The History Suite (#9 - The Craig Modern Thriller Series) (8 page)

“Not like this one. There are instrument and dressing trolleys everywhere, but the linen trolley is much bigger and heavier than those are. I noticed it because it’s normally inside the linen room; Sister Norton goes ballistic if it isn’t, in case someone hurts themselves on it.”

Annette wrinkled her brow quizzically. “Are the edges sharp?” She already knew the question was stupid; a sharp edge wouldn’t be allowed on a modern ward – Health and Safety.

Donard shook her head. “No, but it’s heavy. If a child pulled it down on top of them they would be badly hurt. We get lots of kids visiting their grandparents, and scout troops as well, coming to cheer the patients up.”

“So where was the linen trolley?”

“In front of the sluice room door. I thought one of the porters had just been lazy; it’s their job to make sure it stays inside the linen room.”

Annette nodded. “What happened then?”

The nurse glanced away, remembering. “I said I’d meet Caro in the canteen then I went in to get the towels.”

She paused looking ashamed and Annette knew she was chastising herself for thinking about coffee while her friend was lying dead. She smiled kindly.

“You couldn’t have known.”

“I know, but…”

Annette shook her head firmly. “No buts. Everyone looks back and feels guilty when someone dies. The only ones who don’t are murderers. Tell me what happened next.”

Carmen turned to Jack behind the mirror. “Is that true?”

“What? That only murderers don’t feel guilty?”

She nodded and he thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“Yes and no. Not everyone innocent feels guilty, especially if they hated the deceased, and not all murderers shrug it off, some of them try to justify what they’ve done and some bury it under drink or drugs, trying to forget. Depends on why they killed. But generally it’s correct; most perps don’t have the same conscience that normal people do.”

He pointed Carmen back to the interview. Hannah Donard was close to tears as she described what she’d found inside the linen room.

“I just… I just walked inside and started rummaging through the towels. I didn’t even look around me. I was annoyed that I couldn’t go to the canteen, annoyed about a bloody cup of coffee.”

Her voice broke and Annette gave her a minute before she gently urged her on. “What did you notice in the room?”

Donard closed her eyes at the memory, squeezing salty tears down her cheeks. After a moment she answered, her voice even huskier than before. “Her shoe.” She corrected herself with her eyes still closed. “A shoe. I saw a shoe.” Her eyes flew open. “I didn’t know it was Ellie’s, not…”

Annette leaned forward, anxious not to let the girl get distracted. “What do you remember seeing next?”

The nurse swallowed hard, forcing the tears away. “A foot and… a leg, then a nurse’s uniform.” She stared past Annette at the wall. “She was wearing her cardigan. Ellie was always cold – we used to tease her about it.”

Annette’s voice was firm. “Did you see her face? Did you know it was your friend?”

Donard shook her head. “I couldn’t move. I just screamed.”

“So when did you know it was Eleanor Rudd?”

“Later. Sister told me later.”

“Tell me what happened when you screamed.”

The tears flowed again. “I couldn’t move. I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

Annette already knew. She’d been afraid that the body would move suddenly, that the killer was still there or that death was contagious somehow; the usual reasons for fear when you unexpectedly find someone dead. But she still needed to hear it from Hannah Donard.

Donard shook her head. “It sounds ridiculous.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“I thought that… that if I tried to walk to the door, she would grab me.” She laughed and then stifled it, aware how incongruous it seemed.

Annette nodded. “It’s a common reaction.” She urged the girl on. “What happened when you screamed?”

“Someone came. I, I think it was Dr Cooke. He took me out of the room then someone must have called the police.”

Annette’s ears pricked up. It was the first time she’d heard Cooke’s name and she was sure it would be new to Craig.

“Who’s Dr Cooke?”

Donard waved a hand vaguely as if Cooke was standing there. “Adrian? He’s the F2 on the ward.”

Medical titles had changed since Annette’s day but she knew an F2 was a doctor in training’s grade.

