Chandler could almost see Gabriel’s heart pound under the T-shirt. The memories were flooding back, intense and uncontrolled. After a long breath that seemed to suck the last of the oxygen from the stifling room, he continued.

‘I aimed for the ridge. I glanced back and he was about ten metres behind me. I kept running and running until I stumbled on some loose soil and fell into a small clearing. The ground was all dug up.’ Gabriel stared at him. ‘They were graves.’

The air in the room seemed to grow even more oppressive.

‘Graves?’ Chandler frowned. ‘How do you know that?’

Gabriel shook his head. ‘I don’t . . . not for sure. I only remember thinking at the time they looked like graves. Five, six, seven, maybe . . . rectangular patches.’ He paused and stared at Chandler as if only just realizing just how close he had come to death.

‘I got up, kept running and came to a hill. I thought I’d be able to see from the top but there was nothing but a drop on the other side. I shouldn’t have stopped.’

Another breath. Composing himself. The tendons in his jaw twitched.

‘He jumped on me. I tried to throw some punches . . . but none landed. None that stopped him anyway. We rolled over and over . . . then I was falling. Like I was weightless. You ever experienced that?’ Gabriel looked at Chandler.

‘No, I haven’t.’

‘It was oddly exhilarating. Until the landing. As if I’d been hit by a train. As if I’d left my body entirely. I thought that was it and I’d entered heaven.’ He looked to Chandler seeking understanding.

Though his parents had instilled the virtues of religion in him and his two kids, Chandler was never what he would call an active participant. Religion to him was like home-grown tomatoes. Easier to consume than nurture. It was also a reminder that Sarah, his oldest, had her First Confession tomorrow. Something he was supposed to help her with tonight, practise what to say, when to kneel, when to stand . . .

‘I woke up sometime later and for the second time that day I had to figure out where I was. I saw the ridge above me and realized I’d fallen off. The pain of the landing returned, then I remembered Heath. He was lying beside me. Flat on the ground, the dirt around us splashed with blood.’

‘Was he dead?’ A dead suspect would make Chandler’s life easier.

‘I dunno.’

‘What do you mean, you don’t know?’

‘I dunno if he was alive or not. I didn’t go near him in case he was only playing dead. I’ve seen movies, Officer. I had to get away. So I did.’

‘And left him there?’