Page 5 of The Mercy Chair

‘That’s right. I was at her funeral.’

‘I remember. Mum liked you.’

‘Not as much as she liked a drink though, am I right?’

‘She did enjoy the occasional milk stout,’ Stephen admitted.

‘What’s all this nonsense about badgers then?’

Which was when Poe’s mobile rang. He frowned. Stephen was about to get to the good bit, and he didn’t want to miss anything. He glanced at the screen, readying himself to reject the call.

He stayed his hand.

It was Estelle Doyle.

‘You were on your own when this happened?’ Doctor Lang asked.

‘I was,’ Poe replied. ‘Why, is it important?’

‘Possibly. Why wasn’t your partner with you? I thought you lived together?’

‘Estelle’s my fiancée, actually.’

‘She is?’

Poe nodded, a little bit proud, a little bit embarrassed.

‘Congratulations are in order then. Is this new? There’s nothing in the file.’

‘Couple of months now.’

‘I’ll make a note.’ She glanced at the bare desk. ‘Darn it, I’ve forgotten my pen.’ She opened the desk drawer and searched inside. ‘Would you believe it? A doctor’s office without a pen. Could I borrow yours, Washington?’

Poe reached into his pocket. Came out empty. ‘I’ve forgotten mine as well,’ he said.

‘A police officer without a pen,’ Doctor Lang said, her eyes twinkling. ‘Isn’t that unusual?’

‘I’m an unusual police officer.’

She tapped the file. ‘Of that I need no convincing. I’ll make a note later. Anyway, was it romantic? Where did you propose?’

‘I didn’t,’ Poe said. ‘Estelle proposed to me.’

‘That’s . . . unconventional.’

‘You don’t know the half of it. She lured me to a post-mortem and when I got there she’d spelled out “Will you marry me?” with finger bones.’

‘Finger . . .’ Doctor Lang said incredulously. She did some mental calculations. ‘But that’s forty-three bones.’

‘Forty-seven,’ Poe said. ‘You forgot the question mark. You don’t want to know which bone she’d used for the dot.’

‘I actually think I do.’

‘I’ve forgotten its name, but it sits at the roof of the nasal cavity.’

‘The ethmoid bone,’ Doctor Lang said automatically. ‘Where on earth did she get it all from?’

‘I was too scared to ask.’

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