Merrily Watkins 11 - The Secrets of Pain (63 page)

And to Mairead Reidy who provided some crucial, half- forgotten books on the Romans and Mithraism (including the fascinating
Mithras, The Fellow in the Cap
by Esme Wynne-Tyson) as well as endless Internet data, while spreading the word, along with Anne Holt, via the Merrily Watkins Internet discussion forum on Yahoo… as does Caitlin Sagan on the Facebook PR appreciation society. Many thanks to them, and all in Greater Ledwardine.

Thanks also to: John Moss, of The British Society of Dowsers, Mark Townsend, author of
The Path of the Blue Raven
, the great forensic pathologist and crime-writer Professor Bernard Knight, Duncan Baldwin (Byron Jones’s legal adviser) Neville Meredith from Herefordshire Council and Polly (tunnels) Rubery on migrant workers and fruit farms. Arno Gundisch, native of
Transylvania, for Marinescu-linked background. Peter Brooks for
the wafer
and other crucial spiritual devices, which Merrily and I may have misused. And John Whitbourn for reminding me what I was supposed to be doing.

On the subject of cockfighting, which has not exactly died out in some areas, my thanks to someone who, for obvious reasons, would rather not be named. And any SAS-linked sources, where not obvious, must remain in the shadows. I’ve heard many stories over the years, most of them unverifiable. The ex-Regiment men I’ve encountered at various times have been great blokes, full of ideas and dark humour, but I made a point of
not
attempting to run the central idea in this novel past anybody in, previously in or currently connected with the SAS. If anybody needs to be disposed of, it’ll have to be me.

Re Julian of Norwich, the quotes under the headings to parts two, three, four and six, are taken from the Penguin Classics edition of
Revelations of Divine Love
, translated by Clifton Wolters.

The Lol Robinson songs mentioned here can all be found on the full-length CD
A Message from the Morning
, for which many, many thanks to Lol’s talented producer, arranger, band-mate and co-writer Allan Watson, to the ingenious Bev Craven who designed the package and to tireless Terry Smith who markets it via the website,
www.philrickman.co.uk
.

Finally, thanks to Nic Cheetham, who relaunched the Merrily series with flair and commitment, to Mathilda Imlah at Corvus, to my agents Andrew Hewson and Ed Wilson and, of course, my wife and editor Carol who burned endless candles at both ends and in the middle getting this one right.

Incidentally, in the week during which
The Secrets of Pain
was finished, West Mercia Police in Hereford launched Operation Ignite to combat rural crime close to the Welsh border.