Cut to the Bone Read online

  Rob pulled the window shut, moving aside to let Vanessa lock it.

  ‘Your children, do they know Ruby?’ he said.

  ‘No, I don’t think so. They are away at boarding school most of the time. We have a house in Guildford during the holidays. This is our London flat, for Lee’s work.’

  Rob tried to keep his voice neutral. Sure, it was normal to have kids in boarding school and a flat in Little Venice as your crash pad. This was some whacked normal.

  ‘And you? Did you know her?’

  Vanessa looked hesitant at first.

  ‘I feel as though I did,’ she said. ‘And not in a pleasant way.’

  They were standing in the Tans’ kitchen. Dark wood surfaces, a dining table, chrome cooker and fridge. Not a single glass or plate was out of place.

  Rob shared his flat with two other guys. He wanted to take Vanessa home, get her to organise the mess.

  Through the kitchen windows you could see into Ruby’s bedroom and the Days’ kitchen. Jess was back in there. Other CSIs were in the bedroom. The darkened November sky made their white suits pop against the dull backdrop.

  ‘I know her, in that I’ve observed her.’

  Vanessa twisted her wedding ring.

  ‘Sometimes, when I load the dishwasher or finish up in here after dinner, especially if we’ve had a small gathering, I look out. I’m not spying, but my eyes are drawn to the light. She occasionally doesn’t drop her blinds, so she stands out brightly in the darkness. I see the back of her head, usually; mostly she’s either at her computer or her dressing table. Sometimes she’s on her phone, on her bed. It always reminds me of my own daughter, of my own youth. Lying on your bed, playing with your hair, talking away. Of course, back then I had to make the phone cord stretch.’

  Vanessa looked to him for acknowledgement.

  ‘Have you ever seen anything unusual?’ Rob said.

  ‘Once. Some things stay with you, don’t they? I saw her with her young man. At least I think it was him.’

  ‘Dan Grant?’ Rob Googled him on his phone, brought his picture up. ‘This him?’

  ‘Yes. He was there. I was switching the dishwasher on, I think. I can barely remember. I didn’t have the kitchen light on, I remember that. They couldn’t see me. I saw them clearly, though. They were having a conversation. A heated one. Ruby was shaking her head, gesticulating with her hands. Her friend, he was shouting, angry.’

  ‘You could see that from here?’ he said. He looked out, tried to make out anyone’s features. They all had masks on. He tried to see if Jess’s eyes were visible.

  ‘It was more the way he was acting, his body language. Ruby pushed him away at one point, and it really affected me. He grabbed her wrists. Held them by her sides, then behind her back. She struggled. He put his face into hers, so I couldn’t see the expression, but Ruby turned her face away, over her shoulder. It just looked wrong. And, you will think I’m crazy, but I shouted out. I shouted out into the darkness. Let her go, I said. Let her go.’

  ‘What happened then?’

  ‘It was strange, but he heard me. I know he didn’t, obviously, but it seemed that way. He looked up. He must have seen my silhouette, or something, but in any case he let Ruby go and left her. She sat on the bed and . . . she sobbed, her face in her hands.’

  ‘When was this?’

  Vanessa’s eyes turned to the left as she recalled her dates and times. ‘Just over four weeks ago, I think,’ she said.

  ‘Had you seen them fight before? Or since?’

  ‘No, not that I recall.’

  ‘Anything else odd?’

  ‘No. Except . . . it’s nothing, just scared me a little.’

  ‘Scared you? What did you see?’

  ‘Ruby, I saw her one evening, at her dressing table. The lights were all off, but she had two candles burning in front of the mirror. She was rocking back and forth. It looked as though she was praying, or chanting. For a moment, it seemed horrific.’

  Rob stared back into the bedroom. You could make out the dressing-table mirror. In the dark, with candles burning, it would be clearly visible.

  Jess cornered him when he went back to the Days’ flat.

  ‘I knew you couldn’t resist me for long,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t flatter yourself, detective,’ she said. She pulled her mask down. She had a mark above her lip, a scar. It looked like she had had a cleft palate. Her eyes didn’t meet his as she spoke, already determining he wouldn’t want to know. Rob Pelt, with his blond hair, grey eyes, boy-band looks? He wouldn’t be interested in her.

