The Stone Circle: The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 11

by Elly Griffiths

  ‘Give me a day to get my things in order,’ says Freddie. ‘I’ll turn myself in tomorrow. You have my word on that.’

  ‘All right,’ says Nelson. And they sit in silence, watching the tiny figures walking across the bay.

  Chapter 38

  ‘When are they coming?’ asks Kate, for the tenth time.

  ‘Soon,’ says Ruth. ‘They said eleven o’clock.’

  But Kate has been watching at the window since ten. She has changed her outfit three times. She’s now wearing jeans and a black top with a sparkly Hello Kitty on it. She’s even tried to persuade Flint to wear a bow tie. He is currently sitting on top of Ruth’s wardrobe, tail fluffed out in outrage.

  Ruth, on the other hand, is feeling extremely nervous. When Laura rang her she had been expecting more abuse, not the suggestion that Laura and Rebecca should pay a visit ‘to get to know Katie’. But she had known that Kate would love a visit from her half-sisters so they have fixed on this Saturday morning, a week after Steve Jennings was charged with the murder of Margaret Lacey and a retired copper called Freddie Burnett was found dead at his bungalow in Cromer, a gun at his side.

  ‘Is this them?’ squeaks Kate as a car pulls up outside.

  ‘I think so,’ says Ruth.

  The two young women, one dark and one fair, look very similar as they walk down the garden path. But, when she meets them properly, Ruth realises how different the sisters are. Rebecca immediately bonds with Kate and, within minutes, is upstairs playing Sylvanians with her. Laura, though she gives Kate a lovely hug, holds back a little. She and Ruth are left downstairs listening to sounds of riotous play from above.

  ‘Rebecca always gets on with children,’ says Laura. ‘She’s the one who should have been a teacher.’

  Ruth is making coffee. She thinks that Laura sounds a little wistful.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll make a great teacher,’ she says.

  ‘Cathbad says that it’s my calling,’ says Laura. ‘And I must say I did enjoy my placement.’

  ‘I was terrified when I taught my first undergraduates,’ says Ruth. ‘But I love it now.’

  ‘It must be wonderful being a university lecturer,’ says Laura. ‘You can really impart knowledge.’

  ‘The longer I do it the more I wonder if I ever teach my students anything,’ says Ruth. ‘But, if I can make them interested in archaeology, that’s the main thing. Your job is more important. You’re creating lifelong learners. God, that sounds like a government pamphlet.’

  Laura laughs then looks rather constrained. Perhaps she realises that she is talking and laughing with her enemy, the scarlet woman who is threatening her parents’ marriage. And, remembering the night when Nelson called round with his bunch of carnations, Ruth feels guilty all over again.

  ‘I’m back living with my parents,’ says Laura. ‘But I’m looking for a flat. I want to live on my own for a bit. I’ve never done that before.’

  ‘Living on your own is great,’ says Ruth. ‘And, if you want company, get a cat.’

  Laura brightens. ‘I do like cats. And we could never have one at home because of Bruno.’

  Ruth wonders again what happened with Leif. Perhaps he and Laura were never really seriously involved. She hasn’t seen Leif since she visited him in hospital. She assumes that he’s in the West Country with Magda and her miracle baby.

  They drink their coffee and Rebecca and Kate come clattering downstairs. Rebecca is wearing Kate’s pirate hat and Kate has drawn a curly line on her upper lip.

  ‘I’m a lady pirate,’ she says, grabbing biscuits with both hands, ‘but I’ve got a moustache.’

  ‘I’ve got one too,’ says Rebecca, ‘if I don’t wax it off.’

  Looking at her smooth, glowing face, Ruth doubts this. All three of Nelson’s daughters are beautiful, she realises. Laura in particular takes after Michelle but she, Ruth, must surely take some credit for Kate.

  It’s a beautiful early spring day and Ruth suggests a walk over the marshes. Anything to work off Kate’s excess energy. She has no particular route in mind but she is not surprised when they find themselves following the ancient path towards the place where the wooden henge once stood. As Cathbad would say, the Saltmarsh has its own ideas about destiny. It’s a long walk though and Ruth finds herself looking at her Fitbit before remembering that it got broken in the crash. She’s not going to replace it. Shona is a good friend but Ruth doesn’t want her knowing all about her cardiovascular fitness, such as it is.

  ‘It’s so beautiful here,’ says Laura. ‘You can see for miles.’

  ‘Not what Dad says,’ says Rebecca. She adopts a comedy Northern voice. ‘Ee bah gum, it’s full of ghosts and ghoulies.’

  ‘Not like Blackpool,’ says Laura, in the same voice. ‘Now that’s a proper beach.’

  Kate laughs delightedly but Ruth hears the affection in the teasing and feels rather sad. This is the family life that she can never share. She and Nelson haven’t spoken since the night with the carnations. Is this what her future is going to be, hanging round on the outskirts of Nelson’s life with her only reward being the occasional night of (admittedly fantastic) sex? She shouldn’t settle for it. She mustn’t settle for it. She thinks of the still unsent job application on her computer. Can she really do it, move from UNN to Cambridge? It would be great for her career, there’s no doubt about that, but what about the rest of her life? And, when it comes down to it, could she bear to leave this place, the shifting marsh, the ever-changing sky, the sand dunes suddenly giving way to sea, wide and clear under a bright blue sky?

