Page 42 of The Angel Maker

He stared between the graves, reading the dates once again in order to be sure. A shiver went through him.

“Detective Page.”

He turned to see Gaunt approaching—picking his way awkwardly between the graves. He seemed unsure of his footing and younger than he had during their previous meeting. A little of his confidence had faded, and it didn’t look like he was going to rally any of it back any time soon.

“Mr. Gaunt,” Laurence said.

“Might I ask why you’re here today?”

“By coincidence, that was going to be my first question to you as well.” Laurence smiled politely and waited.

Gaunt relented.

“I’m here to make arrangements for Mr. Hobbes’s funeral,” he said. “He left a very specific and detailed list of requirements for the ceremony with my company.”

“But his body hasn’t been released yet.” Laurence checked his watch and frowned. “In fact, the postmortem is still taking place even as we speak. It seems premature to be planning anything yet.”

“I’m just doing what I’m told.”

Gaunt looked a little helpless, as though he wanted to have a better and more authoritative answer, but didn’t.

Laurence angled his body slightly.

“When were theserequirementsgiven to your company?”

“A few weeks ago, I think.”

“You think or you know?”

Gaunt thought about it.

“Actually, perhaps more recently than that,” he said.

“Interesting.”

“Well, you have to remember that Mr. Hobbes was very old. He was in poor health. It isn’t strange that he was making those kinds of plans.”

Laurence nodded to himself, resisting the urge to point out to Gauntthat it was not for him to suggest to a police officer what was strange or needed to be remembered. But it was possible the lawyer was correct.

“I have an understanding of Mr. Hobbes’s work and finances now,” he said. “But I know very little about his private life. For example, I had the impression he had no family.”

“He didn’t.”

“Except he did.” Laurence pivoted at the waist and gestured at the graves. “And here they are.”

Gaunt looked past him at the two plots.

“Well, yes. But that was a long time ago.”

“Even so. Do you know what happened to Professor Hobbes’s family?”

“I know that his wife died in childbirth.” Gaunt smiled. “Hard to believe in this day and age, right?”

“No,” Laurence said.

Gaunt put the smile away quickly.

“What happened to the child?” Laurence said.

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