Caro Ramsay - Absolution: A Novel of Suspense

MICHAEL JOSEPH
an imprint of
PENGUIN BOOKS

MICHAEL JOSEPH

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First published 2007
1

Copyright Caro Ramsay, 2007

The moral right of the author has been asserted

All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright
reserved above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
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978-0-14-191885-3

To Jessie Ramsay
Born 1904

You can tell a Sheffield lass,
You just cannot tell her much.

White.
Nothing but white.
No sense. No awareness. Only white.
Nothing.
Then breathing.
Rhythmic breathing.
Nothing more than the ebb and flow of life.
She slept.

Pain picked at her as she emerged slowly from the depths. Her hands were strapped to her sides, and she could feel bindings cutting into her wrists. The pain in her face cracking, burning was unbearable.

Thirsty. She was thirsty.

She tried to lick her lips, but her tongue was swollen, and as immobile as leather. Something rigid filled her mouth; she could taste chloroform and rotten meat. She sensed her face was covered, her mouth and nose blocked. Panic rose until she could not breathe, and she tried to roll her shoulders to break free. Deep-seated agony skewered her stomach, and she lay still, thinking she might die if she moved again.

A voice, indistinct, insistent, was repeating words over and over.

There was a distant memory Somewhere too far away to be recalled

She felt a prick in her forearm and sank down deep into the dark once more.

PC Alan McAlpine climbed the concrete stairs to the DCIs office, past the rusty filing cabinet that had been stuck on the first-floor landing for two years. The yucca that crowned it, never a vital specimen at the best of times, had died in his absence.

Alan?

He hadnt noticed DI Forsythe pass him on the stairs, and turned at the sound of his voice.

Good to see you, McAlpine. How are you? We werent expecting you back for a while yet.

Im fine, he said bluntly.

Sorry to hear about your brother Bobby, was it?

Robbie, answered McAlpine mechanically.

No matter how heroic he was, its still a terrible accident.

McAlpines only response was a casual shrug of thin shoulders.

How is your dad coping? Forsythe persisted.

McAlpine flicked his eyes up the stairs, wanting to get away. Hes as youd expect.

And your mother?

McAlpine looked past him to a powdery, white patch of damp plaster. An image of his mother screaming burned into his consciousness, sobs racking her emaciated body so violently he heard her rib crack, as loud as rifle-fire. The doctor holding up the syringe, tapping it to draw clear fluid into the plastic chamber, putting his knee on her chest to hold her still as he exposed bare wasted flesh to the needle

He glanced at his watch. My mothers fine, he said flatly.

Forsythe tapped him on the arm, a touch, nothing more. If theres anything I can do, just let me know. Weve missed you in the office.

McAlpine nodded up towards the DCIs office. Do you know what he wants me for? Graham?

DCI Graham to you, corrected Forsythe. There was an acid attack on Highburgh Road, about two weeks ago, the 26th.

I know. So?

Surveillance at the Western, a watching brief. The lassie got it right in the face, very nasty. Shes been in a coma until now, but there are signs of recovery. The minute she talks, we want somebody there.

So Im bloody babysitting.

Think of it as a gradual return to work. You start tomorrow, day shift for now. All those pretty nurses in black stockings, theyll be all over a handsome wee laddie like yourself, Forsythe chuckled. Gives a new meaning to getting back into uniform.

On the twelfth day she woke. She lay not moving, and knowing she could not move, her face dry and crusty, so tight she could feel it crack. Something had happened, something so painful, she couldnt remember. And something else had happened something wonderful

Her brain gently probed each of her senses.

Her eyes were covered; she had a feeling of daylight from somewhere, yet all she could sense from her eyes was cold emptiness, a void where something warm and comforting used to be.

Her ears were full of fog, but she could hear somebody trying to move around and not cause disturbance, the flick of newspaper pages, swing doors opening and closing, soft bleeps and pings, the constant low hum of fluorescent lights, whispers

She couldnt breathe through her nose, but she could still smell burned flesh, and fresh air tinged with the tart smell of anaesthetic.

There was a tube in her mouth. Something was keeping her breathing, wafting air in and out of her lungs, pain on the breath in and pain on the breath out, a peaceful calm in between.

She sensed somebody, someone else breathing, their face close to hers, a touch on her arm. She couldnt tell them she was awake. She wasnt sure she wanted them to know

PC Alan McAlpine was bored, more bored than hed have thought possible while still breathing, and hed only been on duty for ten minutes.

Glasgow, July, and midday on the hottest day of the year. The sun streamed in through the high Victorian windows of the Western Infirmary to highlight the dancing dust motes. It was his own fault. Hed told DCI Graham hed rather be back at work than sitting at home watching dust settle.

And here he was, back at work and watching dust settle. On a Saturday.

The cheap plastic seat was making his bum numb and his brain wasnt far behind. Five minutes finished the Daily Record quick crossword. He made a start on the Heralds wee stinker and got stuck at five down. He started doodling ampersands in the margin, waiting for inspiration.

Nobody spoke to him. He was invisible though hed been smiled at a few times by a slim red-headed nurse, her light blue cotton skirt swinging as she passed. Her shoes squeaked annoyingly on the lino, leaving a little trail of marks.

She had fat ankles, ugly feet. His interest died.

His glance kept returning to the clock, the jerky long black hand showing how slowly time moves for the living.

He thought hed better phone home and find out how his mum was doing. Not that he really wanted to be told.

When she woke for the third time, they were close by, waiting for her to come round. A voice spoke a mans low, monotone. She picked up the words baby, daughter, doing fine