  The dig is now over so she expects the site to be deserted but, when they get nearer, they see a man standing by the trenches. At first it looks as if he has four legs but, getting closer still, Ruth sees that he is on crutches.

  ‘Oh no,’ says Laura. ‘It’s Leif.’

  ‘Laura split up with Leif,’ says Rebecca, ‘because Dad told her that he beat up his old girlfriend.’

  ‘That wasn’t why,’ says Laura. ‘And Leif was never charged. He says it didn’t happen.’

  ‘They all say that,’ says Rebecca.

  It doesn’t surprise Ruth that Nelson has been checking up on Leif. He is insanely protective where his daughters are concerned. And nor does it totally surprise her to hear about the domestic abuse. She has always suspected that there was a darkness in Leif, something ugly beneath the handsome exterior. She felt the same about Erik, she realises now.

  Laura greets Leif with some embarrassment and they speak in private for a few moments. Then Leif swings himself over to talk to Ruth. Apart from the leg, he seems fit and well, his face tanned and his hair, loose today, a burnished mane.

  ‘I’m going home tomorrow,’ he says, in answer to Ruth’s question. ‘I just wanted a last look at this place. The stone circle.’

  Ruth remembers Stanton Drew and the stones looming up out of the mist. This is an altogether friendlier place, a hymn to the sea and the sky. But it is also a place where a young girl was buried, with a witch stone at her side. And the place where John Mostyn, the Stone Man, laid Margaret to rest. The landscape itself is important, as Erik so often used to say.

  ‘I heard that they were able to get some DNA from the bones in the cist,’ says Ruth.

  ‘Yes,’ says Leif. ‘Look at this fantastic reconstruction that Oscar did.’

  He produces a phone and, with some difficulty because of the crutches, scrolls down until he finds a photograph. Ruth looks at a young girl, aged about sixteen, gazing out at the world with a mixture of curiosity and defiance.

  Ruth thinks of the Bronze Age girl and of Margaret Lacey, neither of whom ever lived to see adulthood. They left their mark all the same, she thinks. Kate, Laura and Rebecca have gone down to the beach and, watching them, Ruth remembers her dream, Kate walking between two unknown women. Well, they are unknown no longer. Has she any right to take Kate away from this place, away from her family? As she watches, the three sisters start to run, their footsteps dark on
the white sand, soon to be washed away by the tide.

  Acknowledgements

  The Stone Circle mainly features real places, although characters and events are all fictional. A second circle was found near the famous Seahenge in Norfolk although the stone cist and its contents are imaginary, as is the entire story of Margaret Lacey. King’s Lynn is obviously real, with its quay, Custom House and Tuesday Marketplace, but the events described in this book are all invented by me. The stone circle at Stanton Drew, too, is real and well worth a visit. Incidentally the sculptor Oscar Nilsson is also an actual person and his work can be seen at the new archaeology gallery at Brighton Museum.

  Lots of people have helped with this book but I must stress that I have followed their advice only as far as it suits the plot and any subsequent mistakes are mine alone. Thanks to Linzi Harvey for being brilliant on bones as usual and to Graham Bartlett, police consultant extraordinaire, for trying to keep the procedural side of the book within the bounds of reality. Special thanks to Matt Pope and Letty Ingrey from the UCL Institute of Archaeology for coming up with Scarning Fen, which is a real place and does contain some unique flora and fauna. Thanks also to Lee Mason at Beccles Books in Suffolk for telling me about Jack Valentine. I don’t think I have nearly exhausted all the myths and legends of East Anglia, let alone its archaeological wonders.

  Thanks to Carol Dunne for taking part in a charity auction to become a character in this book. All proceeds go to CLIC Sargent, the charity supporting teenage cancer sufferers, so a huge thank you to Carol and everyone else who took part. Although Carol is a headteacher, she bears no resemblance to her fictional counterpart in these pages. St Paul’s School is also imaginary. Thanks to Jan Adams and Marj Maccallum, previous auction winners whose namesakes are now regular returning characters.

  Heartfelt thanks to my publishers Quercus and the amazing Team Elly: Therese Keating, Hannah Robinson, Olivia Mead, Laura McKerrell, Katie Sadler, David Murphy and so many others. I’m so grateful for everything you have done for me and Ruth. Special thanks, though, must go to my editor, Jane Wood. Jane has edited all my ‘Elly Griffiths’ books and has, in the process, become a mentor and friend. We always agreed that there would be ten Ruth books so it’s only right that this eleventh should be dedicated to her, with love and thanks.

  Thanks, as always, to my wonderful agent, Rebecca Carter, and all at Janklow and Nesbit. Thanks to Kirby Kim in New York and to Naomi Gibbs and all at HMH. Thanks to all the publishers around the world who publish these books with such dedication and care. Thanks to my crime writer friends for their support and to anyone who has bought my books or borrowed them from a library. I appreciate you more than I can say.

