Chapter 79
An urban myth. That was what the late Frank O’Rourke, Mark Buckby’s contact, had said about the tattoo on Océane Blue’s foot. He’d said that it couldn’t exist. He’d got so frightened when he saw evidence that it did exist, he’d tried to leave London. Ended up with five bullets in his head.
Poe thought that when Vice Admiral Boyer’s daughter had opened her father’s AegisBox, she’d found the first documented case of a snuff movie.
He felt sick to his stomach. He glanced at Bradshaw and nodded.
Silently thanked her for getting Esmerée to leave the room.
He didn’t know why, but it felt important.
Esmerée knew about murder. She’d witnessed her mother killing Vincent du Buk.
And against his better judgement, he’d let her see the photographs he’d taken of Mark Buckby.
But no one needed to know that snuff films existed. Stuff like that never left you.
‘There hasn’t been a single verified case of a commercially available snuff film,’ he said. ‘Not just in this country, in any country. Murders have been filmed, but never for profit. You’re now telling me that’s a fallacy? Something we tell each other to make us feel safe?’
Gilliard said, ‘Have you heard the antimetabole, “the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”?’
‘I have. I don’t know what an antimetabole is.’
‘It’s the repetition of words in successive clauses in transposed order, Poe,’ Bradshaw said. “All for one, and one for all” is an antimetabole. So is “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”.’
‘Ah,’ Poe said. ‘Like “monkey see, monkey do”.’
‘No, Poe. That is not correct.’
‘Regardless, the late vice admiral had a snuff movie in his safe?’
‘He did.’
‘They exist, then. Why does this world never cease to disappoint me?’
Gilliard and Susan looked at each other. They appeared uncomfortable.
‘What?’
‘There was something else in the AegisBox,’ Gilliard said. ‘Something worse.’