Page 269 of The Hallmarked Man
‘OK, I’ll see you in there,’ said Strike, and he left her, going through the open gate, making liberal use of his stick as he walked out onto the lawn in the direction of the distant gardener. Robin waited until her partner was out of earshot, then answered her phone.
‘Hi,’ said Murphy. ‘How’s Sark?’
‘Cold,’ said Robin, watching Strike move slowly towards the distant man in the yellow jacket, who still had his back to the road.
‘Found what you were looking for?’
‘Possibly. I don’t know.’
‘Listen, I wanted to talk about Monday night.’
Robin, who’d thought she’d been sufficiently affectionate when she’d said goodbye to Murphy on Tuesday morning to avoid a post-mortem, thought,oh God, not now.
‘Ryan, I’m mid-job. We can talk about it when I get back.’
‘Which is when?’
‘Tomorrow, if we’re lucky,’ said Robin, watching Strike. The figure in the yellow jacket still hadn’t turned around.
‘It’s been playing on my mind, that’s all,’ said Murphy. ‘I genuinely didn’t mean to upset you, with what I said, I was just trying—’
‘Please,’ said Robin, through clenched teeth, ‘don’t say you were trying to be honest.’
‘You don’t want—?’
‘Of course I want honesty between us, it just seems like it’s becoming a catch-all excuse to force conversations I—’
‘I wasn’t trying to force anything, I’m trying to understand—’
‘And I gave you my answer,’ said Robin, trying to hold herself together. ‘I answered you honestly. I don’t know what I’d have done if the baby had been viable, and I don’t think it’s fair—’
‘Were you sad? At all? About the baby?’
‘Yes,’ said Robin, her voice breaking. ‘Yes, I’ve cried about the baby. Is that what you need to know? That I’m not inhuman?’
‘I never—’
‘Be honest, Ryan. You want me to behave as you think a woman should behave.’
‘What’s that supposed—?’
‘You wanted me to sob in your arms about our lost child and say I wanted to get my eggs frozen immediately, so we can make a replacement.’
‘That’s not—’
‘Look, I’m working,’ said Robin, watching Strike, who was now within easy calling distance of the gardener. ‘I’d rather—’ She gasped, then exclaimed, ‘Oh my God – I’ve got to go!’ and hung up.
Cormoran Strike had just taken a spade to the face.
85
‘You don’t know our Sark men… They do things first and are sorry after…’
John Oxenham
A Maid of the Silver Sea
Danny de Leon had swung his spade so forcefully at Strike’s head that it had knocked the latter over. From his suddenly prone position in the wet grass, Strike saw the panicked young man drop his weapon and begin to run towards the house, while Robin sprinted towards them.
