‘What d’you mean?’
‘There was a red Corsa right behind us as we drove away from the garage in London. That one,’ said Robin, glancing in the rear-view mirror again, ‘has been keeping a car between us and it for the last few miles. Can you see the number plate?’
‘No,’ said Strike, squinting into the wing mirror. The driver was a fat man in sunglasses.
‘Weird.’
‘What?’
‘There’s another adult in there but they’re in the back seat… try speeding up. Overtake this Polo.’
Robin did so. Strike watched the Corsa in the wing mirror. It pulled out, overtook the Mazda, then settled back in behind the Polo.
‘Coincidence?’ said Robin.
‘Time will tell,’ said Strike, his eyes on the pursuant car.
105
Conflict within weakens the power to conquer danger without.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
‘I was being paranoid,’ said Robin.
She’d just taken the turning onto the A309 leading to Thames Ditton, but the red Vauxhall Corsa had continued along the A307 and vanished.
‘I’m not so sure,’ said Strike, checking the pictures he’d taken covertly of the Corsa in the wing mirror. ‘They might just’ve wanted confirmation we’re visiting the Edensors.’
‘Which we’ve just given them, by turning off,’ said Robin anxiously. ‘Maybe they think Will and Qing are staying with Sir Colin?’
‘They might,’ agreed Strike. ‘We’d better warn him to keep a lookout for that car.’
The house in which Sir Colin and Lady Edensor had raised their three sons lay on the banks of the Thames, on the edge of a suburban village. Though its street face was unpretentious, its considerable size became apparent when Sir Colin led the two detectives through the house to the rear. A succession of airy rooms full of comfortable furniture culminated in a modern kitchen-cum-dining area, with walls composed largely of glass, revealing a long lawn running at a gentle slope down to the river.
Will’s older brothers were waiting silently in the kitchen: James, dark and scowling, was standing beside an expensive-looking coffee machine, while the younger and fairer son, Ed, was sitting at a large dining table, his walking stick propped against the wall behind him. Robin sensed tension in the room. Neither brother looked as though they’d been rejoicing that Will had, at last, left the UHC, nor did they make any noise or sign of welcome. The strained atmosphere suggested that hot words had been exchanged, prior to their arrival. With unconvincing cheeriness, Sir Colin said,
‘James and Ed wanted to be here, for the full update. Please, sit down,’ he said, gesturing towards the table where Ed was already sitting. ‘Coffee?’
‘That’d be great,’ said Strike.
Once five coffees had been made, Sir Colin had joined them at the table, although James remained standing.
‘So, Will’s staying with your office manager,’ said Sir Colin.
‘Pat, yes,’ said Strike. ‘I think it’s a good arrangement. Keeps him out of the vicinity of Rupert Court.’
‘I must give her some money for his food and board, until he… while he’s there.’
‘Very good of you,’ said Strike. ‘I’ll pass that on.’
‘Could I send over some of his clothes?’
‘I’d advise against,’ said Strike. ‘As I said to you on the phone, he’s threatened to take off again, if we tell you he’s out.’
‘Then perhaps, if I give you some extra money, you could pass that on, too, so he can buy some clothing, without saying where the money came from? I hate to think of him wandering around in that UHC tracksuit.’
‘Fine,’ said Strike.
‘You said you had more to tell me, in person.’
‘That’s right,’ said Strike.
He proceeded to give the Edensors full details of their interview the previous day with Will. When Strike had finished, there was a short silence. Then Ed said,
‘So basically, he wants you to find this Lin girl, then turn himself in to the police?’
‘Exactly,’ said Strike.
‘But you don’t know what he’s done, to warrant arrest?’
‘It could just be sleeping with Lin when she was underage,’ said Robin.
‘Well, I’ve spoken to my lawyers,’ said Sir Colin, ‘and their view is that if Will’s worried about the statutory rape charge – and we’ve currently got no reason to suppose he’s done worse than that – immunity from prosecution could be arranged, if he’s prepared to give evidence against the church, and Lin doesn’t want to press charges. Extenuating circumstances, coercion and so on – Rentons think he’d have a good chance of immunity.’
‘It’s not quite as simple as that,’ Robin said. ‘As Cormoran’s said, Will believes the Drowned Prophet will come for him if he—’
‘But he’s prepared to talk, right?’ said Ed, ‘Once this girl Lin’s found?’
‘Yes, but only because—’
‘Then we get him some psychotherapy, explain to him clearly that there’s no need for him to go to jail if immunity’s arranged—’
Robin, who’d liked Ed on their first meeting, found herself frustrated and angered by the slight trace of patronage in his voice. He seemed to think she was making difficulties about matters that, to him, were completely straightforward. While Robin had no intention of pressing charges against Will for assaulting her, the memory of him advancing on her, naked, penis in hand, in the Retreat Room was among the memories of Chapman Farm that would take a long time to fade. The Edensors were not only operating in ignorance of what Will had endured, they were also failing to comprehend the full scope of what he’d done to others; compassionate though Robin felt towards Will, she remained most worried about Lin.
‘The problem is,’ she said, ‘Will wants to go to jail. He’s institutionalised and riddled with guilt. If you offer him psychotherapy, he’ll refuse.’
‘That’s quite a presumption,’ said Ed, raising his eyebrows. ‘It hasn’t been offered yet. And you’re contradicting yourself: you just said he’s scared of the Drowned Prophet coming for him, if he talks. How’s he going to serve a prison term, if he’s – what does the Drowned Prophet do, exactly? Put curses on people? Kill them?’
‘You’re asking Robin to explain the irrational,’ said Strike, who allowed all the impatience into his voice that his partner was carefully repressing. ‘Will’s on a kind of kamikaze mission. Make sure Qing’s safely with her mother, then ’fess up to everything he’s done wrong, and either get sent down, or let the Prophet take him out.’
‘And you’re suggesting we allow him to implement this plan?’
‘Not at all,’ said Robin, before Strike could speak. ‘We’re simply saying Will needs very careful handling right now. He’s got to feel safe, and that he’s in control, and if he knows we’ve told his family he’s out, he might take off again. If we can just find Lin—’
‘What d’you mean, “if”?’ said James, from over beside the coffee machine. ‘Dad told us you know where she is.’
‘We think she’s at Zhou’s Borehamwood clinic,’ said Strike, ‘and we’ve just put someone in there undercover – but we can’t know she’s there until we’re inside.’
‘So we’re going to mollycoddle Will, and let him have it all his own way as usual, are we?’ said James. ‘If I were you,’ he said to the back of his father’s head, ‘I’d go straight over to this Pat woman’s house and tell him he’s caused enough bloody trouble and it’s time he got a grip.’