Page 31 of The Mercy Chair

‘Cornelius Green?’

‘Yes.’

‘Born in Ohio to biblical literalist parents, hence the name. According to the New Testament, Cornelius was a Roman centurion who converted to Christianity. He’s widely regarded as the first gentile convert.OurCornelius was active in his local church from an early age and, from what we can gather, on the periphery of un-savoury activities in his teens and early twenties.’

‘Such as?’

‘Firebombing abortion clinics. Threatening to kill doctors. Daubing homophobic slurs on HIV healthcare centres. Nothing that could be proven but he was a person of interest to the FBI. He called himself a Christian soldier.’

‘Are his parents still alive?’

‘They’re in their eighties, but yes.’

‘What did they think of all this?’

‘Pride, I imagine,’ Oldwater said. ‘They’re currently in prison for sending letter bombs to a COVID-19 vaccine production plant in California. They called the virus God’s Judgement and anyone interfering in the cull of the fallen had to be held to account.’

‘Well, don’t they just sound delightful?’

‘When he was twenty-two, Cornelius must have got involved in something he didn’t want to face up to as he fled the States. Ended up in Cumbria. He’s been here for almost forty years.’

‘You said he was a founding member of the Children of Job?’

‘Thefounding member. It was basically his.’

Poe read the top paragraph of Cornelius Green’s biography. ‘He owned the land and the old school buildings outright?’

‘That’s correct.’

‘How did he fund it? If he was twenty-two and fresh from the States, I don’t imagine banks were falling over themselves to lend him money.’

‘An American benefactor bankrolled him. One of those revivalist preachers with a mega church and an even more mega bank account. Probably a friend of his parents. Cornelius bought what was then Chapel Wood School, changed the name to the Chapel WoodInstitute, and founded his organisation.’

‘Who inherits it, now he’s dead?’

Oldwater pointed at the file. ‘It’s all in there. There’s a robust continuity plan.’

‘He planned for his death?’

‘Seems so. Don’t assume too much from that though – most big organisations have plans for the death of their founder.’

‘Is it possible he had a falling out with his benefactor? Rich men can reach all the way around the world without leaving their bed.’

‘Perhaps,’ Oldwater said.

‘But you don’t think so?’

He shook his head. ‘In my world, as in yours, Washington, a zealot is just another word for an extremist. I think it’s there you need to start.’

‘And sometimes religious group is just another name for a cult.’

‘If the toe tag fits,’ Oldwater said.

Chapter 27

‘The bishop took quite a risk sharing that file with you, Washington,’ Doctor Lang said. ‘Did you ever doubt his motivations?’

‘Oh, I knew what his motivations were,’ Poe said. ‘He wanted the Children of Job discredited beyond repair.’

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