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‘No, it’s laudable and weirdly old-fashioned, but somewhat naïve.’
‘You’re a cynic.’
‘That’s part of my employment package.’
Derek doffs his hat before departing, leaving behind a sense of melancholia and lost opportunities.
I’m finally allowed to see Evie. We meet in the same lounge where we spent the night after Finn Radford’s suicide, eating sandwiches and iced coffee from a local café.
‘I miss Poppy,’ says Evie.
‘I miss her too.’
She seems to have forgiven me for throwing myself into the North Sea and rescuing Angus Radford. Maybe she’s right and I should have let him drown. She wouldn’t have had to pull the trigger and face the repercussions.
‘Florence says I’m not going to be charged with anything, but I’ll have to give evidence at his inquest,’ says Evie, biting into a sandwich.
‘It was self-defence.’
‘I wanted to kill him.’
‘Try not to mention that to the coroner.’
‘That’s what she said.’
She chews and sips her iced coffee. Later, she opens a brown paper bag and finds a chocolate brownie. ‘There’s only one,’ she says. ‘Want to share?’
‘You break, I choose.’
Evie breaks it apart, but immediately nibbles the biggest side. ‘Guess this one’s mine,’ she says, grinning, with chocolate staining her teeth. I suddenly dare to think that she’s going to be OK. She’ll get through this. We both will. Mutually assured survival.
‘When we get home, you have to do something for me,’ says Evie. ‘But you have to promise not to laugh.’
‘OK.’
‘And not to look at my scars.’
‘OK.’
She hesitates, embarrassed.
‘What is it? You can tell me.’
‘Can you teach me how to swim?’
31
Evie
Sean Murdoch is standing on the pavement outside the police station, holding a cap in both hands like he’s come to ask for a job, or a favour. We descend the steps and move from shade into sunlight. He lifts his head, about to speak, when a seagull takes off from the chimney pots above us, squawking like a lonely child.
Murdoch follows it in flight, and then turns back to me. ‘Awright, lass?’
I nod and step closer to Cyrus.
‘I wanted to apologise for being part of this,’ he says, stumbling over the words. ‘I didnae mean for people to get hurt.’
‘Have you been interviewed?’ asks Cyrus.
