‘I’ll keep looking,’ said Robin, taking back the clipping, ‘because there are other Isaac Millses out there, but I’ve got a horrible feeling that was our man. Did you talk to Dev about taking Rosie Fernsby out for dinner, by the way?’
‘Did, yeah, he’s going to make a profile on Mingle Guru tonight. I had another thought about Rosie, actually. If that profile
‘Nobody’s answered the landline in all the time I’ve tried. It just goes straight to voicemail.’
‘Even so, it wouldn’t be far out of our way, going through Richmond on the way back from Strawberry Hill. We could just knock on the door in Cedar Terrace and see what happens.’
Strike’s mobile rang. Expecting Lucy, he instead saw Midge’s number.
‘Everything all right?’
‘No,’ said Midge.
With a sense of foreboding, Strike switched the mobile to speakerphone and laid it down on the desk between him and Robin.
‘It’s not Tash’s fault,’ said Midge defensively, ‘OK? She hasn’t been able to get back to the annexe for the last couple of nights, so she seized a chance when she was coming back from a massage an hour ago.’
‘She was spotted?’ said Strike sharply.
‘Yeah,’ said Midge. ‘Some bloke who works there saw her tapping on the window.’
Strike’s and Robin’s eyes met. The latter, who feared Strike was about to explode, made a grimace intended to prevent any unhelpful outburst.
‘Obviously, Tash walked straight off,’ said Midge, ‘but the bad thing is—’
‘Look, she’s done us a favour, Strike, and at least she’s found out Lin’s there!’
‘Midge, what else happened?’ said Robin, before Strike could retort.
‘Well, she had the note in the pocket of her robe, the one to show Lin, saying Will and Qing are out, and… and now she can’t find it. She thinks she might’ve taken the wrong robe when she left the massage room. Or, maybe, she’s dropped it.’
‘OK,’ said Robin, gesturing to Strike to withhold the stream of recriminations she knew he was bursting to deliver, ‘Midge, if she can pretend she’s lost a ring or something—’
‘She’s already gone back to the massage room to look, but she called me first because, obviously—’
‘Yeah,’ said Strike.
‘Let us know what happens,’ said Robin. ‘Call us.’
‘Will do,’ said Midge. She rang off.
‘Fuck’s
‘I know,’ said Robin, ‘I know.’
‘We should never have put an amateur in there!’
‘It was the only way,’ said Robin. ‘We had to use someone they’d never realise had a connection to us. Now we’ve just got to hope she gets that note back.’
Strike got to his feet and began to pace.
‘If they’ve found that note, Zhou’s probably scrambling to pull another Jacob – hide Lin and come up with an alternative blonde, fast. Fuck – this isn’t good… I’m going to call Wardle.’
Strike did so. Robin listened as her partner laid out the problem to his best police contact. As she could have predicted, Wardle needed quite a lot of explanation and repetition before he fully grasped what Strike was telling him.
‘If Wardle finds it hard to believe, I can just imagine how regular officers are going to react,’ said Strike bitterly, having hung up. ‘I don’t think they’ll see it as a top priority, rescuing a girl who’s living at a luxury spa. What’s the time?’
‘Time to go,’ said Robin, shutting down her computer.
‘Are we giving Pat a lift home?’
‘No, she’s meeting her granddaughter. Dennis is going to look after Qing while Will’s with us.’
So Strike and Robin walked together towards the garage where Strike kept his BMW. It was a warm evening; a pleasant change from the intermittent drizzle of the last few days. They’d just reached the garage when Strike’s mobile rang again: Lucy.
‘Hi, what did the GP say?’ he asked.
‘He thinks Ted’s had a mini-stroke.’
‘Oh, shit,’ said Strike, unlocking the car with his free hand.
‘They want to scan him. The earliest they can do is Friday.’
‘Right,’ said Strike, getting into the passenger’s seat while Robin took the wheel. ‘Well, if you like, I’ll go with him. You’re picking up all the slack here.’
‘Thanks, Stick,’ said Lucy. ‘I appreciate that.’
‘Thank Christ he was with you when it happened. Imagine if he’d been alone in St Mawes.’
‘I know,’ said Lucy.
‘I’ll take him for the scan, and afterwards we’ll talk plans, OK?’
‘Yes,’ said Lucy, sounding defeated. ‘OK. How are things with you?’
‘Busy,’ said Strike. ‘I’ll call you later.’
‘Everything all right?’ asked Robin, waiting until Strike had hung up until turning on the ignition.
