‘Hey. Don’t inflict your god on us,’ Lexi said. ‘There’s no need to conjure up the supernatural to explain life. That’s what science does. It explains everything — including the evolution of both human races.’
‘Science is the brick wall you build against belief in God. Scientific explanations have got nothing to do with it.’ He took a drink of blueberry juice.
‘All right,’ Lexi said, as if she were accepting a challenge. ‘If your god made his presence felt right now in this room — officially and undeniably recorded on life-logger — you wouldn’t be happy, would you? Proof that God exists does away with your need for faith.’
‘I wouldn’t be as unhappy as you,’ Troy replied with a smirk.
Lexi laughed. ‘True. It’d be a bit embarrassing from my point of view. I’ll give you that. But, let’s face it, it’s not going to happen. We can both carry on being happy. I say there’s no such thing as an invisible overlord and you keep the faith.’ Plainly, she couldn’t resist a final dig because she added, ‘Even though it’s irrational.’
‘Maybe it is a bit crazy but, with all the bad stuff we see in this job, it’s helpful. It reassures me.’ Checking his life-logger, Troy frowned. ‘What do you make of this? It’s … um … a hall of rest, they call it. A place to keep coffins — of majors or outers — before burial or cremation. Usually just overnight.’
‘A posh mortuary, then?’
‘I guess. It’s never locked up in case families want to spend time with … Anyway, they’ve had a few hints that someone’s been up to no good now and again. Scratched coffins and the like. Not serious vandalism.’
‘Are these coffins closed? Are the lids fixed down?’
Troy read the details from his life-logger. ‘As a general rule, majors’ coffins are left open for families and friends who want to say their goodbyes. Outers’ are usually sealed, ready for cremation.’
‘So,’ Lexi said, suddenly interested, ‘if I was after body parts, it’d be simple to take stuff from majors, but it’s almost certainly going to be noticed. If I wanted parts from an outer, I’d just need a lever to force open a coffin, take what I want, reseal, and, hey presto, no one would know a thing about it.’
‘Exactly. You might leave a scratch or two on the coffin. Nothing more.’
Lexi threw the last fried beetle into her mouth, crunched it up, and finished the wine. ‘Let’s get going. Where is this place anyway?’
‘Hurlstone. We’re off to the seaside.’
SCENE 22
They stood together on top of the cliff and, as the sun dipped towards the horizon, watched the sea. The hall of rest behind them, the scene was suitably peaceful. The breeze coming off the sea was light and cool. Miniature waves caressed the rocky beach below, hardly making a noise, barely jostling the stones and pebbles.
‘Crumbly cliffs,’ Lexi said. ‘Hurlstone’s well known for fossils. Somewhere down there — in a cave — archaeologists found evidence of our common ancestor, Homo erectus. Before we split into two species six hundred thousand years ago. They even managed to get some DNA out of the bones.’
‘Makes me wonder,’ Troy replied. ‘If we find out who owned the outer heart — and she’s been cremated — how do we prove it? Where do we get her DNA from?’
‘That’s my job,’ Lexi said. ‘I’ll think of something. If archaeologists can get it out of a dried-up bone that’s thousands of years old, I’ll get some for L4G#4.’ She turned her back on the cliff top and said, ‘Let’s go and see.’
The hall of rest was serene, not macabre and analytical like the pathology laboratory. Speaking in a hush, the supervisor had a similar air of calm about him. ‘I know everyone respects what we do here,’ he said. ‘I’d never expect any … trouble. It’s unthinkable really. I can’t imagine why anyone would …’ He ran out of words.
‘Sadly, we can,’ said Troy. ‘Someone might want to break in because there’s an illegal trade in body parts.’
Spike Pennyworth stared at him. ‘Do you mean …?’
Troy nodded. ‘A good heart’s valuable, especially to a transplant patient who doesn’t want to wait in the normal hospital queue.’
‘But that’s …’ Spike seemed to have difficulty in finishing many of his sentences. Even so, his quiet outrage was plain.
‘We’re trying to find out if one of your disturbed coffins belonged to a female outer.’ Troy was about to give his vague description of L4G#4 when Lexi stepped in.
‘She’d be a bit like me. Taller perhaps, but the same brown eyes and blonde hair — probably.’
‘Same age?’
‘We don’t know about age,’ Troy told him. ‘But her heart would have been in good condition when she died.’
‘When was this?’ he asked.
‘Tuesday 25th March, or maybe the day before,’ Lexi said. ‘Once someone’s dead, there’s only a few hours to use the heart. It’d have to be removed, put in preserving fluid and chilled quite quickly.’ Clearly, she had done some extra research.
‘Spare me the details,’ Spike said with a grimace. ‘Let me check my diary.’
His records were entirely on paper. He flicked backwards through the large pages until he came to a halt on one particular entry. It described a client who had arrived on the evening of 24th March and rested overnight before cremation on the 25th. He tapped the page and the photographs. ‘Tiffany Clara One, according to some ID in her pocket. She was a bit of a mystery but she matches your description. She wasn’t visited by anyone. She was cremated — with her possessions — the next day.’
Judging by the photograph of her deathly pale face, Tiffany One was in her twenties. While Lexi scanned the page into her life-logger, Troy asked, ‘Cause of death?’
The supervisor sighed. ‘A fall. Down the cliff.’
‘She fell over the cliff? An accident?’
‘It could have been an accident, but …’
‘What?’
‘It wasn’t. There’s a fence up to stop … You haven’t heard Hurlstone’s claim to fame, have you?’
Troy frowned. ‘Fossils?’
‘I wish that was all it was,’ Spike replied. ‘No. A few people who decide to end it all come here and …’
‘They jump off the cliff?’
He nodded, apparently unable to confirm it in words.
‘Does it happen a lot?’
‘Mercifully, no.’
‘How often?’
‘There’s usually one or two each year. Still enough to get us a reputation.’
‘Where exactly does this happen?’ Lexi asked.
‘It’s about a kilometre — to the south.’ Spike waved in the general direction. ‘There’s a big overhang. Quite dangerous. They’ve put up a fence to try to stop people, make them think again, but …’
Lexi examined the photograph of Tiffany One’s meagre possessions and then said, ‘Let’s go and take a look, before we lose daylight altogether.’
‘Okay,’ Troy agreed. ‘But we’ll be back,’ he said to Spike. ‘If Hurlstone’s got a reputation, this place would appeal to someone after body parts for the black market. I want Lexi to put a camera in here.’
‘I don’t like the idea of spying on grieving …’
‘We won’t. We’ll monitor the cameras, spying on intruders, not people who’ve lost a friend or family member.’
‘Do I have a choice?’
‘Not really,’ Troy answered. ‘But you should be pleased. You’ll want to get this sorted out as much as we do. A tiny camera no one will notice is the quickest way. Then you’ll be back to normal.’