“She says there are plans afoot to cut back all the overgrown foliage beside the riverbank, which is becoming unmanageable and choking the life out of some of the other plants,” Ryan said. “She was assessing what needs to be done and stumbled on the body. You wouldn’t have been able to see her from the top of the bank or from the house because of the placement of the rocks and plants,” Ryan added.
“Shapiro could have been heading back to the scene of a crime,” Lowerson persisted, and Phillips gave him a clap on the back.
“Alreet, Columbo,” he laughed.
“Well, I’m just saying, it’s possible.”
“I’m with Lowerson on this,” Ryan said. “Victor Swann’s things were scattered all around the area where she was found, so it’s possible somebody would return to the scene in daylight to recover a particular item of importance.”
“But what?” Yates asked.
“That’s what we need to find out.”
*
The remaining suspects on Ryan’s list were two under-gardeners who had been working in the grounds the previous day; their alibis had not yet been confirmed for the period between four and seven o’clock, when it seemed most likely Alice Chapman went missing. The team spent another twenty minutes or so discussing possible lines of enquiry and, having agreed that it was useless to theorise further without evidence to hand, they said goodnight. Once the house was quiet again, Ryan returned to the kitchen and spent another minute or two studying the faces of the people he had tacked up on the wall. The clock told him it was just shy of seven o’clock and he decided it was time to go in search of his fiancée.
Anna was sitting at the little antique dressing table in the master bedroom, which she’d commandeered as a desk. A lamp burned brightly against one side of her face, so that the other side remained in shadow and illuminated her profile like one of those Victorian miniatures he’d seen scattered around the main house.
Ryan watched her fiddle with the pencil she held in one hand while she turned the pages of a hefty-looking textbook with the other and felt love wash over him.
“Hi,” he murmured, leaning against the doorframe. “Do you want me to leave you to work a bit longer?”
Anna was so engrossed in first century history that she hadn’t heard him enter the room.
“Hi, yourself,” she leaned back and stretched her arms behind her back to ease out the kinks and was happy when he strolled across to plant a kiss on her upturned face.
“Thank you for dinner, earlier,” he said. “It’s getting to be a habit but everyone appreciated it. Especially Frank.”
Anna chuckled.
“I’m used to the way you all work, by now,” she said. “You have ‘down’ periods, where there’s a sort of plateau of ordinary casework then, every so often, there’ll be a case that taxes you a bit harder. Something out of the ordinary and more urgent than the rest. During those times, you barely remember to eat a slice of toast in the morning so I don’t mind doing what I can to keep the cogs turning.”
“You make me sound like a battered old machine.”
“Well, you’re not getting any younger,” she teased him. “In fact, perhaps I should start buying some cod liver oil capsules to keep those cogs moving.”
Ryan laughed, drawing her up for another kiss.
“Do you know what I love about you, Doctor Taylor?”
Anna smiled.
“My intelligence?”
“Apart from that.”
“My rapier wit?”
“I do appreciate it, but, apart from that.”
“What then?”
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her into the warmth of his body.
“You keep my feet planted firmly on the ground.”
Anna smiled and was reminded of MacKenzie’s words earlier in the day. Obviously, she was right and Ryan had been distracted by work, that was all.
“Happy to oblige,” she said. “Oh, how did your interview go, this morning? I’m sorry, I forgot to ask.”
He looked down into her expectant face and wondered where to begin.
“Morrison has already given the job to somebody else.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. Are you disappointed?”
“No, I never really wanted it.”
“But, this morning…?” Anna was thoroughly confused.
Ryan sat down on the edge of the bed and prepared to delve into the past.
*
When it was done and Ryan had purged himself of that part of his life which he chose most often to forget, he looked down to where Anna’s hand was clasped tightly in his own. “You should have told me before,” she said softly. “Did you think I wouldn’t understand?”
Ryan heaved a sigh.
“I don’t know. I was ashamed; when I think back to that part of my life concerning Jennifer Lucas, I hardly recognise myself. I was afraid of her. I can say that now, although I didn’t like to admit it at the time.”
Anna could hardly imagine him being afraid of anything or anyone. She’d seen Ryan face down the most dangerous criminals and situations, and yet he was telling her he’d once felt so powerless that the only thing he could do was escape. It was that admission that gave her most cause for concern.
“Should I be worried?”
Ryan looked at her and saw the makings of fear already beginning to mar the happiness they’d worked so hard to find.
His hand tightened on hers, then he raised her hand to his lips to press a kiss against her palm.
“I’d never let anybody harm you, Anna.”
But as she watched the bedroom light fall on the top of his bent head, Anna thought privately that it was not herself she was worried about.
Who was there to watch over him?
CHAPTER 18
Tuesday 16th August
The following morning, Ryan awoke to find an e-mail from the police pathologist to say he’d completed his preliminary report and, by nine-thirty, Ryan was pulling his car around to the service entrance of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, where he found Phillips already waiting for him.
“Morning!”
“How the hell do you manage to be so cheerful this early in the day?”
“I never kiss and tell,” Phillips winked.
Ryan snorted eloquently and joined his sergeant beneath a cheap perforated plastic canopy outside the service entrance. It was deserted apart from a junior doctor who stood a few metres away sucking rhythmically on a cigarette, staring out at the car park with a glazed expression that spoke of long-term sleep deprivation.
Phillips took a deep breath as they passed by.
“Two years and counting since I last had a cig.”
“Just say ‘no’,” Ryan advised him. “Think of cancer. Emphysema. Bad breath. Failing that, think of what MacKenzie would do if she caught you.”
As a threat, it didn’t get better than that.
“You’ve convinced me,” Phillips said, turning his back resolutely. “Lead me away from temptation.”
Together, they made their way down into the depths of the hospital until they found themselves on the basement level. A wide corridor led them to a set of secure metal doors at the end and the air was stifling, thanks to a set of powerful air vents which expelled hot air while keeping the mortuary cold.
“It’s tropical down here,” Phillips complained.