates. Speak soon.’ The signal dropped as it had done a few times while she’d been at the hospital and Alice was gone. She walked around, holding her phone in the air until she reached the smoking hut.
A young man wearing a dressing gown and trailing a drip held a cigarette to his lips. ‘Want one?’ He held the packet in her direction.
‘No, thank you.’ She smiled then walked past and stood on the grass. She had one bar left on her phone, then it would die on her. A notification flashed in the corner of the screen. That orange AD logo with a smiley face in the D told her that she had more interest on her AppyDater profile. Now wasn’t a good time. She clicked on the app, headed to profile and deactivated her profile before deleting the app. She looked ridiculous with that mustard-filled hotdog sticking out of her mouth. The notification was now gone, along with the app. Maybe it was what her friends were doing and she wished them all the best, but she preferred the more conventional ways of meeting dates; at uni, at the pub or on holiday – any way but the AppyDater way.
Her mind flitted back to the pub toilets and the person who tried to scare her; then there was the dark lane. The shadows and rustling of trees – she shivered. She’d bumped into a couple of men. Had they moved into her path on purpose?Stop it, she told herself. Her paranoia was getting out of hand.
‘See you.’ The young man left the smoking shelter and shuffled back towards the hospital, leaving her alone next to a tree. For a moment, she tried to weigh up how much effort it would take to fake a drip and stand in a smoking hut. She wanted to slap herself. No one knew she was coming here. She didn’t even know she’d be at the hospital today. Even her practical course components didn’t take place at Cleevesford General; she was often based in Worcester. She glanced at her watch. Nanna’s discharge papers should be ready. As she took a step, she glanced around one last time and in the darkness she saw a still figure, just a silhouette against the moonlight on the path alongside the fenced-off helipad field. She stared at it and was sure he was staring back. He was whistling something, a melody that sounded like a lullaby she vaguely recognised. The whistling broke up and he stopped. She took two steps closer but the figure turned and walked away into the misty night.
She ran back to the entrance, knowing she had to get Nanna and hurry to Nanna’s house, where she felt safe.
26
Gina took the last bite of the large cheese sub. She wiped her lips with the napkin and sat back as the team started to join her at the table in the incident room. She’d bought plenty of snacks for everyone. As she swigged her water, she headed to the front of the room where she scanned the boards to recap on all the information that they’d garnered so far.
Bernard accidentally kicked the doorframe as he rushed into the room. ‘Bloody hell!’
Gina had heard the crack so she knew it must have hurt. His ashen face told her that he’d been working nonstop. He slammed a takeaway coffee and a folder on the table before slipping his coat off and grabbing a roll. Jacob and O’Connor entered with hot drinks and proceeded to take a seat. PCs Smith and Kapoor placed down some extra seats and shuffled in. Kapoor pulled a stray black hair from her uniform and dropped it on the floor. All of them grabbed some food.
Wyre hurried in, her face buried in her phone as she bit into an apple. She pressed one last button and placed it in her pocket and smiled across at Gina.
‘Right, thank you. Let’s get started.’ Gina placed her water bottle down on the damp window ledge and flicked the switch on another heater. ‘I know it’s cold but hopefully the heating will be sorted tomorrow.’
‘Thank God for that,’ O’Connor said as he put his scarf on.
Briggs sidled in from the back and walked over to Gina. As the chatter in the room got louder he came a little closer, almost touching her. He gave her that smile, the one only she saw.
