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Robin jumped back down onto the floor, wiped her footprints off the sink and turned on a tap, just in time: she heard a group of women enter the dormitory.
‘Hi,’ said Robin, emerging from the bathroom and hoping that she didn’t look too red in the face. Vivienne, who was among the women, ignored her, instead saying to the group,
‘Check everywhere, OK? Even under the mattresses.’
‘How could the pendant have got under a mattress?’ Robin asked Vivienne, her heart still thumping rapidly from the shock of her discovery.
‘I don’t know, it’s just what Becca wants,’ said Vivienne irritably.
‘Oh, right,’ said Robin.
‘Aren’t you going to help?’ said Vivienne, as Robin made to leave.
‘Sorry,’ said Robin, ‘Jiang wants me to help him.’
As she walked outside to rejoin Jiang, she noticed Becca talking to Dr Zhou on the other side of Drowned Prophet’s fountain.
‘Where should we look?’ Robin asked Jiang. She had no intention whatsoever of pursuing the fish into its clump of grass: let somebody else find it.
‘Craft rooms,’ suggested Jiang, who was clearly enjoying Robin looking to him for orders.
‘Great,’ said Robin.
As they walked away, Robin glanced back at Becca, and was unsurprised to find her eyes following them.
70
Thus the superior man pardons mistakes
And forgives misdeeds.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
Strike was having an extremely trying day.
At shortly after ten, as he was following Toy Boy and the client’s mother into Selfridges, Shanker called. Hoping for confirmation that Littlejohn was working undercover for Patterson Inc, Strike answered quickly, placing a finger in his free ear to block out the sound of canned music and talkative shoppers.
‘Hi,’ said Strike, ‘what’ve you got?’
‘Reaney’s tried to top ’imself. Fort you’d wanna know.’
‘He’s what?’
‘Yeah,’ said Shanker. ‘Overdose. Me mate in Bedford jus’ called an’ told me.’
‘When was this?’
‘Few days back. Silly cunt. Bought up and nicked all the pills ’e could get ’is ’ands on and took the lot.’
‘Shit. He’s still alive, though?’
‘Just abaht. In ’ospital. Me mate said ’e was yellow an’ covered in puke when the screws found ’im.’
‘Anyone know why he did it?’
‘Yeah, ’e got a phone call from ’is wife, a week ago. After that ’e started buying up everyfing anyone could give ’im and dahned the lot.’
‘OK,’ said Strike. ‘Cheers for letting me know.’