“Tell me about him.”

Donard’s vagueness continued. “He’s just Adrian. Nice.” Suddenly her eyes widened, as if she’d remembered something terrible. “Oh God, it must have been awful for him.”

“What?”

“Seeing Ellie like that. They…”

Her words tailed off and a cautious look entered her eyes. Annette knew she was holding something back.

“They what?”

The nurse shook her head and Annette instantly knew there’d been something between Adrian Cooke and the deceased, but Hannah Donard wasn’t going to say what. She continued the interview for five minutes, showing Donard a plan of the linen room and getting her to mark the position of the body, then she wrapped up and called Sandi to arrange Donard’s transport home. She headed for the staff-room and was slumped in a chair with a cup of fresh tea when Carmen and Jack arrived. She glanced up as they entered.

“Well? What did you think?”

Carmen wound a copper curl round her finger thoughtfully before she answered. “She’s innocent, and I think she genuinely liked Eleanor Rudd. But she knows that if she says any more about Rudd and this Dr Cooke it will make him a suspect.”

Annette nodded. “Which means they knew each other well.” She sipped her tea. “That was useful; we’ve ruled two nurses out and one doctor in. Have a cup of tea and then we’ll go and tell the boss.”

***

4 p.m.

“OK, let’s start. There’s a lot to get through.” Craig turned round from the desk he was perched on towards his P.A. “Nicky, could you join us, please. This could get complicated and I’d like some notes.”

Just then Annette and Carmen strolled onto the floor. Craig beckoned them over and their strolls became rapid strides.

“Grab a coffee. We need to get moving on this.” He scanned the faces in front of him, deciding on the order of their reports. “OK, Liam, let’s take you and Jake first, then Annette and Carmen, followed by Davy. I’ll wrap up.” He gestured at Liam. “Fire away.”

Craig drained his espresso and poured another as Liam folded his arms comfortably across his paunch. He looked like he was about to read them a bedtime story instead of give a report.

“OK. Jake and I interviewed all the ward staff and patients on Newman and there’s none who could have manually strangled Rudd. But we did learn something; she wasn’t very well liked.”

Craig cut in. “Why not?”

Liam shook his head. “No-one was saying. Just a general impression.”

“From the staff or the patients?”

“Mostly staff but a couple of the old ladies said Rudd was mean.”

Craig nodded. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it meant something. “What about the males on the ward?”

“Just coming to them. There was only one male patient on Newman – an old boy of eighty-five who wasn’t well at all. He couldn’t have killed a fly. The male staff are Drs Adrian Cooke and Patrick Hamilton. Hamilton’s the ward consultant.”

Annette interrupted. “No he’s not. He’s the staff grade. It’s a non-consultant grade.”

Liam sniffed and carried on. “Well, either way he went on holiday to Greece on Tuesday night so that rules him out.”

Craig nodded. “Davy, check him out just the same. Tell me about Adrian Cooke.” For some reason the name sounded familiar.

Liam took out his notebook, squinting at its tiny pages. Annette grinned gleefully.

“Time for glasses.”

She hadn’t forgiven him for the ribbing when she’d got a pair the year before.

“I’m just tired, that’s all. OK, Adrian Cooke. Thirty-two, graduated from med school in 2004. He’s a foundation two grade in medicine and wants to specialise in elderly medicine. Been on the unit since 2012 and finishes there in six months.”

Craig halted him. “Did you get this from him?”

Liam shook his head. “Sister Norton. Cooke’s off today; I’ll interview him tomorrow.”

Annette nodded at Craig to interrupt. “We heard about Cooke this afternoon, during the interview with Hannah Donard.”

“Heard what?”

“When Donard found the body she screamed. She was in shock but she thinks Cooke was the person who came to help. Donard said it must have been awful for him seeing Ellie like that. She went to say something else but stopped herself.”

Craig leaned forward. “There was something between them?”

