Page 137 of The Mercy Chair

‘So?’

‘Do something!’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know. Call for assistance. If you say it was all Eve’s fault, I’ll give you some money.’

‘How much?’

‘Three . . . no,fivethousand pounds!’

‘As tempting as the offer of a month’s wages is, I’m going to have to decline, I’m afraid,’ Poe said.

‘Why?’

‘I’m not leaning against this post so I can look cool when I smoke my last cigarette, you fucking dickhead. I’m tied up as well.’ Poe thought about what he’d just said. ‘In fact, why am I telling you this?’ he added. ‘YouknowI’m tied up. And it wasn’t Eve who did this to you.’

‘Of course it was,’ Aaron said. ‘She’s a psychopath.’

‘No argument from me there, Aaron. But if you look to your left, you’ll seewhyit wasn’t your older sister.’

Aaron did as Poe suggested. He frowned. ‘Why would Eve tie herself up?’

‘I don’t know, Aaron; whywouldEve tie herself up?’ Poe said. ‘It’s almost as if you’ve put no thought at all into that question.’

‘What’s happening then?’

‘Have you heard the phrase, “Your chickens have come home to roost”?’

‘Of course.’

‘Well, in your case it’s not so much “chickens” as it is your sister, Bethany, and it’s not so much “coming home to roost” as coming home to kill you and Eve.’ Poe grimaced as a fresh stabbing pain hit him right behind his eyes. He closed them for a moment. ‘Then again, I could be mistaken,’ he added. ‘Ihavejust been hit on the head with a mallet.’

‘Bethany’s dead,’ Aaron said. He looked round as if there were clues to be found in the basement. ‘Someone else is doing this. Whoever it was at the door when I answered it.’

‘Bethanyisn’tdead, Aaron,’ Poe said. ‘I was just speaking to her.’

‘You know that’s not true, Sergeant Poe. You saw what Israel did to her. I was there, don’t forget.’

‘Nevertheless.’

‘This is absolutely unacceptable!’ Aaron shouted suddenly. ‘Whoever’s doing this to me, you’re in big trouble!’

‘Sergeant Poe’s right, Aaron,’ Eve said. ‘Bethanyisalive. I saw her with my own eyes.’

Poe hadn’t noticed Eve come round. He wondered if she’d been awake to hear Aaron call her a psychopath. He doubted it mattered now.

‘What is this?’ Aaron said. ‘Why are you and Sergeant Poe trying to trick me?’

Poe sighed. ‘Has he always been this stupid?’ he asked Eve.

‘He’s frightened,’ she said.

‘We’reallfrightened.’

‘Why are you frightened?’ Eve said. ‘She’s your guardian fucking angel. You’ll walk away from this a hero.’

Which was when Bethany came back down into the basement. She was holding the mallet.

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