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‘What’s it to you?’ said Emily aggressively.
Robin ate the rest of her meal in silence.
40
… the most sacred of human feelings, that of reverence for the ancestors.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
Strike made the long trip to St Mawes on Thursday by train and ferry. His uncle was so surprised and delighted to see him that Strike knew Ted had forgotten he was coming, in spite of the fact that he’d called that morning to tell his uncle what time he’d be arriving.
The house where the fastidious Joan had once presided was dusty, although Strike was pleased to see the fridge was well stocked with food. Strike understood that Ted’s neighbours had been rallying around, making sure he had enough to eat and checking in with him regularly. This increased Strike’s guilt about not doing more to support Ted, whose conversation was rambling and repetitive.
The visit to the GP the following morning did nothing to allay Strike’s concerns.
‘He asked Ted what date it is and he didn’t know,’ Strike told Lucy by phone after lunch. Strike had left Ted with a mug of tea in the living room, then slipped out into the back garden on the pretext of vaping and was now pacing the small patch of lawn.
‘Well, that’s not too serious, is it?’ said Lucy.
‘Then he told Ted an address and made him say it back, which Ted did fine, and he told Ted he was going to ask him to repeat the address a few minutes later, but Ted couldn’t.’
‘Oh no,’ said Lucy.
‘He asked if Ted could remember a recent news story and Ted said “Brexit”, no problem. Then he told him to fill in the numbers on a picture of a clock. Ted did that OK, but then he had to mark in the hands to make it say ten to eleven, and Ted was lost. Couldn’t do it.’
‘Oh shit,’ Lucy whispered, disconsolate. ‘So what’s the diagnosis?’
‘Dementia,’ said Strike.
‘Was Ted upset?’
‘Hard to say. I’ve got the impression he knows something’s up. He told me yesterday he’s forgetting things a lot and it’s worrying him.’
‘Stick, what are we going to do?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Strike. ‘I wouldn’t give good odds on him remembering to turn the cooker off at night. He left the hot tap running an hour ago, just walked away and forgot it. It might be time for sheltered housing.’
‘He won’t want that.’
‘I know,’ said Strike, who now paused in his pacing to contemplate the strip of sea just visible from Ted’s back garden. Joan’s ashes had been strewn there from Ted’s old sailing boat and some irrational part of him sought guidance from the distant, glittering ocean. ‘But I’m worried about him living alone if he goes downhill much further. The stairs are steep and he’s not too steady on his feet.’
The call ended with no definite plan for Ted’s future in place. Strike returned to the house to find his uncle fast asleep in an armchair, so removed himself quietly to the kitchen to look at emails on the laptop he’d brought down from London.
A message from Midge sat at the top of his inbox. She’d attached a scanned copy of the letter Robin had put in the plastic rock the previous evening.
The first paragraph dealt with the disgruntled Emily Pirbright’s return to the farm and Robin’s so far unrealised hope of getting information out of her. The second paragraph described the basement session in which the new recruits had to write to their families, and concluded,
… so can one of you please write a letter from Theresa, acknowledging the letter saying I’ve joined the church? Make her sound worried, they’ll expect that.
Other news: someone in the farmhouse might be ill, possibly called Jacob. Saw Dr Zhou hurrying in there looking worried. No further details as yet, will try and find out more.
This afternoon we had our first Revelation. We all sat in a circle in the temple. The last time we did that, it was to talk about how much we’d suffered in the outside world. This was very different. The people who were called on had to take a chair in the middle and confess things they were ashamed of. When they did, they got abused and shouted at. They all ended up in tears. I didn’t get called, so I’ll probably get it next time. Mazu led the Revelation session and was definitely enjoying herself.
Nothing new on Will Edensor. I see him from a distance sometimes but no conversation. Lin still around. There was talk of her going to Birmingham, can’t remember if I said.
Think that’s everything. I’m so tired. Hope all well with you x
Strike read the letter through twice, taking particular note of the ‘I’m so tired’ at the end. He had to admire Robin’s resourcefulness in thinking up a way of obfuscating her relatives’ whereabouts at short notice, but like her, felt he should have foreseen the necessity for a safe address for mail. Strike also wondered whether there’d been a letter for Murphy this week, but could think of no way of asking without arousing the suspicions of Pat and the other subcontractors. Instead, he texted Midge to ask her to write the letter from Theresa, as he feared his own handwriting looked too obviously masculine.
