Elijah.
‘I thought maybe he belonged to you.’
‘He’s not my friend.’
‘Who is he?’
‘I really don’t know.’
‘Maybe if I bang your head against the wall it might help you recall.’
‘There is nothing to recall. It is you he is following. Such visitations are commonplace in cases involving Hoffmann.’
‘So who has died?’
‘A girl, an innocent girl. You’ll read about it in tomorrow’s paper.’
‘Why should I care?’
‘There will be more.’
‘More papers?’
‘More deaths.
Chapter 8
NEXT MORNING Calamity bought a copy of the newspaper and read it as we walked up the Prom.
‘It’s Emily Bishop,’ she said. ‘The girl who rang about the ad. The fan of Kierkegaard.’ She handed me the paper. ‘Do you think there’s a jinx on us?’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘She was from the college in Lampeter. The last student we had from there didn’t last long, either.’
‘At least we got to shake hands with that one. I’m not even sure if this one counts. All she did was ring.’
‘Still a bit spooky, though.’
‘Maybe they’re accident prone in Lampeter.’
‘Or maybe we are.’
I crossed the road at the junction with Pier Street and Calamity followed.
‘Aren’t you going to tell me where we’re going?’
‘Can’t you guess?’
‘The Cabin isn’t open yet.’
‘We’re not going there, we’re going to the hobby shop.’
‘What for?’
‘If you want to find out about a man’s secret weaknesses, those shameful vices he would rather conceal from the light of day, where do you go?’
‘Lots of places. Depends on the vices.’
‘Yes, but as a guiding principle you talk to the madam, the procuress, whoever it is who supplies his shameful lusts.’
‘OK. That’s good, that’s psychology. I approve of that.’
‘You see, there’s something puzzling me about
Bark of the Covenant
. It tells the story of the Mission House siege. Now, on the odd occasion when you actually turned up in school, you must have done the history of the Patagonian War, right?’
‘Yes, although my memory of it is a bit cloudy.’
‘What did they teach you about the Mission House siege?’
‘I don’t think we did it.’
‘That’s right, nor did we. No one did, because everyone knows it was a military disaster. None of the veterans from that war will talk about. it And yet in the movie it’s a famous victory. The murdered Father Christmas goes to see it and says his life has been fulfilled. You don’t normally say that after to seeing a film, do you?’
‘Not normally.’
‘As he lies dying he writes “Hoffmann” in his own blood. According to Tadpole, she used to nurse a soldier who fought in the Mission House siege and who cried out “Hoffmann” in his nightmares. Are you following me?’
‘I think so.’
‘So maybe we should try and find out what really happened at the Mission House siege. The version that didn’t make it to the big screen.’
‘OK.’
‘We’ll talk to the man in the hobby shop.’
‘Is he the madam?’
‘Yes, sort of. He supplies people who come in for stuff to make models of battles and stuff. He’s bound to know.’
‘Uh-huh. Maybe we should try one of the techniques from my Pinkerton book to get him to talk.’
‘Yes. We could buy some rubber hose off him for our submarine model, and then hit him with it.’
‘They don’t do that. They use psychology. It’s called Interrogative Misdirection.’
‘How does that work?’
‘Tell me how you were going to handle the interview.’
‘I was going to walk in and ask him if he’s seen the Clip movie.’
‘That’s your first mistake. You shouldn’t let him know what you’re after. You’ve got to use subtlety, like the Pinkertons. You start by asking him about something you’re not interested in. It’s like a conjuror, you see, you have to use misdirection. You divert his attention to this something else and then casually slip in the real thing.
‘I thought maybe he belonged to you.’
‘He’s not my friend.’
‘Who is he?’
‘I really don’t know.’
‘Maybe if I bang your head against the wall it might help you recall.’
‘There is nothing to recall. It is you he is following. Such visitations are commonplace in cases involving Hoffmann.’
‘So who has died?’
‘A girl, an innocent girl. You’ll read about it in tomorrow’s paper.’
‘Why should I care?’
‘There will be more.’
‘More papers?’
‘More deaths.
Chapter 8
NEXT MORNING Calamity bought a copy of the newspaper and read it as we walked up the Prom.
‘It’s Emily Bishop,’ she said. ‘The girl who rang about the ad. The fan of Kierkegaard.’ She handed me the paper. ‘Do you think there’s a jinx on us?’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘She was from the college in Lampeter. The last student we had from there didn’t last long, either.’
‘At least we got to shake hands with that one. I’m not even sure if this one counts. All she did was ring.’
‘Still a bit spooky, though.’
‘Maybe they’re accident prone in Lampeter.’
‘Or maybe we are.’
I crossed the road at the junction with Pier Street and Calamity followed.
‘Aren’t you going to tell me where we’re going?’
‘Can’t you guess?’
‘The Cabin isn’t open yet.’
‘We’re not going there, we’re going to the hobby shop.’
‘What for?’
‘If you want to find out about a man’s secret weaknesses, those shameful vices he would rather conceal from the light of day, where do you go?’
‘Lots of places. Depends on the vices.’
‘Yes, but as a guiding principle you talk to the madam, the procuress, whoever it is who supplies his shameful lusts.’
‘OK. That’s good, that’s psychology. I approve of that.’
‘You see, there’s something puzzling me about
Bark of the Covenant
. It tells the story of the Mission House siege. Now, on the odd occasion when you actually turned up in school, you must have done the history of the Patagonian War, right?’
‘Yes, although my memory of it is a bit cloudy.’
‘What did they teach you about the Mission House siege?’
‘I don’t think we did it.’
‘That’s right, nor did we. No one did, because everyone knows it was a military disaster. None of the veterans from that war will talk about. it And yet in the movie it’s a famous victory. The murdered Father Christmas goes to see it and says his life has been fulfilled. You don’t normally say that after to seeing a film, do you?’
‘Not normally.’
‘As he lies dying he writes “Hoffmann” in his own blood. According to Tadpole, she used to nurse a soldier who fought in the Mission House siege and who cried out “Hoffmann” in his nightmares. Are you following me?’
‘I think so.’
‘So maybe we should try and find out what really happened at the Mission House siege. The version that didn’t make it to the big screen.’
‘OK.’
‘We’ll talk to the man in the hobby shop.’
‘Is he the madam?’
‘Yes, sort of. He supplies people who come in for stuff to make models of battles and stuff. He’s bound to know.’
‘Uh-huh. Maybe we should try one of the techniques from my Pinkerton book to get him to talk.’
‘Yes. We could buy some rubber hose off him for our submarine model, and then hit him with it.’
‘They don’t do that. They use psychology. It’s called Interrogative Misdirection.’
‘How does that work?’
‘Tell me how you were going to handle the interview.’
‘I was going to walk in and ask him if he’s seen the Clip movie.’
‘That’s your first mistake. You shouldn’t let him know what you’re after. You’ve got to use subtlety, like the Pinkertons. You start by asking him about something you’re not interested in. It’s like a conjuror, you see, you have to use misdirection. You divert his attention to this something else and then casually slip in the real thing.
Similar Books