  Rob hated being judged, defined, by his outer shell; it had happened all his life. Sure, he played up to it when needed, but inside, he had some depth.

  ‘Investigating is making me thirsty,’ he said. ‘You sure you don’t want that drink with me?’

  She blushed. Was she embarrassed at the assumptions she had made about him, or was she genuinely interested?

  ‘There’s something you need to see,’ she said instead.

  She laid out a series of plastic wallets for him, containing bits of paper. Rob checked them all, reading the contents. Something clicked, something DS Harris had said. He said it looked as though Ruby’s room had been cleaned out, tidied up, all paper removed. Rob realised he was looking at evidence proving that’s exactly what had happened.

  Chapter Forty-one

  Laura and Mike Day had moved beyond the hysteria they must have suffered. They were in the resigned phase, the worst phase. It was like drowning in tar and realising you couldn’t save yourself.

  They had rehashed everything Kate had heard earlier. She couldn’t believe it was only hours earlier. A week squeezed into a day. The sky was now purple-grey, the sun burnt out. The atmosphere in the lounge was heavy with the pungent mix of food, coffee, sweat and chemicals from the CSIs.

  Laura was hanging on to the thread of possibility that the video was just a thing of illusion. The bits of flesh, brain tissue and blood that flew from Ruby when the gun fired . . . it was all special effects. She was beginning to parrot Kate’s earlier theory, that it might be a stunt.

  Kate let her. If there was hope, there was lucidity.

  Zain checked his phone. Whatever he read, there was no change to his expression. His blue eyes were dark, thinking.

  ‘Dan is the one you should be questioning,’ Mike said, again.

  The same place, the same conviction, thought Kate. She couldn’t arrest people based on personal dislike; she needed more.

  ‘Is there a motive?’ said Zain. ‘I agree with you guys that he’s a piece of work. Wouldn’t trust him with a pet snake. But why would he do this to Ruby?’

  ‘Because he’s sick, and because Ruby was going to leave him,’ said Mike.

  ‘A break-up? It happens, but he would surely try to convince her to come back to him first? A cooling-off period?’ said Zain.

  Kate felt Laura move; it was sudden, jolted her.

  ‘Not if there was no hope of that. Not if Ruby had already moved on,’ Laura said.

  ‘Moved on how?’ said Kate.

  ‘A mother picks up on these things,’ said Laura. ‘I can’t say why, but I’m convinced of it. Ruby was getting back together with James.’

  James Fogg, the suitable boy, Kate recalled.

  ‘And you think Ruby told Dan?’ said Kate.

  ‘Yes. She must have,’ said Laura.

  Was this it? Was James the second name on Dan’s list? She couldn’t think that, make assumptions.

  ‘Save yourselves a lot of time, detective. Dan is the only one who could do this,’ said Mike.

  Zain was staring at his phone. Kate arched an eyebrow when she caught his eye. He nodded, confirming he had read something of interest.

  ‘Has anyone else been in this flat since you reported Ruby missing? Apart from us?’ Zain said.

  ‘No. No one,’ said Mike.

  They were standing outside the main entrance to Windsor Court. The Edgware Road tr
affic was loud, constant. The temperature had plummeted as evening had fallen, spits of rain flecked Kate’s cheeks and hair.

  She folded her arms over her chest, trying to draw her body in, get some warmth into herself. Zain was wearing a thick jacket, Rob was still in CSI overalls. The rain made slapping sounds as it hit him.

  ‘It was in a black plastic bag, in the communal bins,’ said Rob.

  ‘What did they find?’ said Kate.

  ‘Bills, statements, doodles. It looks like every bit of paper in Ruby’s room. Either she did a clear-out before she left, or someone else did,’ said Rob.

  ‘I knew it,’ said Zain.

  ‘We have two possibilities, then,’ said Kate. ‘Ruby left home, purposely. The end result may be the videos, but her intention might have been genuine. She might have been leaving home, possibly with someone. This was her deleting her life.’

  ‘Or her parents did this when they reported her missing,’ said Zain. ‘Why the fuck would they do that?’

  ‘People with money,’ said Rob. ‘They’re messed up more than the rest of us.’

