Chapter 42
EDINBURGH
Ruth was tired this morning. It was almost ten, her first patient was due and she couldn’t stop yawning.
She had gone to bed at a reasonable hour, but some primitive part of her brain kept her awake.
She understood that there was a subconscious instinct in humans that made them desire to feel safe and secure in their environment at night, so when the house wasn’t locked up tight, it made the brain more alert.
Brodie had had no problem getting to sleep, but no matter how hard she tried, it had eluded her. She had put her Kindle on again and eventually fell asleep with the device running. She knew she would have to reread the last couple of pages later that night.
It was the thoughts of when she was a little girl that had kept her awake last night. Things that she hadn’t thought about in a very long time…
It was a hot summer’s night when it first happened.
Five-year-old Ruth Mason – she wouldn’t become Ruth Campbell until after she was adopted – loved to read.
All sorts of books. She couldn’t get enough of them.
She would go into the children’s book department when they went over to John Menzies on Princes Street in Edinburgh, and go through a load of books before Margaret bought her one to take home.
The series she was reading now was about a little boy who went on adventures with his dog.
Ruth devoured the first in the series, and Margaret bought them all for her.
She knew she was being spoiled, but so was the older girl who lived here, Laura.
Ruth couldn’t bring herself to call Laura her sister, because the girl wasn’t.
She was sixteen and she had a boyfriend – yuck!
– and she was noisy when she was in the room.
And she argued with Margaret. A lot! The more Margaret argued, the more belligerent Laura became.
Ruth lost herself in her books. She let the fictitious characters take her into their world where she could roam as much as she wanted.
Her teacher said she was a dreamer and would get on better if she concentrated more. But it was hard to concentrate when you were being abused.
The first time it happened, the door had opened quietly and the hallway light was on, and all she could see was the silhouette of the man coming into the room.
Then he was on the bed, and a rough hand was put over her mouth, and he leaned down closer to her and the smell of the booze hit her.
‘You’ll be old enough one day, and when you are, Daddy will take care of you.’
She lay rigid in bed, fear gripping her like no other fear she had ever felt. Then he got up off the bed and gently left the room. But he hadn’t closed the door all the way.
Then she heard a commotion coming from Laura’s room. Almost like an argument, but not quite. It went on for a few minutes, then she saw Marcus sneaking past, then quickly running back.
Then the Dark Man went rushing past her doorway, and then she heard shouting. She pulled the covers over herself and then took her pillow and covered her head with it. The shouting continued until…
Ruth shook her head, realising that she was sweating.
She had thought that the dark thoughts had gone for good, but what had happened in real life was now invading her dreams. It wasn’t a good sign.
She used to think that it was only a nightmare, but as she got older, she realised that it was something that had happened, and she kept having recurring dreams about it.
She was in her office at Astley Ainslie Hospital, waiting for her next patient.
Right on time, there was a gentle knock at the door.
Usually, she would open the door and announce the next patient, and there was generally only one waiting, with the next one overlapping by a couple of minutes.
However, she had been making strides with this patient, building his confidence.
‘Come!’ she shouted.
The door opened, and his head poked round first. He was smiling as Ruth stood up with her notebook and moved over to the chair.
‘Come in, Dermot,’ Ruth said.
The man came in, nervously rubbing his hands together. He smiled a weak smile and kept himself slightly stooped. Ruth had told him before to walk with confidence, upright, chin up, chest out, but it was a work in progress.
‘Good morning,’ Dermot said.
Ruth smiled, but it was a smile on the outside only. Ever since Brodie had told her about the skeleton under the floorboards in her old house, she felt like she had been punched in the stomach.
Was it Marcus who had been murdered and hidden under the floorboards? It had to be. Unless… there was somebody else who had come into the house and didn’t leave. But who?
‘…distracted today.’
She snapped out of her reverie. ‘I’m sorry, Dermot. What did you say?’ she asked as he sat down on his usual spot on the couch.
He smiled wider and gave a small laugh. ‘I said, you seem distracted today.’
‘I’m so sorry. I had a rough night. One of those nights where sleep eludes you, no matter what you do. Counting sheep, walking along an endless corridor. Nothing worked.’
‘I have nights like that,’ he said, still smiling.
Ruth smiled back, admiring the man. He had come so far in the past few years, from standing on the ledge, waiting for the right moment to jump, to coming in here, smiling.
He wasn’t at the end of the road yet, but he was getting there.
He’d got over the blind bump in the road and was making his way down the other side, where everything was open and clear before him.
‘Not too many now, though?’
He shook his head. ‘No, thanks to you, Ruth. Getting better every day. In fact, I haven’t felt this good in a long time.’
‘That’s good to hear. Do you think volunteering at the hospital helps?’
‘I do. Knowing that dishing out books to patients might help them get better makes me feel better inside. Except…’
‘Except what?’ Ruth asked.
‘Except that doctor. Kane. He scares me.’
‘Why is that?’
‘I don’t like getting close to him. He gives off a… vibe. Everybody knows who he is. We all know who he is and what he did. To those women.’ He shuddered. ‘Yet, to look at him, you wouldn’t give him a second look if you passed him in the street.’
‘That happens everywhere, Dermot. Those monsters that walk among us don’t look like monsters. They look like you and me. And that’s why Dr Kane was able to do what he did. But if you’re unsure of him, I can request the hospital move you to another department.’
‘No, no, it’s fine. I mean, who would take my place?
Benny from the kitchen? He can whizz that mop around like nobody’s business, but if he was delivering books to patients?
He’d need the mop to wipe up after himself.
No, doctor, that’s fine. I don’t feel as nervous as I was when I started.
I’m getting better at it, but it’s just Kane. ’
‘He always has attendants with him, doesn’t he?’
‘Yes, he does,’ Dermot said. ‘But it’s my imagination running away with me.’
‘Is the volunteering helping you with your day-to-day life, Dermot?’ she asked.
‘It is indeed. Also, working part-time helps a lot. I get to meet people, and although some of them aren’t very nice, most of them are. It’s a pleasure dealing with them.’
‘That’s good, Dermot. I’m so proud of you. You’ve come far.’
‘I think the end is near, Ruth. I feel confident that I won’t need to come back any more.’
‘I think so too. But we can still go to once every two weeks to help you transition, and remember that my door is always open.’
‘Thank you, Ruth. I couldn’t have done this without your help.’
Ruth didn’t have another patient after Dermot, so she sat at her desk with a pad in front of her and doodled and jotted thoughts down. She tried hard to remember more details about Marcus. Things that Margaret and Laura might have talked about.
She would have to go and talk to Laura herself. Not something she looked forward to. Not after getting away from them both many years before.