‘Did you always plan to kill her?’ Kate asked.
‘Oh yes, I had to bide my time. But David needs that money. It’ll be his now.’
In spite of her terror Kate decided she had little to lose by asking some more questions.
‘So you injected digoxin into Edina’s meals?’
‘Wasn’t that a brilliant idea!’ Hetty’s face lit up. ‘And wasn’t I lucky that those meals were delivered on the morning of the very day when I was leaving for Bournemouth? I took them into my kitchen so I could take them up to Edina before I left. And, by the time I did what was necessary, I was sure she would not be around when I got back!’ Hetty laughed.
‘But how did you come by the digoxin, and the syringe?’ Kate asked, suddenly aware that she might be about to be injected herself.
‘All from my dear sister’s bathroom cabinet! She stopped taking her digoxin when she started her cancer treatment and she’s certainly not going to be needing it now, poor thing.’ She was staring fixedly at Kate. ‘And now it’s your turn! Your own fault, Nurse, because you shouldn’t have been meddling in my affairs. And now I’m off to see my dear sister again, for two or three weeks and probably for the last time. You’re really lucky, you know, because I’ve run out of digoxin. If I’d known I wouldn’t have injected all of Edina’s meals because a couple would have done it, and then I’d have some left for you. I could bludgeon you, of course, but I’ve sprained my wrist rather badly after Sharon Starkey, so I’ll just have to leave you to it.
‘When I get back you should be dead. Because you can’t get out of here and, believe me, you can’t be heard. Nobody, not even your friend Stan Starkey, has been down here for years. It was an ice cellar, you know. Completely sealed. Very useful for those big houses in the days before refrigeration, I’m told. And I’ll replace the iron cover when I go up and, let me tell you, there’s a bar that goes over the top and keeps the cover down. It’s unlikely anyone will remember this is underneath and you certainly won’t be able to lift it up from the inside, even if you manage to free yourself.’
She stopped speaking and smiled to herself. ‘When I first came here I heard there was an old ice cellar somewhere in the grounds and it’s taken me some time to find it. I’ve had to check every inch. I’d thought of killing Edina down here, but the digoxin did the trick.’ She glared at Kate. ‘Someone, I suppose, may find you eventually, but you’ll be long gone, and they certainly won’t suspect me.’ She waved a plastic-gloved hand in Kate’s direction. ‘I’m only doing what’s necessary, Nurse. I’m not having David’s life messed up any further.’
Was this the act of a woman consumed with love for the son she had had to give up, or was she mad? Probably both. Kate knew she had to have one last try to save her own life.
‘I’m sorry, Hetty. I had no idea of the misery you must have suffered. But your secret’s safe with me.’ Not true, of course, and unlikely Hetty would fall for it.
Hetty shook her head. ‘I don’t blame you for trying to get out of here, Nurse.’ She bent down so her face was only inches from Kate’s and smiled. ‘But I’m afraid I don’t believe you.’
‘Hetty, I—’
‘Shut up!’ Hetty roared. ‘It’s getting dark, so go to sleep. It’ll pass the time.’ With that she stood up straight and then headed towards the steps. ‘Farewell.’
The last sound Kate heard was the heavy clang of the cover being replaced at the top of the stairs and then the rolling of something over the top, which was presumably the iron bar being set in position.
Then silence. Total silence.
Thirty-Two
Blackness, complete blackness.
Kate found herself blind in the dark, sealed in an underground cell. It was dank and cold. I have to get loose, she told herself, there’s got to be a way out of here.
There was no light and she could feel no incoming air. How long could she survive? The relief she’d felt at not being bludgeoned or injected was now being replaced by a new terror: to die alone, gasping for air and water, down here in this horrendous place.
Kate fiddled with her wrists. Was it her imagination or had the rope loosened very slightly? Hetty had said she’d sprained her wrist so perhaps the knot was not as tight as she’d intended it to be. She shuffled around some more on her bottom on the cold stone floor. She had to get free because she had to get out of here. Kate pulled her wrists apart as much as she could bear with the rope burning into her skin. Then she waited for the pain to subside before pulling again. One more pull and surely she could slide one hand out?
It took two more attempts and then, sighing with relief, Kate was able to wriggle one hand out and then the other. Now she needed to feel for the knot that tied her ankles together. She drew her feet up and searched tentatively with her fingers. For such a tiny woman with a sprained wrist, Hetty Patterson had somehow succeeded in tying a strong, tight knot round her ankles. It would take time, but Kate reckoned she probably had plenty of that. Or had she? How long would the air last in a sealed cellar? And how long could she survive without water?
Then she suddenly remembered – her phone! She dug into the right-hand pocket of her anorak, and then the left. No phone. Not in her jeans either. Of course Hetty would have removed it! Even if she hadn’t, Kate reckoned there would be no signal down here.
For the first time since she’d stupidly fallen for
