Ruby paced the hospital corridor as she waited to be allowed in. Her stomach was tied up in knots, her body still trembling from the come down of adrenalin flowing through her veins. Units had raced to find Thomas at the hotel Mason disclosed. It had proved one of two things: Mason knew the killer’s next move, and he cared enough about his reputation to want to stop him dead. Thomas was not just alive, but conscious. Although dehydrated, his fingers were still intact and officers had reached him with time to spare. With the hotel room under constant surveillance, Ruby prayed the killer would return. She could have arrested Mason for the offence of assisting him in his crimes, but like a game of Jenga, that would send their carefully constructed relationship tumbling down. He was on the precipice of giving her the killer’s identity. An arrest at this time would serve to shut him up. She tried to imagine the killer returning to the hotel room and discovering a police officer in Thomas’s place. Would he be caught just as Mason was before? She had lied to Mason. No semen had been found. She smiled, barely able to believe that he had fallen into her trap. Her visits to the prison had been worthwhile, and she had Nathan to thank for getting her a foot in the door. But now she had made Mason’s acquaintance, she knew he would not let it go. She had seen the hatred in his eyes, felt the firmness of his fingers as they dug into her skin.

Downes’s honeyed voice carried in the air as he sweet-talked his friend the Ward Sister into letting them in to Thomas’s hospital room. Ruby watched as she tilted her head to one side, her eyes twinkling in response to the lilt of his Northern Irish accent. Ruby looked away as a tiny pang of jealousy bloomed. She still had feelings for him, even now. What they had was more than friendship and she supposed that it would never go away. In truth, she did not want him to retire because she did not want him to go. The future felt uncertain and she hated it. Why couldn’t things stay the way they were?

Ambling towards her, Downes wore a satisfied grin. ‘We can visit for a few minutes. He’s traumatised and tired, but should be all right to speak. Let me do the talking,’ he said, his hand gently resting on Ruby’s back as he followed her into the room. Rank was meant to take precedence but sometimes Ruby forgot. To her, it was about the best way to get the job done. She dreaded to think who would be her senior officer once Downes had left. Unless she took the post herself. She pushed such thoughts aside as they entered the private room, grateful his wife had gone home to bring him in a change of clothes.

A weary man, he lay back on the bed, his expression still carrying fragments of the horrors of his ordeal. Pressing a button, he elevated the bed. He winced as he made himself comfortable, the rope burns on his wrists and neck covered by a thin transparent gauze.

Ruby thought of his wife and wondered what she was going through. Yes, he would have some explaining to do, but surely she would be happy just to have him in one piece? Ruby reminded herself that it was not for her to contemplate how his marriage was going to survive. She was here to glean as much information as she could. Memories of Melissa’s autopsy came back to haunt her. Now Cheryl was due on the mortuary slab. It was good to see Thomas pink skinned and alive. Taking out her notebook and pen, she prepared to take notes as Downes introduced them both.

But Thomas seemed keen to get something off his chest. ‘You’re the officers that saved me,’ he croaked, his voice hoarse.

‘Yes,’ Downes replied, giving Ruby a sideways nod. ‘Sergeant Preston here was instrumental in finding your hotel room in time.’

Thomas nodded solemnly, tears welling in his eyes. Squeezing them tight, he tried to blink them away. He looked at Ruby, his face filled with gratitude. ‘Thank you,’ he said, his chin wobbling. ‘I was sure he was going to kill me. He threatened to do it when he…’ His voice broke off as sobs wracked his body.

‘Here.’ Ruby plucked a man-sized tissue from the box at the end of the bed.

‘Thanks.’ Thomas sniffed, wiping his nose and eyes. ‘I tried to scream but it built up in my throat because he’d shoved a rag in my mouth. But then his phone rang, and he left me alone in the hotel. When the door opened, I thought he was coming back to kill me. I was in a horror movie and there was no way out.’

‘Can you tell us from the beginning what happened?’ Downes said, nodding at Ruby to take note. She remembered the voice recorder in her pocket, preferring it to her scribbled notes, which she would struggle to decipher later on. Turning it on, she introduced the people present, along with the time, date and case number for reference later.

