Page 123 of The Mercy Chair

‘That’s one way of looking at it,’ Poe said. It had been a while since he had held a sledgehammer and it took him a moment to get used to the unfamiliar weight.

‘I don’t think thereisanother way of looking at it, Poe.’

‘Superintendent Nightingale and I shared a glance before she left.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘She passed on an unspoken message. She wants me to buy her seventy-two hours. That’s how long it’ll take to get the permission she needs.’

‘That’s because if it isn’t a false wall, it might be aload-bearingwall,’ Linus said.

‘But what if itisn’ta load-bearing wall, Snoopy?’

‘What if it isn’t . . . ?!’ Linus spluttered. ‘That’s not how risk assessments work!’

‘The only thing a risk assessment will achieve is delay. Some health-and-safety cube dweller will insist we can’t go ahead until a natterjack toad survey has been carried out and the ceiling is shored up with props and jacks.’

‘Linus is right, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘Doing this is dangerous.’

‘Thank you, Tilly,’ Linus said. ‘Someone has to be responsible for thinking about—’

‘You’ll need safety goggles,’ Bradshaw nipped in, passing Poe a pair of Perspex glasses.

‘Oh my God, you two are bloody nuts!’

‘Feel free to leave,’ Poe said.

‘Well, we’re certainly not standing around waiting for the roof to come down on our heads. We’ll see you outside. Come on, Tilly.’

‘I’m staying here, Linus.’

‘And I’m going to insist you come with me.’

After Poe and Bradshaw had stopped laughing, Poe said, ‘Piss off, Snoopy.’

Linus burned bright red before turning on his heels and stomping out of the basement. Bradshaw watched him disappear up the basement steps. ‘He’s an idiot, isn’t he, Poe?’

‘He is, Tilly. But that doesn’t mean he’s wrong. Perhaps you’d better wait upstairs too.’

‘No, Poe.’

‘This isn’t one of those times when we both have to be in danger, Tilly. It’s OK for one of us to be safe.’

‘That’s not why I’m staying, Poe.’

‘It isn’t?’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t think you can see it yet, but this case has taken a huge toll on you.’

‘Oh, Icansee it. I don’t understand why that means you have to stand under a collapsing roof.’

‘If thisisa false wall, you shouldn’t be on your own when you see what’s behind it.’

Poe rested the sledgehammer on his foot, winced as he remembered he wasn’t wearing steel-toe-capped boots. ‘You’re a good friend, Tilly,’ he said. He then grasped the handle, lifted it into position and widened his stance so his feet were shoulder-width apart. He aimed at a spot on the wall about four feet from the ground and smashed the sledgehammer against it as hard as he could.

Chapter 109

The basement wall was sturdy and well made, but it was no match for Poe as he poured his rage into every swing of the sledgehammer. The first crunching blow sent a piece of brick shrapnel humming towards his head. He swerved out of the way, but it nicked his ear. He felt the warm blood on his neck.

---