  Finally, love and thanks always to my husband, Andrew, and to our children, Alex and Juliet.

  EG 2019

  Who’s Who

  in the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries

  Dr Ruth Galloway Profession: forensic archaeologist Likes: cats, Bruce Springsteen, bones, books Dislikes: gyms, organized religion, shopping Ruth Galloway was born in south London and educated at University College London and Southampton University, where she met her mentor Professor Erik Anderssen. In 1997, she participated in Professor Anderssen’s dig on the north Norfolk coast which resulted in the excavation of a Bronze Age henge. Ruth subsequently moved to the area and became Head of Forensic Archaeology at the University of North Norfolk. She lives in an isolated cottage on the edge of the Saltmarsh. In 2007, she was approached by DCI Harry Nelson who wanted her help in identifying bones found buried on the marshes, and her life suddenly got a whole lot more complicated.

  Surprising fact about Ruth: she is fascinated by the London Underground and once attended a fancy dress party as The Angel Islington.

  Harry Nelson Profession: Detective Chief Inspector

  Likes: driving fast, solving crimes, his family Dislikes: Norfolk, the countryside, management speak, his boss Harry Nelson was born in Blackpool. He came to Norfolk in his thirties to lead the Serious Crimes Unit, bringing with him his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Laura and Rebecca. Nelson has a loyal team and enjoys his work. He still hankers after the North, though, and has not come to love his adopted county. Nelson thinks of himself as an old-fashioned policeman and so often clashes with Superintendent Archer, who is trying to drag the force into the twenty-first century. Nelson is impatient and quick-tempered but he is capable of being both imaginative and sensitive. He’s also cleverer than he lets on.

  Surprising fact about Nelson: he’s a huge Frank Sinatra fan.

  Michelle Nelson Profession: hairdresser

  Likes: her family, exercising, socializing with friends Dislikes: dowdiness, confrontation, talking about murder Michelle married Nelson when she was twenty-four and he was twenty-six. She was happy with her life in Blackpool – two children, part-time work, her mother nearby – but encouraged Nelson to move to Norfolk for the sake of promotion. Now that her daughters are older she works as a manager for a hair salon. Michelle is beautiful, stylish, hard-working and a dedicated wife and mother. When people see her and Nelson together, their first reaction is usually, ‘What does she see in him?’

  Surprising fact about Michelle: she once played hockey for Blackpool Girls.

  Michael Malone (aka Cathbad) Profession: laboratory assistant and druid Likes: nature, mythology, walking, following his instincts Dislikes: rules, injustice, conventions

  Cathbad was born in Ireland and came to England to study first chemistry then archaeology. He also came under the influence of Erik Anderssen though they found themselves on opposite sides during the henge dig. Cathbad was brought up as a Catholic but he now thinks of himself as a druid and shaman.

  Surprising fact about Cathbad: he can play the accordion.

  Shona Maclean Profession: lecturer in English Literature Likes: books, wine, parties Dislikes: being ignored

  Shona is a lecturer at the University of North Norfolk and one of Ruth’s closest friends. They met when they both participated in the henge dig in 1997. On the face of it, Shona seems an unlikely friend for Ruth – she’s outgoing and stunningly beautiful for a start – but the two women share a sense of humour and an interest in books, films and travel. They also have a lot of history together.

  Surprising fact about Shona: as a child she won several Irish dancing competitions.

  David Clough Profession: Detective Sergeant

  Likes: food, football, beer, his job Dislikes: political correctness, graduate police officers David Clough (‘Cloughie’ to Nelson) was born in Norfolk and joined the force at eighteen. As a youngster he almost followed his elder brother into petty crime, but a chance meeting with a sympathetic policeman led him into a surprisingly successful police career. Clough is a tough, dedicated officer but not without imagination. He admires Nelson, his boss, but has a rather competitive relationship with Sergeant Judy Johnson.

  Surprising fact about Clough: He can quote the ‘you come to me on my daughter’s wedding day’ scene from The Godfather off by heart.

  Judy Johnson Profession: Detective Sergeant Likes: horses, driving, her job Dislikes: girls’ nights out, sexism, being patronised Judy Johnson was born in Norfolk to Irish Catholic parents. She was academic at school but opted to join the police force at eighteen rather than go to university. Judy can seem cautious and steady – she married her boyfriend from school, for example – but she is actually fiercely ambitious. She resents any hint of condescension or sexism which can lead to some fiery exchanges with Clough.

  Surprising fact about Judy: she’s a keen card player and once won an inter-force poker competition.

  Phil Trent Profession: professor of Archaeology

  Likes: money, being on television, technology Dislikes: new age archaeologists, anonymity, being out of the loop Phil is Ruth’s head of department at the University of North Norfolk. He’s ambitious and outwardly charming, determined to put the university (and himself) on the map. He thinks of Ruth as plodding and old-fashioned so
is slightly put out when she begins to make a name for herself as an advisor to the police. On one hand, it’s good for the image of UNN; on the other, it should have been him.

  Surprising fact about Phil: at his all boys school, he once played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.