leave it to Badstuber was down to him not wanting to make the trip himself. There was, of course, absolutely no point anyway if Geyerson wasn’t going to be there.
‘I asked first,’ she said.
Jericho looked round to see if she was joking, but her face was quite serious, eyes staring straight ahead. She wasn’t being at all childish. She’d asked him a question, and she wasn’t answering his until he answered hers.
He looked back at the road. Middle lane, overtaking a blue Corsa; checked in the mirror, a saloon of a make he didn’t recognise quickly approaching in the outside lane. Must have been hitting well over ninety.
He contemplated lying, saying that he had no more information, that it was something he’d fabricated on the spot, but he knew she would see through him. For all her brusqueness, he realised that she was good, that she had a good feel for the case, and for people.
He also knew himself well enough to know that he was uncomfortable talking about the tarot cards because there was something so childish about them. Everything that had unfolded at the start of the year would have done so anyway, regardless of the cards. They had played no part whatsoever, other than to taunt him. But even as that, as a taunting mechanism, it had been lightweight, and hardly designed to instil fear in him, regardless of how sinister the drawings of the hanged man had been.
‘You know about the tarot cards from the previous case?’
‘Of course.’
‘What did you think?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘As a means of intimidation, or however they were intended. Did you think it was childish, did you–’
‘I thought it was rather sophisticated, and much beyond the wit of the people who were ultimately blamed. Although, this man, Durrant, clearly had his own remarkable qualities. The woman, not so much.’
‘Sophisticated,’ muttered Jericho.
‘What about the tarot cards?’ she asked, ignoring him.
‘We’ve had another one. Another two... The first one was left beside my hospital bed. In January.’
‘That wasn’t in the report.’
‘I never put it in the report.’
‘Surely it impacted on who was responsible?’
Jericho didn’t look at her. Eyes on the road. She was right. And now, having said this, he was going to have to ask her not to mention it in front of Dylan. This, he thought, is a perfect example of why you should always keep your mouth shut. Never say anything at all, and you’ll never say anything you regret.
‘I took it as a bookend, a full stop. I didn’t think we were going to find...’
He stopped. It sounded weak. Right there, being challenged by someone who wasn’t his subordinate, being asked a straight question on why he hadn’t followed it up, and it sounded weak. He didn’t have an explanation, other than the fact that there were people out there who had had complete control, and he hadn’t wanted to know about it. That was all.
‘And the second card?’
‘It was sent to my sergeant yesterday. The cards, these two, aren’t hanged man cards like before. They are death cards. The first one is, I think, a typical death card, with Death riding on a horse through fields of the dead. The one Sergeant Haynes received yesterday, was of Death riding past a scene of five men, hung by the neck. Two of them were already dead, the other three still alive, and seemingly–’
‘And you think this represents our five climbers, two of whom we now know to be dead?’
‘The card arrived the day of the murder near our home town.’
‘Unlikely to be a coincidence,’ she said. ‘You mentioned your sergeant received the card, not you?’
‘Yes, and I don’t know why.’
‘So, what do we know about the people sending the cards?’
‘Nothing,’ said Jericho.
How much time had he spent thinking about it? In truth, perhaps not that much. He had, for the most part, blanked it out. He had given it some thought, and had decided that there was nowhere for his thoughts to go.
‘I asked first,’ she said.
Jericho looked round to see if she was joking, but her face was quite serious, eyes staring straight ahead. She wasn’t being at all childish. She’d asked him a question, and she wasn’t answering his until he answered hers.
He looked back at the road. Middle lane, overtaking a blue Corsa; checked in the mirror, a saloon of a make he didn’t recognise quickly approaching in the outside lane. Must have been hitting well over ninety.
He contemplated lying, saying that he had no more information, that it was something he’d fabricated on the spot, but he knew she would see through him. For all her brusqueness, he realised that she was good, that she had a good feel for the case, and for people.
He also knew himself well enough to know that he was uncomfortable talking about the tarot cards because there was something so childish about them. Everything that had unfolded at the start of the year would have done so anyway, regardless of the cards. They had played no part whatsoever, other than to taunt him. But even as that, as a taunting mechanism, it had been lightweight, and hardly designed to instil fear in him, regardless of how sinister the drawings of the hanged man had been.
‘You know about the tarot cards from the previous case?’
‘Of course.’
‘What did you think?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘As a means of intimidation, or however they were intended. Did you think it was childish, did you–’
‘I thought it was rather sophisticated, and much beyond the wit of the people who were ultimately blamed. Although, this man, Durrant, clearly had his own remarkable qualities. The woman, not so much.’
‘Sophisticated,’ muttered Jericho.
‘What about the tarot cards?’ she asked, ignoring him.
‘We’ve had another one. Another two... The first one was left beside my hospital bed. In January.’
‘That wasn’t in the report.’
‘I never put it in the report.’
‘Surely it impacted on who was responsible?’
Jericho didn’t look at her. Eyes on the road. She was right. And now, having said this, he was going to have to ask her not to mention it in front of Dylan. This, he thought, is a perfect example of why you should always keep your mouth shut. Never say anything at all, and you’ll never say anything you regret.
‘I took it as a bookend, a full stop. I didn’t think we were going to find...’
He stopped. It sounded weak. Right there, being challenged by someone who wasn’t his subordinate, being asked a straight question on why he hadn’t followed it up, and it sounded weak. He didn’t have an explanation, other than the fact that there were people out there who had had complete control, and he hadn’t wanted to know about it. That was all.
‘And the second card?’
‘It was sent to my sergeant yesterday. The cards, these two, aren’t hanged man cards like before. They are death cards. The first one is, I think, a typical death card, with Death riding on a horse through fields of the dead. The one Sergeant Haynes received yesterday, was of Death riding past a scene of five men, hung by the neck. Two of them were already dead, the other three still alive, and seemingly–’
‘And you think this represents our five climbers, two of whom we now know to be dead?’
‘The card arrived the day of the murder near our home town.’
‘Unlikely to be a coincidence,’ she said. ‘You mentioned your sergeant received the card, not you?’
‘Yes, and I don’t know why.’
‘So, what do we know about the people sending the cards?’
‘Nothing,’ said Jericho.
How much time had he spent thinking about it? In truth, perhaps not that much. He had, for the most part, blanked it out. He had given it some thought, and had decided that there was nowhere for his thoughts to go.
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