Ari looked down. ‘. . . It might look that way,’ he said after a moment. ‘But it wasn’t the same for him after Peniche. When he won the Ninth . . . it really didn’t mean that much. He’d lost the love . . . People forget that Kit and Cory had been close friends before.’

‘So what changed between them?’

Ari gave a single swipe of his head. ‘I don’t know. Kit’s never discussed it.’

‘Not even with you? That seems hard to believe,’ she pushed back.

‘It’s true.’ He shrugged. ‘I told you, he’s not a talker.’

‘But you’re his manager, his childhood friend. When every jet ski was out there trying to get Cory out of the water, when the ambulances were screaming onto the sand, when he finally came out of the sea that day at Supertubos Beach . . . you’re telling me you didn’t ask him why he’d blocked Cory’s line in the first place?’

Ari swallowed. ‘There wasn’t time for questions while it was all happening. Our concern was finding Cory.’

‘And afterwards? In the hours and days afterwards when he was in an induced coma, the weeks and months later when the extent of his injuries became clear . . . you still didn’t ask Kit why?’

Ari stared back at her. To her surprise, his eyes looked watery. ‘Kit was in no fit state to talk . . . He barely said a word – to anyone – for two months after. I knew he’d talk when he was ready.’

Two months? She swallowed. ‘And four years on . . . has he?’

Ari chewed his lip. He looked away, giving a tiny shake of his head. ‘But I know he regrets it. I know there’s not a day goes by that he doesn’t think of Cory.’

‘Do you think that would be a comfort to Cory’s widow? Their three young sons?’

Clover watched as he looked from her to the camera – looking straight down the eye of it. She could tell he was at his limit – he would walk if she didn’t change tack.

She modulated her tone, putting more questioning and less accusation in her voice. ‘Kit’s decision to change sport entirely – having to start from scratch, find new sponsors . . . That clearly has a major impact on you and Beau. Your lives follow his . . . How did you feel when he told you his plans?’

It worked. She saw his hands release and splay on his thighs. She wondered if his palms were sweating as hers were. ‘Pleased. I knew he’d been searching for something that surfing couldn’t give him anymore. I’ve been Kit’s manager for seven years. This is my job now, so I don’t mind where we go or what Kit does. And Beau will always be his brother.’

‘Why did you become his manager? You were competing at the top level yourself.’