I dropped on my knees beside her. Her forehead was creased with lines of pain and her eyes were closed. Both her hands were clutched to her belly. I said, ‘Jill, where were you hit? In the stomach?’

Her lips moved. ‘Yes.’

I didn’t know what to do. To move her might be the wrong thing, but to leave her might prove equally fatal. It seemed that the best thing to do was to find out the extent of the damage. Over my shoulder I said to John, ‘Get me a knife, a sharp knife.’

He went away at a hobbling run and I stood up and looked at Leotta. Her training was likely to be much more extensive than mine, but I didn’t know if I could put her in the position of chief medical officer in her current condition. She returned my anxious stare with a limp smile.

‘You need attention too,’ I said.

‘It’s nothing. A flesh wound. A sticking plaster and some bandages and I’ll be good to go.’

Something about the trail of blood making its way down her bare arm made me doubt whether she was going to be good for anything for a while.

John came back. ‘I found a kitchen knife, sir, and a first aid box.’

I burst out laughing and, even as I laughed, I detected the hysteria at the back of my mind. What struck me as funny was that John was still calling me ‘sir’ in that body-strewn environment.

He looked at me uncomprehendingly and with a shade of apprehension, no doubt afraid I’d stripped my cogs. With an effort of will, I chopped off the laughter with a gasp. ‘Sorry, John. I’m a bit worked up.’

‘That’s not surprising, sir.’

‘It might be an idea to make some hot, sweet tea.’ I held out my hands for the knife and the first aid kit and discovered I was still holding the gun. I laid it on the table and looked around. The quick tropic nightfall was coming fast and it would soon be dark. ‘Don’t turn on any lights,’ I said. ‘Nothing that can be seen from the mainland.’

I knelt by Jill and asked, ‘How is it?’

‘Hurts like crazy,’ she whispered, and opened her eyes. ‘That woman – what happened to her?’

‘She won’t be troubling us again. Leotta did a good job.’

Jill closed her eyes. ‘She killed her?’

‘Survival of the fittest, that’s all. The woman was a psychopath. There’s no knowing how many lives Leotta might have saved.’ I put my hand to Jill’s brow and found her clammy with a cold sweat. ‘I’d like to have a look at the wound. Can you straighten out?’

‘Oh, please, no. It’s bad enough like this.’