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‘How long do they stand there?’ said a voice Robin recognised as Penny’s.
‘Just tonight. It’s the boys’ turn tomorrow. Then the Principals.’
Robin walked into the dormitory, appalled. If church members would be keeping watch on the temple steps for the following three nights, she’d have no chance whatsoever of slipping out of the dormitory unseen. Grabbing her pyjamas, Robin headed for the bathroom, locked herself in the same cubicle where she’d found Lin bleeding, sat down on the toilet lid and fought the urge to break down and cry. The uncertainty of what was going to happen next was terrifying her.
The bathroom door outside her cubicle banged open and Robin heard the sounds of teeth-cleaning and running taps. Knowing the stall would be needed by somebody else, Robin got up, unlocked the door, went through to the dormitory and began changing into her pyjamas.
‘Oh my God, look!’
The cry came from the other side of the dormitory: a group of women had hurried to the window. Some were gasping, others clapping hands to their mouths.
‘What is it?’ said Marion Huxley, rushing to look. ‘Is it her?’
‘Yes – yes – look!’
Robin climbed up onto her bed, so she could see over their heads.
A small, luminous figure was standing motionless in the middle of the field Robin had so often crossed by night, wearing a limp white dress. She shone brightly for a few more seconds, then vanished.
The women at the window turned away, talking in frightened, awestruck whispers. Some looked scared, others enthralled. Marion Huxley headed back across the dormitory smiling, and on reaching her bed, threw Robin a look of malicious triumph.
PART SIX
K’an/The Abysmal
Forward and backward, abyss on abyss.
In danger like this, pause at first and wait,
Otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss.
Do not act in this way.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
78
In the life of man… acting on the spur of every caprice is wrong and if continued leads to humiliation.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
Had Strike known what had happened to his detective partner over the previous twenty-four hours, he’d have been driving full speed towards Norfolk. However, as he remained in ignorance of developments at Chapman Farm, he rose on Wednesday morning buoyed by the idea that he’d be picking Robin up the following evening, having informed his subcontractors he wanted to do this job himself.
His bathroom scales showed an unwelcome regain of five pounds, doubtless due to the recent reappearance of burgers, chips and bacon rolls in his diet. Strike therefore breakfasted on porridge made with water, resolving to be strict again. While eating, he checked Pinterest on his phone, to see whether Torment Town had yet answered his question about Deirdre Doherty. To his dismay, he found the entire page deleted. The many grotesque drawings, including the eyeless Daiyu and the fair-haired woman floating in the five-sided pool, were gone, leaving Strike none the wiser as to who’d drawn them, but with the strong suspicion that his question had triggered the deletion, which suggested the blonde in the pool had, indeed, represented Deirdre.
At the precise moment he’d muttered ‘Fuck’, the mobile in his hand rang and he saw, with foreboding, Lucy’s number.
‘What’s happened?’ he said. Lucy wouldn’t call at half past six in the morning for no good reason.
‘Stick, I’m sorry it’s so early,’ said Lucy, whose voice was thick with tears, ‘but I’ve just had Ted’s neighbour on the phone. They noticed his front door was wide open, they went over there and he’s gone, he’s not there.’
An icy fog seemed to descend on Strike.
‘They’ve called the police,’ said Lucy, ‘and I don’t know what to do, whether to go down there—’
‘Stay put for now. If they haven’t found him in a couple of hours, we’ll both go down.’
‘Can you get away?’