Barely pausing for breath, Thomas described his first meeting with Matthew and the online details that had been given to him by a stranger at the golf club party he recently attended. ‘I’m so ashamed,’ he said. ‘I’ve never tried anything like this before and now my wife has to come to terms with what I’ve done. I hope she can forgive me.’

‘When you got to the hotel room, what happened?’ Downes said, encouraging him to carry on.

‘I’d already had a few drinks for Dutch courage, and to be honest I was having cold feet.’ Thomas picked a thread from the hospital blanket, his words laced with regret. ‘Matthew reassured me his discretion and said I could back out any time I wanted. I’ve never been unfaithful to my wife. I can’t imagine what you must think.’

‘We’re not here to judge,’ Ruby sighed, wishing he would worry a bit less about what they thought and get on with the description.

Thomas nodded, looking a little more reassured. ‘Of course, sorry.’ He drew in a deep breath before continuing. ‘We got to the room and we kissed a couple of times. I went to the bathroom while he cut us a few lines of coke. Again, it’s not something I’ve tried that often,’ he said, throwing them a guilty glance. ‘I felt awful afterwards. It’s never affected me that way before. Then Matthew started tying me up and I just presumed it was part of our night. Then he just stopped and turned on the television like I wasn’t there. I must have passed out, as there was something else on the television when I came to, and Matthew had eaten a meal. I couldn’t believe he’d ordered room service while I was tied up on the bed.’

‘Can I interrupt you there,’ Ruby said, forgetting her promise to Downes to allow him to take the lead. ‘When Matthew was with you, was he sexually excited?’

‘Yes, he had a whopping great erection,’ Thomas sniffed. ‘Which is why I couldn’t understand why he suddenly stopped.’

‘You were saying that he’d ordered room service,’ Downes said, giving Ruby a look before bringing him back to his account.

Thomas nodded. ‘I asked him what the hell he was doing, but I don’t remember his response. I kept blacking out and coming to, missing great big chunks of time. It had to be the drugs. Eventually he told me that if I didn’t shut up he’d gag me. I tried to get off the bed but I was tied to the posts.’

Ruby frowned. That wasn’t the way the victims were displayed in the pictures. She hated to interrupt as Thomas was looking tired and she knew they had only a little time. ‘Did he take any photos?’ she said.

‘Yes,’ Thomas replied. ‘He snapped one with his iPhone when we got to the hotel. I told him I didn’t want any pictures taken but he just laughed it off and said he’d delete it. He took the second one when I was tied up. He’d untied me from the bed posts by this time, but because the rope was around my neck, I was still in no position to move. That’s when he got the phone call and left.’ Thomas’s fingers touched the gauze on his neck as he relived the memory. ‘I’m sure I was minutes from death.’

Ruby did not argue.

‘What about a description?’ Downes cut in. ‘Could you work with a police sketch artist?’ ‘Yes,’ Thomas said. ‘He was about 5' 11", just looked like a regular guy. Average build, brown hair, nothing special but he had a way about him, you know? He was very charismatic, almost commanding.’ He paused, pressing a button that lay on the bed by his side.

‘Are you all right?’ Ruby asked, as the colour left his face.

‘Just a bit of pain,’ Thomas said, his features relaxing as the morphine kicked in.

Ruby felt genuine sympathy for the man whose life had just imploded. She knew that this would be the first of many times he would relive each painful memory. But the most accurate information was that gathered directly after the event. Soon the minute details of such a horrific event would begin to fade.

As the Ward Sister slid the door open, it seemed that their time was up. She looked at Downes as if he were the only person in the room. ‘The doctor is on his rounds, come back later when he’s had some rest.’

‘Thanks, love,’ Downes replied, before turning to Thomas. ‘We’ll arrange a sketch artist. Have him drop by to see you later on.’

Ruby followed him out, feeling hope at last. With a description to follow and having saved their last victim, their killer was running on borrowed time.