Chapter Forty-One

KAT

I rush into my office. Gail is sitting in a spare chair, balancing a combination of laptop, notepad and phone between her knees and the coffee table.

‘One of the patients believes Susan gave Rhys a letter to post,’ I say, pulling myself tight into my desk and picking up the phone. ‘I’m just going to call him now.’

‘Great. The police are checking over the CCTV. They believe there is a sighting of Susan leaving at around five thirty this morning.’

‘Where?’ I dial Rhys’ number.

‘Out towards Barnsley Road. She could have picked up a bus, so they’re on to the companies to check with drivers and check all CCTV they have. It will have been dark, not likely any local residents will have seen her, but I suppose you never know.’

‘You’d remember a woman on crutches, right?’

‘You would expect so,’ agrees Gail. ‘They’re trying cab firms too.’ She makes a note in her diary then scrolls through some papers in Susan’s file whilst I wait for my call to connect to Rhys.

‘Hello?’

‘Rhys, it’s Kat. Can you talk?’ I pull clean paper from the back of my diary and poise my pen. ‘There’s no news yet but we’ve been talking to the patients, to see if there’s anything we missed. Gloria, the woman in the bed opposite, says Susan gave you a letter to post?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Do you still have it? Can you remember who it was for? Or their address maybe?’ There is a pause on the other end of the line. ‘Rhys?’

‘Yeah, I’m here,’ he says, sounding distracted, sounding tired.

‘Do you still have the letter?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘No, I don’t, I…’

My heart sinks a little as his voice trails off. ‘Okay, don’t worry. Can you remember the address? Or a name? Anything at all?’ I start writing down the basics he has. ‘Do you know how to spell that?’

‘F. I. S. H. E. R. B. E. C. K,’ he spells. I open up my internet browser and search for the address in maps. ‘Ambleside,’ he adds. I write that down, holding it up for Gail to read too. She makes a note in her own pad. I flick back to my screen.

‘Fisherbeck… Ambleside… Okay, I think I’ve got it. It’s residential, right?’

‘Yeah. Look, Kat—’

‘And what did you say the name was? James…?’

‘Grey. With an e. Look, Kat, I’m here.’

I stop writing. ‘What?’ Gail looks up at me. ‘You’re where, Rhys?’

‘Ambleside,’ he says. ‘At James Grey’s. I hand delivered the letter…’ His voice trails off again and I drop my head into my hands.

‘I don’t understand… Why didn’t you…’ Gail has moved to stand beside me. I write a note on my pad for her to catch up on the detail, and her eyes widen as she reads it.

‘I drove up here without thinking. When I realised I’d made a mistake… Look, it’s complicated. And I couldn’t get in touch with you, your phone just went through to voicemail.’