But Caroline won’t be as fortunate. The trees are dense in this part of the wood and, because of the time of year, there’s a tangle of branches beneath the next platform that haven’t been cut back. Anyone who jumps from the bridge to the platform and makes their way round the pole to the next walkway can’t be seen from the ground.

Not until they jump.

Kate glances behind her as the bridge shakes beneath her. Geraldine is falteringly crossing it, one of the instructors following close behind.

Fuck.

Almost as though she can read Kate’s thoughts, Caroline looks round too. Her eyes meet Kate’s and narrow, warningly.

‘Come on,’ Kate says. ‘Make the jump! There’s going to be a traffic jam here in a minute.’

‘You like giving orders, don’t you?’ Caroline laughs – a short, sharp ‘ha!’ – then turns away. One second she is facing the platform and the next she’s midair, arms spread like a squirrel monkey. The two safety carabiners slide down the rope behind her and she lands heavily, wrapping her arms around the pole, hugging it close.

‘Fuck,’ Kate says again.

She moves quickly, striding across the remaining two planks, all the while watching Caroline as she inches her way around the platform, still hugging the pole close. Kate reaches the last plank and takes a steadying breath. She has to make it onto the platform now. If she unclips the second safety clasp as Caroline unclips the first and then pushes her it’ll be over. A troubled client whose darkness engulfed her. A tragic suicide. There was nothing she could have done to help.

Caroline is now halfway around the platform.

Don’t look down, Kate tells herself. Don’t look down; just jump. She tightens her grip on the ropes and bends her knees. Jump, she tells herself. Jump!

And she is! She’s moving through the air and the pole is a brown blur rushing towards her. The toes of her boots hit the edge of the platform and she reaches … reaches. The pole is half a foot away from her outstretched fingers. But she’s not close enough and her body rocks backwards; her heels, then her toes, then her whole body leave the platform and she drops, the ground rushing towards her.

The safety ropes tighten and she’s jerked upwards, and then she’s just dangling, swinging back and forth twenty feet above the ground.

Chapter 38

Now

FRAN

Fran dips her spoon into the steaming tomato soup, blows on it lightly and takes a sip. Her phone vibrates in her back pocket but she ignores it. She texted Geraldine with an update half an hour ago and she’s pretty certain that: Still working on Tom. He’s giving nothing away at the moment, other than the fact he knew Jenna and he’s sorry she’s dead won’t have elicited the most polite response.