Page 276 of The Running Grave

‘I’m surprised I have to say this to a man of your rank, but you don’t actually feature in this chain of command, Lieutenant-Colonel.’

‘I’m involved, my family’s involved, and I have a right—’

‘I answer to my client, and my client wants the truth.’

‘Whose truth? Whose truth?’

‘Is there more than one?’ said Strike. ‘Better update my library of philosophy.’

‘You jumped-up bloody monkey,’ shouted Delaunay, and he hung up. Grinning, Strike returned his phone to his pocket.

‘Why did he call you a monkey?’ said Robin, laughing.

‘Slang for military police,’ said Strike. ‘Still better than what we called the navy.’

‘What was that?’

‘Cunts,’ said Strike.

He glanced into the back seat and saw a carrier bag.

‘No biscuits,’ said Robin, ‘because you said you’re still dieting.’

Strike sighed as he hoisted the bag into the front to take out the flask of coffee.

‘Is Delaunay really this angry just because of his children?’ asked Robin.

‘No idea. Maybe. Can’t see why he and his wife haven’t just told them what happened. Lies like that always come back to bite you on the arse.’

They drove on in silence for a couple of minutes, until Robin said,

‘Have you talked to Midge yet, about going undercover in Zhou’s clinic?’

‘No,’ said Strike, who was now pouring himself coffee. ‘I wanted to discuss that with you, in the light of this Wikipedia stuff. I think we’ve got to assume the church will be trying to identify all our operatives, and have you looked at Zhou’s clinic’s website? Seen how much even a three-day stay costs?’

‘Yes,’ said Robin.

‘Well, even if they haven’t yet identified Midge as one of ours, I’m not sure she’d blend in that well. She doesn’t come across as the kind of woman who’s prepared to waste money on crackpot treatments.’

‘Which particular treatments are you calling crackpot?’

‘Reiki,’ said Strike. ‘Know what that is?’

‘Yes,’ said Robin, smiling, because she knew her partner’s aversion to anything that smacked of mysticism. ‘The practitioner puts their hands on you, to heal your energy.’

‘Heal your energy,’ scoffed Strike.

‘An old schoolfriend of mine had it done. She said she could feel heat moving all over her body wherever the hands went and felt a real sense of peace afterwards.’

‘Tell her if she slings me five hundred quid, I’ll fill her a hot water bottle and pour her some gin.’

Robin laughed.

‘You’ll be telling me I’m not a Gift-Bearer-Warrior next.’

‘Not a what?’

‘That’s what Zhou told me I was,’ said Robin. ‘You had to fill in a questionnaire and you got typed according to your answers. The categories aligned with the prophets.’