All I know is that when I came to, it was with the paramedic calling my name. I had blinked, looking all around me, trying to make sense of where I was and with whom and what the hell had just happened.

I can see Declan now, his face as white as a ghost. He is talking to a uniformed police officer. There is no sign of Niall or Frankie, although my head is ringing as a mixture of voices clash around me. It’s possible they are here somewhere. It is possible Frankie Heaney is still a free man.

A murderer, and a free man.

My head thumps and my eyes feel so heavy. I just desperately want to go to sleep. The doors to the ambulance are closed and we start to move. I can no longer fight my need to close my eyes.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Declan

For the last twenty-five years of his life, Declan has believed the most horrific untruth about his brother. It has coloured every single interaction with him. Everything about the boy that he once saw as a part of himself.

It has made him angry and unsure of the world. It has made him unable to trust anyone. It has destroyed him. He has been eaten up by a secret he thought he was keeping. Broken by the guilt of knowing an innocent man was in jail. Terrified that at any moment the truth would come out and his mother would break under the horror of it. Angry that his brother seemed to be able to carry on with his life as normal.

He contemplates all of this as he sits in an interview room in Strand Road Police Station. He knows his brother is in another room. His father elsewhere. DI Bradley is sitting opposite him, having brought him a cup of coffee and a sandwich, which is stale.

‘I’m sorry about the food,’ DI Bradley says. ‘There’s not much on offer today.’

Declan just shrugs. He sips at the coffee, but he can’t bring himself even to try to eat the sandwich. He’s afraid it will get stuck in his throat.

‘Are the clothes okay?’ DI Bradley asks.

Declan nods. The grey prison-issue tracksuit they’ve given him is a bit big but clean, warm and dry. His own clothes were soaked through.

They talk through what happened at the reservoir and Declan tries to remember every little detail. But it all happened so fast. He didn’t even think, he just did what he needed to do.

‘And you went to the reservoir because you thought Ingrid was in danger?’

He nods again.

‘I’m afraid you need to say the words,’ DI Bradley says, nodding towards the tape recorder.