He accepts it.

Bee looks perfectly relaxed.

Rab drinks the brandy down in one go.

– It’s not how Audrey and I had planned on spending Christmas Eve, was it? We were going to kill Raymond and Peter nice and clean, go out for dinner, then the theatre – the Traverse has a great production on – then we were going to have drinks at the jazz club – a short stop in London – then fly home. Take presents for all the family. I think we might miss the London flight now.

– Stop chattering, Bai.

– But it is Christmas Eve, and I love this time of year and I have new baubles for Mum – from Jenners! And we could have got more at Harrods. It was meant to be a happy Christmas this year! I told them – it’s the wrong time to send us out on this kind of job.

– When would you prefer to do your killing?

Rab places the glass down. He is quiet but full of unbearable rage.

– Easter, I don’t celebrate that, Bai says.

Rab’s hands grip the cushion on the sofa.

Both women look at him with his broken heart and try not to think about his children getting up tomorrow on Christmas Day and coming down to a tree in an empty room; no mother there and no father there. They look at each other.

– We are sorry, Mr Ram.

– I wish we…

He gestures at the two brothers and his wife on the floor.

– What?

– Never had to live this kind of life!

Bai opens the window.

Audrey’s monkey carefully climbs down from the top of the curtain pole and goes outside and up the drainpipe.

A smell of city air floods into the flat, clean and cold from the snow, just a faint hint of garlic from a restaurant nearby and woodsmoke from the few chimneys that still use real fires. It has begun to snow outside again – gentle spirals. Audrey aims at the fish tank and shoots. Water gushes into the room – catfish flap at his feet – Rab feels like he is in a tiny snow-globe flat – in a big tall tenement with all its ghosts ready to party for Christmas Eve – in the festive spirit – drinking and arguing – not giving a shit about the living – tiny electric-blue fish swim out the window into snow falling outside – Audrey and Bai pull on expensive leather gloves – a little girl toddles in and picks up his wife’s fox mask – giggles – puts it on – the girls are opening the sash window wide now.

– You’re leaving me here…

– Yes, Mr Ram, we are leaving the bodies with you – the police are going to think that you are insane and that you killed everyone and so they won’t ever come looking for us… don’t worry, you’ve had so much LSD you won’t remember any of this, can you hear that?

Bai looks out the window and down.

– No.