‘You’d better sit down, Oswald, you’ve gone scarlet. You don’t want to have a heart attack the week before your retirement, eh? Everyone knows that your sense of humour petrified as soon as death’s dark caul wrapped itself around you. Besides, you know I only play jokes because I respect you. You’ll be sorely missed.’ Bryant had secretly petitioned the Home Office to have Finch’s pension increased. ‘At least we’ve got young Giles Kershaw to take over the position. I was thrilled to nominate him in your place.’

‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I’m afraid I turned down Kershaw’s application.’

‘What on earth did you do that for?’

‘In my opinion, he doesn’t have enough experience.’

‘But he’ll be devastated, Oswald. The job was all but promised to him.’

‘Then it will teach him not to be so ambitious,’ said Finch. ‘These overbearing young graduates come along thinking the world owes them a living, when they have to pay their dues.’

This wasn’t like Oswald. Bryant assumed that the pathologist was out of sorts because the reality of his long-pending resignation had finally sunk in. Everyone knew he was happiest when he was elbow-deep in somebody’s chest. Physical and mental health problems had a way of crowding in when one’s purpose in life was removed, and Finch’s purpose was to provide resolutions to unfortunately truncated lives.

‘You’re looking done in, old friend,’ said Bryant gently. ‘Why don’t you go and put your feet up?’

‘I don’t trust you when you’re nice to me,’ Finch complained. ‘Besides, I can’t. It’s my last week, and the workload will be starting up again.’

‘I haven’t seen any cases come in this morning.’

‘That’s because the unit’s officially shut from today, so Faraday has been instructed to release me to the Met, to help out with their overload. That means I’ll be dealing with Sergeant Renfield, God help me. I daresay I’ll be kept busy right up until the moment of my departure.’

‘Then you should have shared your work with Kershaw. I think I’d better have a talk with him. You’ve made a wrong call there, Oswald. He’s a bright lad and deserves to go far, even though that upper-class accent makes him sound as if he’s being strangled. He did a great job on that business with the Highwayman. I hope you won’t have disappointed him too much.’

‘What about me? I was having a farewell party on Friday, but now there won’t be anyone here to see me off.’

‘Never mind,’ said Bryant jovially. ‘We’ll post your cake to Hastings.’

8

CONTROL

The morning sky was such an impossibly deep shade of blue, it seemed as if the earth’s atmosphere was barely thick enough to protect them from the cruel infinity of space. Madeline and Ryan sat on an outside table at La Vieille Ville and enjoyed the sun’s warmth on their faces. The scent of pomegranates and jasmine blossom hung in the warm air. In the kitchen behind them, Momo the chef was stirring the bouillabaisse he prepared for the village’s housebound residents once a week.