Page 96 of The Mercy Chair

Chapter 82

‘I don’t understand,’ Doctor Lang said.

‘It’s simple,’ Poe said. ‘For reasons we didn’t yet know, Cornelius Green had tattooed the locations of graves on himself. One of those tattoos was SM.15.NP. Tilly had narrowed it down to grave fifteen, north plot, St Michael’s Church in Shap. That was the grave I was called to months before I’d even heard of Cornelius Green. The one the badgers dug up.’

‘No, not that. I mean I don’t understand why this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Nightmares are an entirely rational psychological response to traumatic experiences, but I’ve read your file, Washington, so I know you’ve seen worse than a grave with an extra body in it. I don’t know, maybe there’s only so much death one man can see before he starts to see it everywhere, but, from a clinical perspective, that being the root cause of your nightmares surprises me.’

Poe offered a wry smile. ‘You’re wondering why I still see crows when I sleep?’

‘To be frank, yes,’ she said. ‘And don’t think I’m suggesting weakness on your part. Although the brain is robust, it’s also surprisingly fragile. The Cornelius Green case being linked to the earlier one must have been quite a shock.’

‘Two things, Doctor Lang,’ Poe said. He held up a finger. ‘The badger exhumation case was never mine; I was just the unlucky sap with a warrant card who happened to be having a pint nearby. Cumbria picked up the investigation and, mistakenly as it turned out, classed it as a fatal quarry accident among the black labour market.’

‘And the second thing?’

‘You’re looking for the catalyst to my nightmares?’

‘I am.’

‘This wasn’t it.’

She frowned. ‘You said at the start of this session you were having nightmares about crows.’

‘I did.’

‘And there were crows pecking at the body the badgers unearthed.’

‘There were.’

‘And we’ve agreed that, in your mind, you associate crows with the events surrounding the murder of Cornelius Green.’

‘I do.’

‘What am I missing? Why are you so convinced this isn’t the cause of your nightmares?’

‘Do you think what I’ve told you is disturbing, Doctor Lang?’

She nodded. ‘I would say so. Your victim was stoned to death. A witness hanged himself in front of you. Everything is linked to a massacred family and a body dug up by badgers. In all my time as a trauma therapist, I’ve never had a patient disclose anything so disturbing.’

‘Well, believe me when I say that compared to what came next, what I’ve told you so far is about as disturbing as those Japanese cartoons Tilly watches.’

‘What happened?’

‘I visited Israel Cobb again.’

Chapter 83

Nightingale arrived, panting, within minutes. She had blown off the meeting she was due to chair and by the looks of it had run most of the way. She didn’t even try to catch her breath. Just stormed into the hotel room and growled, ‘What the hell’s going on, Poe? Every time I let you loose, another fucking body turns up.’

‘Honestly, ma’am, I have no idea,’ he replied. ‘The whole thing’s bonkers, absolutely bonkers. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in something with so many moving parts.’

Nightingale slumped on the bed beside him. She looked exhausted. Poe was in this up to his ears, was barely sleeping himself, and he didn’t have a tenth of the responsibilities she did. He wouldn’t be the SIO on a complex murder investigation for a giant black pudding. Everyone second-guessed your decisions, everyone knew better than you, and you were the only one without an umbrella when the brown rain started.

‘This is a nightmare,’ she said. ‘I’m getting grief for Nathan Rose’s suicide. We’ll have to reopen the accidental death for the body the badgers dug up, which, at best, will make us look incompetent. And the chief constable’s now getting calls from the religious community.’

‘Why?’

‘They’re claiming we aren’t taking Cornelius Green’s murder seriously.’

---