Beyond Closed Doors by Heather Peck

Author:Heather Peck [Peck, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

28

Sunday evening

By Sunday evening, Greg was beginning to feel that some of his ducks, if not yet exactly in a row, were now nicely grouped in an orderly flock. With the hospital on the verge of tipping Helen Gabrys onto the street and no other option presenting itself, he had stretched a point and authorised Jim to take her into protective custody. She was now safely, in every sense of the word, tucked away in one of their cells and, if anything, seemed relieved to be there. A solicitor had been identified and booked to arrive in the morning to see Helen, so he had reasonable confidence that he would be able to interview her under caution before lunchtime Monday.

The source and route of the leaks from Norfolk police had been found, stopped and charged.

According to Hinchingbrooke Hospital his father was improving and would probably be discharged within days.

He just wished he knew what had happened to Mrs Gabrys. So far, an assiduous search of Barton Broad and the Ant had revealed exactly nothing. The frustrated Broadsbeat team had now widened their search to embrace the Bure and the Thurne, but so far made no progress.

All in all, he’d had worse Sundays, and he was looking forward to a peaceful evening with Chris and their menagerie. He turned on the TV in time to catch a repeat of the depressing Covid update and sipped his wine with his wellbeing relatively undented.

Hearing Chris’s car pull up in the drive with the usual scatter of gravel, he leaned forwards to pour a second glass of wine just as the landline rang. He picked it up and announced his name, nodding to Chris and waving at the glass of wine as he did so.

She sat down beside him, joined by both Bobby and Tally, as a strange voice announced in a cut-glass accent, ‘Detective Chief Inspector Geldard? I am Lady Grace. I’m afraid I have some bad news about your mother.’

‘My mother?’ he asked, putting his wine glass down with a presentiment of disaster.

‘Yes. Both your parents were staying with us last weekend when your father was taken ill. I’m afraid your mother has now gone down with this virus too, and has just been taken to Hinchingbrooke Hospital.’ There was a slightly aggrieved tone in the voice which implied that falling ill during a pandemic was at the least a breach of etiquette, if not downright middle class.

‘Do you know which ward she was taken to?’ asked Greg.

‘I’m afraid not. The paramedics did seem quite concerned about her breathing when they put her in the ambulance.’

Questions such as How long has she been ill? rose in his mind and were as swiftly dismissed. He had a sense that he’d learned all he was going to. ‘Thank you for letting me know,’ he said formally, and rang off.

‘Your mother’s got it too?’ said Chris.

‘Yes.’ Greg had looked up Hinchingbrooke on his mobile and rung the number. He had a long wait before someone answered.

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