Page 97 of No Safe Place
‘I wanted to ask you about Paige’s time at the Maudsley, Ruby. Did you visit Paige in the hospital?’
‘Every week,’ she said, looking away from them, towards the door. ‘Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.’
‘That must have been hard,’ Wilson said.
Ruby wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, but didn’t say anything. It had to take a toll, being the child your parents weren’t terrified for.
‘Look, Ruby. I’ll be perfectly honest with you. We know the attacks were linked. That means we’re looking for a double murderer.’
Ruby’s head cocked in her direction.
‘There’s good reason to believe it’s linked to the trial. We’ve traced some of the patients, but—’
‘Oh no.’ Ruby shook her head firmly. ‘Paige wouldn’t want me to betray her – her friends.’
Field’s silence was Wilson’s signal to pick up from her. Ruby had already shared a moment with her; they were closer in age.
‘It’s not betraying them, Ruby,’ Wilson said earnestly. ‘You could be keeping them safe. We can’t protect them, not when we don’t know who they are.’
Her voice was a whine, more tears falling. ‘I don’t know if I should tell you.’
Wilson passed the notebook and pen to Field, and leaned forward to hold one of Ruby’s battered hands. ‘We’ve spoken to Callum Mulligan—’ a sharp intake of breath from Ruby ‘—and Lily Stewart.’
Ruby nodded miserably, wiped her face with her free hand.
Field had the pen poised.
‘That last person, whoever they might be, that could be the key to us finding out what happened to Sam.’
Ruby tipped her head back, and Wilson let her hand go. ‘Okay.’
Field’s jaw was clenched. This was it – the last of the five.
‘His name is Andy.’ Her voice was steadier. ‘Andrew Levey. He lives in Blackheath. Works in IT or software, or something.’
Patient C.
Field tempered her relief and exhilaration.
He was in Blackheath. That meant they’d all stayed local to South East London. Unusual, maybe, these days. Most young people wanted to live in Clapham or Dalston, somewhere things were happening.
Field wrote it down as Wilson spoke.
‘Andy was at the hospital with your sister? And he was part of the trial?’
‘Yes.’ Ruby tugged the hem of her short dress closer to her knees. ‘He was my favourite, if I’m honest. Quiet, a bit shy. Like me.’
‘Have you had any contact with him recently? Or anyone else from the trial – Callum, Lily, Sam?’
‘No.’
Field gave her a warm smile. ‘I know this is hard for you Ruby—’
‘Yeah it is. I don’t know – I wasn’t expecting—’ Ruby’s voice rose, hands clenched on the table. ‘I just thought you’d want to know about Paige.’
‘This situation, it must be incredibly difficult for you, and your family—’ Wilson started, but Ruby cut her off.
‘I dug some photos of her out of the boxes, because I thought you’d want to see. I even—’ Her breath hitched. ‘I thought you might be looking into what happened to her.’
