We Are Death by Douglas Lindsay Read Free Book Online Page B

out? I mean...’
    ‘So much that Geyerson would have had him killed?’ Carter looked up, a half-smile on his lips. ‘I don’t think so, though Evan did write to me about a big disagreement they had about going to the actual summit of Kangchenjunga.’
    His voice drifted away again, and Jericho had to gently encourage him to continue with a questioning movement of his eyebrows.
    ‘You know about this mountain?’ asked the father.
    ‘Not really,’ said Jericho. He knew more than he was saying, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t learn anything. And it was always better to find out what other people knew.
    ‘The first men to reach the summit – English, of course – some time in the 1950s, agreed not to ascend to the very summit. The mountain is holy to the local people. So, this first successful expedition stopped a few feet short of the actual summit. Later expeditions, and I believe there haven’t been that many, did the same. Not, of course, everybody. And there’s some folklore, or whatever, about anyone getting to the summit being cursed. Anyway, Geyerson insisted they were going right to the top. Evan thought they should respect local custom.’
    ‘And did they go right to the top?’
    ‘You know, I never found out. I’m not sure what happened. I heard less from Evan after they’d summited...
    ‘Looking back, actually he seemed quite different. More detached. I don’t think I even asked him if there was anything wrong. You know, we were just exchanging e-mails, and he didn’t want to hear about me. He was just writing to let me know he was all right. But before he reached the summit he seemed quite talkative, then afterwards... afterwards, not so much.’
    He took another sip of tea. The day crept into the room on a warm breeze, carrying the smell of summer, the bright, sunny afternoon completely at odds with the weight of melancholy hanging over the kitchen table.
    *
    J ericho opened his car door, and sat in the driver’s seat. He’d left the windows closed and parked in the shade of an old oak tree, so the car had somehow managed to retain some of the coolness in which he had driven down from Wells, air conditioning running full blast.
    He closed the door and hesitated. There was something not quite right, although it was hard to place. Almost as though someone had been in the car and had somehow left something of themselves behind.
    He turned sharply, looking in the back seat, and then bent down to look at the floor to see if anyone was hiding down there. Perhaps, he darkly thought, the dwarf who had killed Carter that morning.
    He straightened up, staring straight ahead into the thick mass of bushes and trees that surrounded the lawn. He wondered what it was he was feeling. The hairs on his neck had been standing on end, then slowly the shiver passed and the hairs settled down.
    He looked around again, looked into the trees, looked around the car. Nothing seemed to have been touched, the feeling was gone, nothing taken or disturbed. There was no evidence that anyone had been in the car, except that strange, uneasy feeling.
    He started the engine, reversed a few yards, then turned and was on his way.

10
    ––––––––
    ‘I take it you haven’t managed to get anywhere with the tarot card?’ asked Jericho.
    Back in his office, the room stiflingly hot, there was much to discuss in the investigation, but Jericho was aware that the card was in and out of his mind, and there was always the chance it would be completely forgotten. Perhaps talking about it was easier than talking about Kangchenjunga.
    ‘I’ve got an appointment tomorrow,’ said Haynes. ‘Made it on Tuesday night, before all this started, so you know, I can break it if you like.’
    Jericho shook his head.
    ‘Don’t worry about the investigation. I’ll stay on top of it. Who’s the appointment with?’
    ‘Professor Leighton.’
    ‘From the British Library,’ said Jericho, nodding. ‘You trusted her,