Page 16 of The Mercy Chair

‘That depends on you,’ Nightingale said. ‘I was rather hoping you might ask Estelle. See if she wouldn’t mind doing it. The body’s at Carlisle now, but we can move it if she needs us to.’

‘I’m sure Carlisle will be fine. She’s already in Cumbria.’

‘She is? Why?’

‘Poe and Estelle are engaged to be married, Detective Superintendent Nightingale!’ Bradshaw shouted, unable to contain herself. ‘When she heard Poe was going to be working in Cumbria, she cancelled some lectures so they could spend some time together.’

‘Bloody hell!’ Nightingale said. ‘The Hermit of Shap and the Pathologist Grim are getting hitched? I’m no expert, but isn’t this one of the twelve signs of the Apocalypse?’

‘Ho ho ho,’ Poe said.

‘It’s actually one of the seven seals and the seven trumpets of God,’ Linus said without looking up from the tablet he’d been typing on since they left London. ‘In the Book of Revelation, they’re a series of catastrophic events that take place during the End of Days.’

‘Who the hell was that, Poe?’ Nightingale asked.

‘No one,’ he replied, adjusting the rear-view mirror so he could glare at Linus.

‘I thought it was just you and Tilly.’

‘Snoopy’s my intern.’

‘You’ve got an intern?’

‘I’ll explain when I get there.’

‘And he’s called Snoopy?’

‘His real name is Linus, Detective Superintendent Nightingale,’ Bradshaw said. ‘I don’t think Poe likes him very much.’

Poe didn’t contradict her.

‘Well, thisisgoing to be fun,’ Nightingale said.

‘Where are you?’ Poe asked.

‘Still processing the murder scene; can you meet me there?’

‘Sounds good. Give me the postcode.’

‘You’ve been in London too long, Poe. It’s a tree on the side of a hill.’

He smiled, glad to be heading home. ‘Directions then,’ he said.

‘Spoken like a true Cumbrian.’

Chapter 12

From the car, the Lightning Tree looked as if it had been dug up and replanted upside down. That was Poe’s first impression. He didn’t know how many times the lone oak sentinel had been struck by lightning, but it was leafless, barkless and very, very dead. The skeletal, root-like branches were stark against the clear sky.

Poe didn’t need to ask why it was an attractive place to Druids. Even in the low summer sun, the tree looked mystical. He wondered if they would still use it. Surely a man being tied up and stoned to death had to be bad karma, or whatever it was they called it.

Bradshaw said she would stay in the car while Poe met with Nightingale. Linus said he would keep her company. Poe didn’t like that idea at all and insisted they all go.

‘But I want to start profiling Cornelius Green, Poe,’ Tilly said. She looked out of the passenger-side window. ‘Plus, it’s been raining and my wellington boots are at the bottom of my suitcase.’

‘And I only have these,’ Linus said, gesturing at his polished shoes.

Which settled it.

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