Page 342 of The Hallmarked Man

‘What did you think of him?’ she asked. ‘I mean, meeting him properly for the first time?’

‘Liked him slightly more than I thought I would,’ Strike admitted. ‘He was more honest than I expected, about his life. I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet him again if he’d just struck up conversation in a bar. But he was all right.’

‘That’s good,’ said Robin. ‘And I’m really glad about the Candy apology,’ she added, making a mental note to direct her mother’s attention to it.

‘Anyway,’ said Strike, ‘I want you to take a cab to and from the Goring on Friday, all right? And there’s something you can do from home that I haven’t got time for. I’ve been looking through Truth About Freemasons and Abused and Accused for any usernames, questions or personal details that appear on both sites, paying particular attention to anyone who posted before or around June last year, but I haven’t found anything. I’d appreciate it if you did a thorough, systematic search.’

‘We don’t know that Wright ever posted on either site,’ said Robin, who suspected she was being given something unlikely to yield results, but which would keep her safe and occupied in her flat. ‘He might just have been browsing. And how likely is it he used the same username in both places?’

‘If he’s smart, he won’t have done,’ admitted Strike, ‘but it’s worth a try.’

‘All right,’ sighed Robin, ‘I’ll have a look.’

‘I’d also be grateful if you put some more pressure on Tish Benton, because we’re completely stalled on Fleetwood.’

‘I’ve been keeping an eye on her Instagram,’ said Robin. ‘She’s having a great time flying between Clairmont hotels.’

‘Clairmont, did you just say?’ asked Strike.

‘Yes. You know, it’s that massive luxury chain. It was in a hashtag under one of the pictures I showed you, on her Instagram.’

‘Ah,’ said Strike. ‘I should’ve registered that.’

‘Why?’

‘Charlotte’s great-grandfather owned the original hotel. Her mother was born Tara Clairmont. I think she’s still on the company’s board of directors.’

‘Oh,’ said Robin.

‘Which seems an odd coincidence,’ said Strike, but as Robin didn’t respond, he said he’d better get going and rang off, wondering why she hadn’t told him she was engaged, and concluding that she was probably waiting to tell him in person.

The mention of Charlotte had given Robin a strange twisting feeling in her heart that she couldn’t explain, but she didn’t particularly want to investigate.She seemed to be a mass of hypersensitive nerves and really did need to pull herself together, to stop being so thin-skinned and jittery, especially when Strike had succeeded in making her feel better. Nevertheless, she cried more after he’d hung up. Having stumbled to the kitchen to fetch paper towels on which to dry her eyes and blow her nose, she told herself that the real problem was that she was tired, then returned to the sofa and the website about Reata Lindvall, which hadn’t been updated in several years.

The heading at the top of the page read:ERIC MAES HAS SERVED TEN YEARS FOR A CRIME HE DID NOT COMMIT.

In fact, Maes had now served sixteen years for the double murder of Reata and her daughter. His photograph showed an angry-looking man with an underbite, heavy eyebrows and a grubby-looking face due to heavy stubble; in fact, he was a most plausible-looking double murderer.

Beneath his mugshot were more photos. On the left were genuine pictures of Reata, on the right, pictures purporting to show her in various locations on the continent following her supposed death.

Spotted Ossendorf bar, June 1999. Hair dyed obviously but note eyebrow shape, one higher than the other. Ossendorf 1 hour drive from Liège!!!!!!

September 2001 lobby Dortmund hotel – Lindvall about to get in lift, hair re-bleached.

April 25th 2002 has gained a LOT of weight and cut hair, but right profile EXACT MATCH.

There was also a photo showing Jolanda at about three years old, dark where her mother was fair, sitting on Reata’s lap. Both looked serious, intent, their gaze fixed in the same direction. The absence of smiles on both subjects’ faces was taken as damning evidence ofReata’s indifference to her child by whoever had captioned the picture:‘A loving mother’.Looks like it, doesn’t it?

The last few photos had been selected to ‘prove’ how much happier Reata was in Jolanda’s absence. One showed Reata wearing a mini dress and dancing to a live band in a crowded, cavern-like venue in Liège, her blonde hair flying.

He told her she reminded him of a Swedish girl he used to know…

Robin clicked away from the website and returned to that of the missing persons’ charity where she’d first discovered Sapphire Neagle. The girl still hadn’t been found.

With a sigh, Robin went to fetch herself coffee and biscuits. She felt the need of sustenance if she was going to spend days trying to work out whether any of the hundreds of users on Truth About Freemasons and Abused and Accused might connect, however remotely, to one of their candidates for William Wright.

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Had she willed it, still had stood the screen