Page 54 of The Mercy Chair

‘Yes, it is. And you should see your GP about your onychomycosis.’

‘What’s that, miss?’

‘The fungal infection on your toenails. It’s why they are yellow and smell like strong cheese. Your GP will prescribe antifungal cream and it will take six-to-nine months to clear up.’

Cobb shrugged. ‘Do I look like I have a GP?’

‘I know that you do,’ Bradshaw replied.

She blinked as she realised what she had said. Poe rolled his eyes. So,thatwas how she’d found Cobb. She’d been rooting around in NHS databases again. Luckily Linus had stayed outside so he hadn’t heard. MI5 must have different rules to Poe on entering private residences without permission, he thought. Poe’s rule was if he wanted to go into someone’s house, he’d go in and make up the reason why afterwards.

‘You’ve been looking through my medical—’ Cobb started to say.

‘Cornelius Green is dead, Mr Cobb,’ Poe cut in. ‘Did you kill him?’

Cobb staggered like he’d taken a crossbow bolt to the chest. He collapsed into a greasy, but comfortable-looking, stuffed armchair. ‘How?’ he wheezed, reaching for his cigarettes. His hands shook as he lit up.

‘He was tied to a tree near Keswick and stoned to death. Where were you the night before last, Mr Cobb?’

‘Cornelius was stoned to death?’

Poe nodded as Linus finally decided to enter the cottage. ‘He was.’

‘Who did it?’

‘That’s why I’m here.’

Cobb didn’t immediately respond. It looked like he was struggling to understand what Poe was saying. ‘Cornelius is dead,’ he said. Poe thought he needed to hear himself say the words. See if it sounded more believable that way. ‘And he was definitely stoned to death?’

Poe nodded again.

A low, rattling noise started in Cobb’s bony chest. It sounded like the build-up to a wet cough, but when it finally reached his throat it was laughter that erupted. Not the mean-spirited laughter of someone enjoying a colleague’s misfortune, this laughter was free and pure. Tears of joy streamed down his face. This continued for a full minute. When the laughter eventually subsided, he gasped, ‘Tell me everything.’

‘A stun gun was used to get him to the place he was murdered.’

‘One of those electric burny things?’

‘Yes.’

The intensity of his laughter trebled. He was now laughing so hard Poe was worried it would turn into a fit. ‘You’re killing me, Sergeant Poe!’ he gasped.

Poe looked at Bradshaw. She shrugged. Linus did too.

‘There was no love lost between you two then,’ Poe said. At least it confirmed part of the note was accurate. You didn’t take so much delight in someone’s death unless something had happened. Hate like this wasn’t organic; it didn’t build up naturally. If someone rubbed you up the wrong way, you avoided them. This was the hate of two people who were close and now weren’t. The note had told them to find out what had caused their rift and Poe intended to.

It was five minutes before Cobb was composed enough to talk to them. ‘That’s that then,’ he said. He lit another cigarette from the embers of the previous one.

‘What’s what?’ Poe said.

‘Nothing. Now, how can I help you, Sergeant Poe?’

‘You can start by answering my first question: where were you two nights ago?’

‘Two nights, two nights,’ Cobb muttered. He wasn’t even trying to hide his grin. ‘Ah, yes. Two nights ago, I was helping out at the community allotment.’

‘What as, a scarecrow?’ Poe muttered.

‘What’s that?’

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