Ten banners hung from poles faced each other on the black and white carpet, and Strike’s eye was drawn immediately to the lion beneath the word Judah. On the floor lay tools including a spade and a pickaxe, an aged book that was embossed with the lodge’s name, and a group of three-dimensional geometric objects carved out of white stone.
‘This is set up for some rite, is it?’ he asked Hardacre. ‘This stuff wouldn’t usually be here?’
‘No,’ said Hardacre.
Strike glanced around the rest of the chamber. He noted the ‘rough’ and ‘perfect’ ashlars – cubes of stone representing the uninitiated and educated masons – sitting beside chairs that evidently belonged to masons having some elevated ceremonial role.
‘Can’t say it’s obvious what William Wright wanted to see in here,’ he said at last, after giving the place a comprehensive look, ‘but that’ll do me.’
As they left the temple Strike asked,
‘D’you still maintain masons aren’t allowed to use membership to advance their personal interests?’
‘It’s right there in the rules, Oggy,’ said Hardacre. ‘We’re not allowed to discuss politics or religion during meetings, or do business deals.’
‘But, as you’ve already pointed out, masonry doesn’t change human nature.’
‘Have it your own way,’ said Hardacre, good-humoured as ever.
As they emerged from the hall into the sunlight, the conversation shifted easily to mutual military friends, and Strike mentally filed away GAOTU, the chained swan and the symbolic significance of bridges to be pondered later, when he had the time.
73
Matthew Arnold
At eight o’clock the following evening, Robin, who’d been informed by Two-Times that his wife would be celebrating a female friend’s birthday at Coya, a Latin American restaurant in Mayfair, sat down to watch his so far blameless spouse drinking and eating with seven other women. Loud music pounded in the dimly lit basement room, which was swathed in lush greenery to suggest the rainforest. Robin, who’d been home to change, was wearing an old blue dress, the opal pendant her parents had bought for her thirtieth birthday and the matching earrings Murphy had given her for Christmas. On checking her reflection before leaving her flat she’d remembered the night when she’d worn exactly the same outfit, and Strike, she was certain, had come close to kissing her on the pavement outside the Ritz.
As she’d thought it might look conspicuous to eat alone, Robin had asked Midge to join her, but the latter hadn’t yet arrived, so Robin sat writing in her notebook while casually keeping a covert eye on Mrs Two-Times’ party, who were all around Robin’s own age, in high spirits and clearly intent on getting as drunk as possible, as quickly as possible.
Robin had just looked up from her notes for a third time in hopes of seeing Midge when she saw a suited Strike walking towards her instead, and experienced an electric shock in the pit of the stomach.
‘Midge and I swapped,’ he said, sitting down opposite her. ‘Thought we should have a catch-up on the silver vault case, because I’ve had a very good twenty-four hours on the information-gathering front.’
‘Yes, I read your file note about Temple Seventeen,’ said Robin.
‘I got a bit further on Semple last night. His best friend Ben Liddell, who was also Scottish, and was killed in the operation where Semple got his brain injury, has only one living relative: a sister called Rena. I’m starting to wonder whether she isn’t our Scottish Gateshead.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. She might even be the woman Jade Semple overheard Semple planning to meet. The Gateshead called again yesterday, babbling about an engineer to Pat. The pub where Jade overheard Niall arranging to meet the woman was called “The Engineer”. The Gateshead seems worried about going back there, which is why she wants to meet me in the Golden Fleece instead.’
‘Right,’ said Robin, deliberately unenthusiastic. Apparently indulging in speculation about Swedish Reata Lindvall was pointless, but it was fine for Strike to make assumptions about an unknown woman because she was Scottish.
‘But I’ve got a load more than that,’ said Strike, unaware that he’d just annoyed Robin even further. ‘Look at this.’