Catching Phantoms- the Strange Case of Martin Lumb by Ian Taylor & Rosi Taylor

Author:Ian Taylor & Rosi Taylor [Taylor, Ian & Taylor, Rosi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creativia
Published: 2019-08-01T22:00:00+00:00

14

It took Ray over two hours to reach his destination, and it was with a sense of relief that he parked the Volvo in the cathedral precinct. He flashed his police ID at an approaching church official, then made his way to the nearby stonemasons' yard, where he asked to speak to the head stonemason.

While he’d been busy in his workshop one evening the previous week, he’d heard the man speak on the radio. If he was planning the design for an item of furniture, or about some other quiet task, he usually put the radio on to catch up with the news. On this occasion he’d found himself listening to a talk on the restoration of church architecture and whether the expense was justified as congregations declined. One of the contributors was a Frenchman from Marseilles named Jacques Cadenet, who was an expert on stone carving and was in charge of restoration work in an English cathedral. Ray had seized the moment, booked a day's leave and arranged a meeting.

He was shown into a dusty room at one side of the yard, where Jacques was supervising work on a series of mouldings. The two men shook hands.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet me, Monsieur Cadenet. I have a very unusual enquiry and didn't know who else I could approach."

"Please..." Jacques gestured towards a small back office where the two men could talk in private. They were soon on first-name terms.

"I'll come straight to the point," Ray began. "I need to find out as much as I can about the magical properties of stone."

Jacques seemed surprised, but also, Ray suspected, a little bit intrigued.

"This is for police work?" Jacques asked.

"For police work and also for personal interest," Ray replied with candour. "I'm in the middle of a difficult investigation and I suspect I’m out of my depth, so to speak."

He hoped he wouldn't need to go into too many details and that he could confine the conversation to a general level. He didn't want to mention archaeologists, or the carved head cult of ancient Elmet if it could be avoided.

"Magic's not my area of expertise," Jacques spoke in almost perfect English, "but I can tell you a little about the inner mysteries of stone."

"I'd be very pleased to hear your insights," Ray replied with a hopeful smile.

"First, you must understand that stone possesses energy. The more scientifically inclined call it an electromagnetic field. But others go further. They say all stone has a soul. But some types of stone have a stronger soul than others."

"Is this soul the same as the electromagnetic field?" Ray asked.

Jacques considered for a moment before replying. Ray had the sense that he was choosing his words with great care.

"I think the soul that's meant here might be different. Something more subtle, that is, perhaps, impossible to measure."

"If you were carving a gargoyle for a church, would you choose the stone according to the strength of its soul?" Ray wondered aloud.

"It's true to say that apotropaic carved figures require strong souls.

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