  ‘I don’t want them knowing about this discovery yet,’ said Kate. ‘Let’s keep it to ourselves, in case we can use it.’

  It was her standard MO to gather evidence you could use later. Criminals gave themselves up eventually, and then you could derail them and hammer down their defences with shots out of the dark.

  ‘I’ve got Forensics piecing together a document I took from her wastepaper basket,’ said Zain. ‘It had been shredded. Someone missed it. If Ruby was clearing out her shit before she did a runner, she’d surely remember something that took effort to destroy.’

  ‘Why am I only hearing about this now?’ said Kate. Was Harris concealing evidence from her? Doing his own thing?

  ‘There was a lot going on,’ said Zain, not looking at her. ‘It must be significant, though.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Rob.

  One of the female CSIs walked past, distracting him. He mouthed two minutes as he held up his fingers towards her.

  ‘You got some game, Pelt,’ said Zain. ‘Picking up women during a murder investigation.’

  ‘Don’t hate, Harris,’ said Rob. ‘Imitate.’

  ‘Trent has gone on a leave of absence,’ Kate said.

  ‘What? Why?’ said Rob.

  ‘No idea. I’ve left her messages to call me, but nothing so far. Means Justin Hope is now leading on this, acting as senior investigating officer. He’s hosting a press conference in a couple of hours. The Days will be with him.’

  ‘I bet they’ll love that,’ said Rob.

  ‘Keeps them busy,’ said Zain. ‘They’re not worrying about Ruby if they’re doing interviews.’

  Kate’s phone rang into the cold evening air between them. The display show’d it was Brennan.

  ‘Hey,’ said Kate.

  ‘We have a problem. The boyfriend, Dan, he’s in A & E.’

  ‘Accident and emergency? Why?’

  Zain and Rob looked eager, tried to get close to her to listen in. Kate turned her back to them.

  ‘He’s overdosed on something.’

  Chapter Forty-two

  ‘Little fucker, he’s done this on purpose,’ said Zain.

  ‘A bit harsh, dude,’ said Rob. ‘Why would he overdose to avoid us?’

  ‘Because he’s hiding something. He has no alibi, I bet,’ said Zain, letting out his frustration as a deep groan.

  ‘I agree with Pelt,’ said Kate. ‘Seems a bit drastic to risk his life.’

  She checked her watch. It was already 7 p.m.

  ‘Pelt, finish up here, and then get some sleep. I’ll get Hope to get us a warrant to search Dan’s flat tomorrow, so I want you in early.’

  ‘No worries. Even if I stay up all night,’ he said, winking at Zain.

  ‘I’ll chase up Forensics, see if they can’t get my document done. I’ll get them to check the papers from Ruby’s bedroom, too, dust for prints in case the Days are behind their dumping. And I want to mine her computer, and Dan’s phone messages. Ask Brennan if she can get hold of it.’

  Kate pictured Harris blustering in, working on Ruby’s computers, while Michelle Cable sat rocking in the corner.

  ‘Make sure you use Michelle,’ she said.

  ‘If she’s still there,’ said Zain.

  ‘She’s not a nine to five gal, not when something is kicking off,’ said Rob. Kate was touched by his loyalty.

  ‘I didn’t mean to imply that she is. She’s got a husband and young kids, right?’ said Zain.

  ‘Women don’t have lobotomies when they get married or have children,’ said Kate.

  ‘Hey, chill, guys. Don’t gang up on me,’ said Zain.

  Kate ignored him, aware that she needed to make a call of her own to Ryan, to see if he could stay with her mother for a bit longer.

  ‘I’m heading to Essex,’ said Kate. ‘Going to speak to the ex-boyfriend, James Fogg. I want to know just how close he and Ruby were becoming, and whether Dan made any threats to either of them that he knows about.’

  Kate used her hands-free as she headed into gridlocked traffic. Chloe, Ryan’s other half, picked up after a couple of minutes.

  ‘Kate, I’m heading into an online meeting between two clients. New York and Abu Dhabi. You have about ten seconds.’

  Typical Chloe; she was always like this.

  ‘I need to borrow your man,’ said Kate. ‘Murder case. Ruby Day. On the news. Possibly until 2 a.m., so he might have to stay the night.’