Annette nodded. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions but romance would be most likely, given their ages.”

Craig nodded. “Check it out, please.” He waved Liam on.

Liam smiled at the idea of a ward romance. “Speaking of ward romances, practically every nurse we interviewed had the hots for the Prof.”

Craig gawped, thinking of the middle-aged academic. “Tim Taylor? Are you sure?”

Jake interjected. “Positive, sir. I was witness to it. There was an inordinate amount of giggling every time Taylor’s name was mentioned. The sister was the worst.”

“Which sister?”

Jake gave Liam a puzzled look.

“There is only one.”

“No, there isn’t. There’s Jane Norton on Newman Ward and Hazel Gormley on Reilly.”

Liam nodded in realisation. “We haven’t got to Reilly yet. Jane Norton was the giggler. She fancies Taylor something rotten.”

Craig and Ken Smith exchanged a glance. “We got the impression that Taylor knew our victim fairly well.”

Liam nodded sagely at Jake. “What did I say, lad? Romantic rivalry. Taylor’s running that place like a harem.”

Craig smiled at the image evoked by the words and the apoplectic expressions on Annette’s and Carmen’s faces. Before a row could break out he summarised.

“OK, so you’re saying that so far none of the patients or staff on Newman could have strangled anyone, with the caveat that Dr Hamilton was away and Dr Cooke was off. Cooke will be interviewed tomorrow as a possible suspect. Anyone else?”

“A male nurse. He was strong enough to have done it but neither of us got the vibe.”

Craig trusted Liam’s instincts but the nurse still needed to be checked. “Give his name to Davy anyway. OK, thanks Liam. There’s at least another day’s interviewing on Reilly Suite, so get Joe Rice down tomorrow to help speed things up.” He turned towards Annette. “Anything useful from Hannah Donard?”

Annette shook her head. “Just confirmation of when she found Rudd, the position of the body and the fact that she feels survivor guilt. She did say something interesting about the linen trolley though.”

“Go on.”

“Well, apparently it was always kept in the linen room because it’s so heavy; in case it fell on someone, especially a child.”

“Do many visit the E.M.U.?”

Even as Craig asked the question he knew the answer was yes. He’d visited his grandparents in hospital when he was young.

“Yes. And if it fell on one of them they’d be badly hurt. Donard said the porters must have left it outside the room, being lazy.”

“OK, check that out and Davy can pull the CCTV for you.”

Davy shook his head. “S…Sorry chief, I can’t. There’s CCTV pretty much everywhere in the unit but there. The linen, s…sluice and clinical rooms are in an uncovered area.”

Craig was astounded, not because of the linen room but because of the drugs in the clinical room lock-box. “There’s no security where they keep the controlled drugs?”

Davy smiled cheekily. “I didn’t say that. There’s CCTV inside the clinical room, just not in the area outside.”

“It’s an omission that makes choosing the linen room as a kill site look deliberate. It also points to someone who knew the unit well; who else would have known about the lack of CCTV?” He waved Annette on. “Did you get any impression of Donard’s relationship with the deceased?”

“It seemed cordial, judging by her use of her nick-name, Ellie. You don’t call someone you hate by a pet name.”

“Good point. Anything more?”

Annette shook her head and looked to Carmen for anything she’d forgotten. Carmen’s soft burr made Ken turn towards her and Nicky smile; she hadn’t forgotten her bet that she could get the two of them together someday.

“I agree with everything Annette said. Donard seemed fond of Eleanor Rudd and I’m sure something was going on between Rudd and Dr Cooke.”

“Good. OK, Davy, what have you got?”

Davy sat forward with his hands clasped between his knees. It was a new posture for him and it didn’t look very comfortable; somehow Craig doubted the try out would last.

“I pulled the CCTV from Newman W…Ward and the main hospital corridor leading to the unit, but I’m struggling to get the tapes from Reilly S…Suite. The sister says it’s the residents’ home, so we may be looking at a w…warrant there.”