Read Ramsay 04 - Killjoy for Free Online Page B

said. ‘I didn’t get a chance. I was queuing by that stall that always has the cheap veg.’ She turned to Prue. ‘ You know the one. I said to the lass behind me: “It’s like bloody Moscow waiting to be served here.” But it’s worth it in the end. You can get a canny bargain…I was just about to be served when our Gabby came past, walking very fast, almost running. I shouted out to her but she didn’t take no notice. Perhaps she didn’t hear me but I think she heard well enough. I wasn’t going to lose my place in the queue to go chasing after her.’
    ‘Were you surprised,’ Ramsay asked, ‘to see her out in Hallowgate when she was supposed to be at school?’
    ‘Na!’ Ellen Paston said. ‘It’s not like a real school is it, the sixth-form college. They’re in and out of it all the time.’
    ‘Did you see if she met anyone?’
    She shook her head. ‘I was too busy keeping my eye on the lad who was serving me. They give you all the shite from behind the counter if you don’t watch them.’
    She sat back in her chair, her feet planted firmly on the floor, her legs slightly apart remembering her weekly triumph in the battle with the market salesman. Perhaps the thought of the victory gave her courage because she went on: ‘ Well, if that’s all I’ll be off. I’ve been here two hours longer than I’m being paid for and I doubt if Mr Lynch will want to cough up the overtime.’
    Ramsay was surprised by the woman. He would have expected more reaction. Even if she and Gabby had lost touch shouldn’t there have been some grief, the pretence at least of sadness? She seemed not to care what impression she was making. He decided that her lack of response was caused by shock, and her gracelessness touched him and made him sympathetic. He would have taken her address and arranged to speak to her in the morning then let her go. But Hunter wanted to stamp his authority on the interview. He thought she should have more respect and thought he would show her who was in charge.
    ‘This is a murder enquiry,’ he said sharply. ‘A serious matter.’
    ‘Go on then,’ she said, not intimidated in the least. ‘Get on with it. I live with my mam. She’s an old lady. She’ll be wondering what’s happened to me.’
    Hunter paused. Having made his point he was having difficulty coming up with a relevant question.
    ‘There is something,’ he said. ‘Probably not important but I’m interested all the same. Why Gabriella? Why choose a name like that? Not a common name for a Hallowgate lass.’
    ‘Her mother was Spanish,’ Ellen Paston said, as if the word was an insult. ‘Our Robbie met her when he was working the fishing boats. He had a season down in Spanish waters and brought her back with him. She never settled. I don’t know why. Our Robbie spoilt her rotten. I doubt if it would ever have lasted. Mam and I could never take to her. All show.’
    She was jealous, Ramsay thought, of her brother’s wife. Is that why she expressed so little grief at Gabriella’s death? Had her ugliness made her resent the beautiful young girl?
    ‘And they were both killed in a car crash?’ Hunter said.
    ‘Aye.’ Ellen paused, leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. For the first time Ramsay sensed real pain. She had loved her brother. She seemed lost in thought, then stared up at Hunter defiantly. ‘ Look,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell you because you’ll find out anyway. Or perhaps you already know. They were in a stolen car. Robbie was a bit wild when he was a lad and that wife of his only egged him on. They were coming out of town down the Coast Road when the police saw them and started chasing them. They drove into the back of a lorry. They didn’t have a chance.’ She snapped her mouth shut as if she had already given away more than she had intended.
    ‘Did Gabby know how her parents died?’ Hunter asked.
    ‘Not the details,’ Ellen said flatly. ‘Not from us.’
    So, Ramsay thought, despite what the