I opened my mouth to voice another complaint, then realized there was no point. ‘Jerry Beche,’ I said with a sigh.

‘Good.’ He turned, making his way over to the video camera beneath the steps. ‘There’s not much point to the conversation we’re going to have if you’re not in full possession of your faculties.’ I watched as he leaned down to peer through its lens at me, then made some kind of adjustment.

‘Casey . . . whatever you’re planning, and I have a pretty good idea what it is, you need to stop. Wallace told us everything.’

He looked up at me, and I saw a flash of anger. ‘Knew I should have just put a bullet through the silly fucker’s head, instead of wasting time with matches.’ He leaned back down, peering through the camera once more and made a final adjustment. ‘So what exactly did he tell you?’

‘That you’re going to try and wipe out the Authority because they lied to us about retirement.’

‘And you think that’s the only reason? You can’t think of a whole list of them yourself, even after being among us for as short a time as you have?’

‘Casey . . .’

‘I hear you, I hear you. What do you think I’m going to do: walk over there, uncuff you and beg your forgiveness? Fuck that.’ He stood back, as if satisfied. ‘Thing is, Jerry, I’m really not sure why you want me to stop.’

‘Because you’re out of your fucking mind, that’s why. You killed Nadia, you killed the other Jerry, and if Wallace isn’t dead yet from his injuries, he will be soon enough.’

‘Wow.’ He put his hands on his hips. ‘You really have figured it all out, haven’t you?’

‘There’s not much we don’t know, Casey. You were working for the Patriots and you betrayed them. Everyone else knows where we are, and whatever happens to me, they’re going to come after you even harder.’

He shook his head in apparent disbelief. ‘I sincerely doubt that. The crazy thing is, you should be thanking me. You ever think about that? If it wasn’t for me, you’d never have been rescued – did that ever cross your mind?’ he tapped at his chest. ‘If I hadn’t been forced to prevent the first Jerry from screwing everything up, you – and by you, I mean the person sitting right there, in front of me – would still be rotting away on some dead alternate. If it wasn’t for me, you’d never have had a chance at a new life with the rest of us.’

I gaped at him. ‘So basically,’ I said, ‘we’re supposed to be grateful for you murdering anyone who gets in your way?’