Page 33 of The Final Vow

‘Damn,’ she said. ‘I was really hoping these were incredibly rare.’

‘They’re not, Commander Mathers,’ Bradshaw said. ‘But you’re missing the wider point. It’s not that he’s using icosahedrons, it’s that he alreadyhadicosahedrons.’

‘You can’t possibly know that, Tilly.’

‘How likely do you think it is that when it came to choosing locations, instead of using something like a random-number generator as Poe suggested, he thought, “I know, I’ll buy a pair of twenty-sided dice,” Commander Mathers?’

Mathers hesitated. Eventually she said, ‘Not likely.’

‘Exactly,’ Bradshaw said. ‘It’s far more likely he used what he already had lying around. He probably saw them and thought, “I can use my icosahedrons to generate random locations.”’

Poe thought about it. ‘I think that makes sense. The dice gave him the idea, not the other way around.’

Flynn nodded. Eventually so did Mathers.

‘I’m not sure this is actionable intelligence, though, Tilly,’ Mathers said.

‘You’re wrong about that, Commander Mathers,’ Bradshaw said.

‘I’m sure I am, but please do explain.’

‘Do you know which demographic uses icosahedrons on an almost daily basis?’

‘Before today, I’d never even heard of twenty-sided dice, Tilly. I have absolutely no idea who might need them. Gamblers, maybe?’

‘No, Commander Mathers. Not gamblers. It was in the past. The British Museum has icosahedrons dating back to the first century. But today the majority of icosahedrons are used by a specific and niche demographic.’

‘Who?’

‘TTRPG enthusiasts.’

‘TTRPGs?’ Poe said. ‘What the hell is that?’

‘Tabletop role-playing games, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. ‘I think when we catch the sniper, we’ll find that he’s heavily involved in the world ofDungeons & Dragons.’

Chapter 25

‘Well, not justDungeons & Dragonsobviously,’ Bradshaw said. ‘I said that as it’s the game everyone seems to have heard of. I preferWarlocks & Witches– I’m a level twenty-four Avariel – but there are tens of thousands of TTRPGs out there with more being developed every day. It’s a multi-million-dollar business.’

Poe remembered Bradshaw once telling him aboutWarlocks & Witches. He’d walked in on her and her geeky friends. She was wearing a pair of wings. She’d said that she was a Sky Elf and that she had hollow bones. Poe had said, ‘OK,’ and backed away carefully.

‘He’s a dork then,’ Poe said. ‘Which seems unlikely. If he’s anything like Tilly’sWarlocks & Witchesfriends, he wouldn’t have the upper-body strength toholda weapon, let alone carry one for miles and miles across rugged country.’

‘My friends are not dorks, Poe,’ Bradshaw said.

‘Jonathan is,’ Poe said. ‘He has asthma, hay feverandphoto-sensitivity. His doctor says he’s not allowed to go outside during the day.’

‘Or during spring and summer,’ Bradshaw added. ‘But he’s the exception, not the rule. Most of my friends are very athletic. Ripley once played badminton.’

‘Crikey. Badminton?’

‘Yes, with his mum when he was on holiday in Devon. He had to stop when he got a nosebleed, but he still has the racquet.’

‘OK, before we follow the Poe and Tilly white rabbit any further,’ Mathers said, ‘can we take a step back? Tilly, you said most twenty-sided dice are used in role-playing games. That implies some are usedoutsideof role-playing games.’

‘It says here the US Navy use dice in wargames,’ Flynn said, looking at her phone. ‘Maybe he’s a military strategist.’ She took a breath. ‘Which is obviously a worrying thought.’

‘That’ssortof correct, DCI Flynn,’ Bradshaw said.