‘You’ve just told us you’re his best friend, the person closest to him on this planet. You knew his girlfriend was a victim of domestic abuse but you don’t know why they broke up?’

‘I’m telling you, I don’t. He never talked about it.’

‘You didn’t think that was strange?’

‘Of course I did. I was worried about him. But you don’t push Kit if he doesn’t want to talk.’

Clover blinked. Ari had said the same thing and she knew all about it herself. ‘. . . When did all this happen?’

‘2017. They’d been together for about a year.’

‘When did they break up?’

He didn’t hesitate. ‘October.’

‘October 2017?’ She went still. It was a date she knew well.

Beau swallowed, then nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘When Cory Allbright had his accident at Peniche?’

‘Yeah.’ He went very still as they both looked at one another. It was clear this was not a coincidence.

‘Tell me what you remember about it.’

‘That day specifically?’

‘Yes.’

Beau was quiet for a moment. ‘The conditions were heavy. There’d been a storm and they’d already delayed the competition by two days. The waves were big but there was a lot of pressure to get it done. Everyone knew Cory wanted it wrapped up and his title secured. He didn’t want to wait for Pipe Masters.’ He looked restless, shifted position.

‘How was Kit?’

‘Pretty relaxed, I’d say. The more wound up Cory got, the more he chilled.’

‘How so?’

‘Well, he’s always had this ability to . . . take his opponent’s energy and use it against them. It’s a martial arts thing. Our mum put us in classes when we were little kids – looking back now it’s obvious why, of course, but it taught us that the best defence was a strong offence. Kit liked that we had to combine defence and attack into one action.’

‘His hero’s Bruce Lee, right?’ she asked, remembering Matty’s biography notes.

Beau grinned. ‘Yeah. He always loved his water quote best – you know: “Be water. Be shapeless. Be formless. Put water in the bottle and it becomes the bottle. Put it in a teapot and it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash.”’ He nodded. ‘Kit’s always been water. And his life has always been in water. Even now. Water can freeze, right? Fall as snow?’

Clover was quiet, considering this explanation of Kit’s mind games. He had learned to shape-shift; to be what he needed to be to survive, to win. He could flow or he could crash.

‘So that skill is what made him such a formidable competitor?’

‘Oh yeah. Cory was never water. He was more . . . fire, you know? Too passionate. He could be his own worst enemy. He’d get too emotional, burn himself.’