  ‘Yes, yes, it’s fine. I’ll eat here, get a cab home. Doubt I’ll be home before midnight, anyway.’

  ‘I hope you appreciate him,’ said Kate.

  ‘I’m taking him to Rio for a week,’ said Chloe. ‘This is how I pay for it all.’

  Kate felt a rush of guilt and selfishness. If Ryan disappeared to Brazil for a week with Chloe, she was stuck. She’d have to take annual leave, or hire someone from an agency. Her mother would hate that.

  ‘Got to go,’ said Chloe.

  Kate called Ryan to let him know.

  ‘Already made up the spare bed,’ he said. ‘It’s all over the news, so I guessed what was coming next.’

  ‘Your wife sends her love,’ said Kate.

  ‘I’m sure she does,’ said Ryan. ‘I’m a war widow, just like your mom.’

  ‘Don’t be so dramatic,’ said Kate. ‘She said she’ll eat at the office.’

  ‘OK. I’ll leave you something for when you get back,’ he said.

  Kate marvelled at him. She felt a stab of envy at Chloe’s luck, but it passed quickly. It was a familiar ache, and she had learned to deal with it.

  She thought of her father, then. Another, sharper pain, one that lingered.

  Kate turned up the volume in her car stereo, letting the voice of Sarah McLachlan surround her. She fixed her protective walls, let her guilt and loneliness solidify like cement. And then wondered what Ruby’s ex-boyfriend would have to say.

  Chapter Forty-three

  The estate James Fogg lived on was typical of the commuter places built in the nineties. Yellow bricks, red pavements and small, neat gardens. There was a mixture of houses on one side, apartments on the other. With a twenty-minute journey into London Liverpool Street station from Goodmayes, it was a favourite for those who worked in the City, especially.

  James lived in a house in one of the corners of the estate nearest to the train station. You could see the station from his front door, hear the announcements, the trains themselves. Not loud enough to cause a disturbance, but background noise for sure.

  Inside, the house was small, with an open-plan kitchen/lounge/diner that would fit into her old bedroom back in Massachusetts. A staircase led directly from the lounge to the bedrooms upstairs. Patio doors led into a garden that was in darkness. Neighbouring houses cast yellow rectangles of light into it.

  The lounge had black leather sofas, and Kate and James assumed positions on opposite sides of the room. He had made he
r a weak coffee; not used to making drinks, she could tell. A giant television occupied one wall; it seemed standard, these days. Kate saw it was a 3D model.

  The greasy aromas of cooked meat and tomatoes hung in the air, making Kate’s stomach demand food.

  Kate looked James over. He was attractive, but in the same way Dan Grant was. If the camera picked up on his grey eyes, the angles in his face, his smile, he could look good on screen. He was wearing a baseball cap, turned backwards, loose jeans, his boxers on show. His waist was tiny.

  ‘You’re twenty-three now? When did you start vlogging?’

  ‘I was fifteen – one of the first, really. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, none of us did. There were no blueprints, we just grabbed our cameras, started posting things. Stupid things. I used to put up videos brushing my teeth. Or filming the hair in my nostrils. And still got views.’

  ‘You posted to YouTube?’

  ‘Yes. It’s strange, isn’t it, that it’s such a big part of our lives now? It didn’t even exist ten years ago, and now look at it.’

  Kate couldn’t hide her shock. Is that how recently it had all started? She thought of her own existence back then, the transition she had been going through.

  ‘How popular are you? How many subscribers do you have?’

  James’s faced darkened; his eyes became cold. ‘I left it. I had half a million last year. Built them up over the years.’

  ‘Why did you leave?’ Kate didn’t comment on how half a million fans, impressive at any other time, now seemed paltry compared to the figures she’d been exposed to earlier that day.

  ‘It’s complicated.’

  ‘Does it involve Ruby at all?’

  Kate knew there was an angle, from Harris’s meeting with Karl Rourke. The agent had made allegations about Ruby’s feelings for James, and she wanted to know what his version was.

  ‘Why would you say that?’

  ‘Ruby’s my primary focus; she’s the reason I’m here, and also why you agreed to meet me.’

  ‘Yeah, it involved Ruby. Me and Ruby, we met online. She was a fan, sent me messages on YouTube. We got talking, started dating.’