Chloe’s hands twisted together in her lap. ‘I guess there’s no reason not to tell you. Back when he was still alive, me and . . . and the other Jerry had a bad argument because he’d been disappearing for hours or even days at a time. I knew he must be taking trips to other alternates, because he was nowhere on the island. But if he was, they were clearly off the record, and that got me worried. Why would he be going on secret trips? And who was responsible for sending him on them?’ She looked past me and out of the window. ‘In the end, I was only able to get him to talk by threatening to tell the other Pathfinders he was up to something behind their backs.’

‘And?’

‘He confessed he’d been trying to find out about what was causing all the equipment failures and accidents.’ Her eyes briefly met mine. ‘He swore me to secrecy, said I couldn’t tell anyone. Not even if something bad happened to him. Especially not then.’ She shook her head. ‘I could tell something had frightened him, and then . . . then he was gone.’

‘And that’s when Nadia came to talk to you?’

‘Rozalia told you that?’

I nodded.

She sighed heavily. ‘Goddam him. The other Jerry, I mean. I understand why he turned to Nadia – you know she used to be a cop?’

I looked at her, surprised. ‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Well, it hurt that he felt he could share secrets with Nadia, but not me – even after I just about blackmailed him into telling me at least part of the truth.’

‘Did you think about telling someone in charge about all this? Someone like Bramnik?’

She sighed and shook her head. ‘No.’

‘Why not?’

She picked at a loose cotton thread on her jeans. ‘Where I came from was a bad place, Jerry. Things you probably took for granted, like free speech and being allowed to mind your own business, just didn’t exist there. The last thing you’d ever want to do is trust anyone in authority. And people like Agent Greenbrooke remind me much too much of those days.’

‘Surely Bramnik himself isn’t that bad? He clearly despises the Patriots.’

‘There are rumours the Patriots have spies among the civilian staff. Did Rozalia mention that?’

‘She didn’t. She did say, though, that Nadia was cautious about talking to Bramnik herself.’

‘Well, now you know why. It pays to be careful who you speak to around here.’

‘I’m worried about Rozalia,’ I said. ‘When she says she thinks Nadia’s death is connected to all this, she’s saying what happened last night wasn’t an accident. But it doesn’t make sense.’

‘Why not?’