Page 86 of The Mercy Chair

‘Only in that she won’t get bored,’ Poe replied. ‘By every other metric Tilly’s far superior. She’ll think her way around problems, spot patterns and make connections that even the most advanced computer never could.’

‘But you don’t think she’ll crack this one, do you?’ Linus said. He looked disappointed.

‘The problem is, it’ll be something low-tech,’ Poe replied. ‘Cornelius Green tattooed himself and he tattooed Nathan Rose and that means it’s likely the alphanumeric string is something he came up with. He didn’t own a computer and he lived a simple life. That means if itishis code, he came up with it using a pencil and a piece of paper. And as Tilly says, human brains aren’t capable of generating random numbers. If hehadtried to come up with a secret squirrel code, she’d have figured it out within minutes.’

‘Which is why she’s been sending you all over Cumbria tracking down random books.’

‘Exactly. Because if itisn’trandom, those alphanumeric strings meant something to Cornelius. Therefore, the more information she has – or frames of reference, or metadata, or whatever the hell else she calls it – the more likely it is that Cornelius’s beliefs will align with her notes.’

‘So you think shewillcrack his code?’

‘I think she got rid of us both earlier because she had a theory she wanted to test.’

‘What? Why didn’t she tell us?’

‘Because if she had, she’d have got bogged down explaining every little thing. We’d have asked endless questions, we’d have made suggestions, all of which she would have already considered, and all of which would slow her down.’

Linus checked his watch. He craned his neck to check the status of their smoothie order. ‘I assume we’re heading straight back?’

‘Why would we? I haven’t got my pie yet.’

‘But if Tilly—’

‘She’ll call if she has something.’

The teenager plonked Poe’s order down on the counter. The smoothies were in tall, clear plastic cups and were a sort of olive-green colour. Flea-sized black seeds, the kind you were still finding in your teeth three months later, were suspended in the thick gloopy mixture. Poe took a ten-pound note from his wallet and placed it on the counter. ‘Sorry about earlier,’ he said. ‘Keep the change.’

‘That will be sixteen pounds, sir,’ the young woman said.

‘Jesus,’ Poe muttered. He put the tenner back in his wallet and put a twenty down. ‘OK, keep the change now then.’

‘Ooh, now I can afford that new iPhone.’

Linus sniggered. ‘Serves you right,’ he said to Poe on the way out.

Chapter 75

The reference books were closed when they got back to Bradshaw’s hotel room. She was leaning into her laptop, muttering, while making notes on the hotel stationery pad.

‘I need you to get me something, Poe,’ she said as soon as he’d grabbed a coaster and carefully placed her smoothie on the desk.

‘Another book?’

‘Not this time. I need you to go to the All Saints Church on the outskirts of Kendal and get me their records.’

‘The birth, marriages and deaths register? What the hell do you want that for?’

‘No. That’s just a list of events they have a statutory obligation to record. I need the church records. That’s where everything else that happens is written down. Minutes of meetings, architect’s plans, maps, drawings, anything at all that affects the church that isn’t required to go in the BMD register.’

‘And they’re kept in the church?’

‘Until they’re deposited in the archive office, yes. They have to; they’re working documents.’

‘OK,’ Poe said. ‘But what’s this about? The Children of Job aren’t affiliated to any church. They don’t even have charitable status.’

She turned her back and said, ‘And I don’t need anything before 1985 or after 2007.’

Poe had been dismissed again.

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