Page 35

Laurence considered that. It made him think of the case file he’d been looking through earlier. Michael Hyde’s red patchwork car angled across the pavement. Christopher Shaw, a boy who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

An attack that could have happened to anyone.

“What about random chance?” he said.

“There’s no such thing.” Nelson shook his head. “It only feels that way because we don’t have the knowledge the demon has. In physics, some events at a really small level do appear to be random—but that doesn’t help you and me. All it means is that our actions are caused or random. Which doesn’t leave much room forusto be doing anything.”

“You mean free will?”

“That’s right. Do you drink, Detective?”

Laurence raised an eyebrow. “Is it that obvious?”

“Not at all.” Nelson laughed. “It’s just an example, because I certainly do. But on an evening when you’re deciding whether to open that bottle of wine or not, it mightfeellike you’re free to make up your mind either way. But you aren’t. What will happen will happen. Because what happens wasalwaysgoing to happen. You had no more choice than the pen did just then.”

“That’s depressing.”

“In many ways.”

“And this was what Professor Hobbes taught?”

“Part of it,” Nelson said. “What I just described is the materialistic approach to determinism—based on science. But there are others. One logical approach, for example, argues that all statements have to be true or false, even ones about the future. But another is based on the idea of God. That was Professor Hobbes’s specialism.”

“Oh?”

“Many religions consider God to be omniscient—all-knowing. And if God knows the future, then the future can’t be changed.”

“That’s depressing for God too.”

Nelson laughed again.

“Yes. It would reduce the universe to the equivalent of a bauble on his table, wouldn’t it? Nice to look at from time to time, perhaps, but not exactly full of surprises. Or the kind of moral choices that God is, let’s say, traditionally supposed to be interested in.”

“Yes. Maybe I should stop arresting people.”

“Oh, no—don’t do that. But actually, yes, the whole subject does open up all kinds of questions along those lines.”

“You said it upset people?”

“Sometimes. Especially if they’re prone to that kind of thinking. For some people, the idea that you don’t have a real choice can feel like it robs the world of meaning and purpose. For other people… well, I suppose you could use it as an excuse to do anything you wanted.”

“In which case you were always going to anyway?”

“Yes! Because it was inevitable you would encounter the theory.”

Nelson smiled, proud of his teaching.

“Did Professor Hobbes ever get any trouble on that level?” Laurence said. “Hate mail. One of these conflicted students harassing him. Negative attention. Anything like that?”

Nelson thought about it.

“Not to my knowledge. But like I said, he hasn’t taught here in years. And all that was before I started working here.”

“Could you look into it for me? See if anything has survived?”

“I can try. I mean, I don’t think it would be a very long list.”

“By chance, my favorite kind of list.”