Chapter 9

‘Who were the three?' Doctor Lang asked.

‘The boss, of course,' Poe replied.

‘How do you get on with her?'

‘We've known each other a long time.'

‘That's not what I asked.'

‘I suppose we're like an old married couple. We get on each other's nerves occasionally, but we both know when to walk away. I used to be her boss, now she's mine.'

‘Is that awkward?'

‘She's a better detective inspector than I was, and I'm a better sergeant than she was. We work well together.'

‘Is she as committed to the job as you are?'

‘She is,' Poe said. ‘But she has a young son, and a partner who wants her in a less dangerous role.'

‘Who else was there?'

‘Tilly.'

‘She was back from the States?'

‘This was five months after the badger incident.'

‘Tell me about her.'

Poe smiled. ‘Tilly's . . . Tilly,' he said. ‘An awkward haircut on top of a brain the size of Wales. Paler than a flour worm, brighter than a thousand suns. She's brilliant, absolutely brilliant, but up until she started working with us, her only experience of life was in academia. She went to Oxford when she was thirteen and stayed there until her early thirties.'

‘Doing what?'

‘Pure mathematics, I think. I've asked several times, but I never understand her answers. She's a true polymath though; can pretty much turn her hand to anything. Computers, profiling, databases, anything we need to know a lot about, fast.'

‘She sounds amazing.'

‘She is. But there was a price to taking her out of school at thirteen. She never really mixed with ordinary people and as a result she has a problem integrating. You heard what she said about the hairs on that woman's chin when she was in America for her award?'

Doctor Lang stifled a grin. ‘The one she asked if she suffered from werewolf syndrome?'

Poe nodded. ‘Well, trust me when I say of all the social hand grenades she's lobbed over the years, that wouldn't even make the top one hundred.'

‘Don't people make fun of her?'

‘They used to.'

‘And now?'

‘And now they don't,' Poe said without further explanation.

‘You said she's your friend?'

Poe nodded again. ‘And I'm the type of person who doesn't have friends. She's loyal, brave and incredibly kind. Probably the nicest person I've ever met. A sort of human mirror, the kind you only see the best version of yourself in.'

‘OK, along with Estelle, it sounds like you have decent support networks,' Doctor Lang said. ‘Who was the third person?'

‘I'm sorry?'

‘DI Flynn said there were three people waiting for you in the lobby. She and Tilly are two; who was the third?'

Poe scowled. ‘You ever had an intern, Doctor Lang?'

‘Trainees occasionally sit in with me.'

‘You'll know then.'

‘Know what?'

‘Just how annoying they are.'