A spasm of pain crossed his face at the mention of Russell’s name. Then he said, ‘Gaby and Russ – they were on different paths to me. They were part of the machine.’ He shook his head. ‘Wasn’t for me. And I thought, if I went back, I’d get sucked in. Responsibilities, you know?’

Clare wondered about this. She couldn’t imagine not knowing anything about her loved ones, being out of touch for so many years. Maybe it was true what the three men had said, that David was a bit odd. ‘Were you aware you’d been declared dead?’

‘No. But I suppose it makes sense.’

‘And is this your first time back in the country?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘What made you decide to come home?’

He hesitated for a moment then he met Clare’s eye. ‘For years after the tsunami, Gaby sent me messages.’ He shook his head. ‘I never replied. Not sure why. But I liked getting the messages. And then they stopped. It wasn’t hard to keep track of Gaby, though. Even thousands of miles away. She’s in the papers every few weeks – interviews, gossip, all that. And that’s how I found out about my dad.’ He broke off for a moment then went on. ‘You probably know he’s in a care home. Dementia. Gaby spoke about it in an interview, start of the year.’ David sighed audibly then went on. ‘She said he’s not great. Some days he doesn’t even know her; and that got me thinking. It didn’t seem right, you know, leaving her to do it all. And then Gaby’s girl, Sacha, I’ve never seen her.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘Maybe you can have enough travelling. Maybe there comes a time when family starts to matter more. So I began to think – about coming back. I knew Russ was forty this year. Suddenly the time seemed right. So one day I phoned Gaby. I still had her number, you know? Anyway, I called her, said it was me and that I was thinking of coming home.’

‘How did she react?’

‘Pretty shocked. And then she started to cry and said she couldn’t wait to tell everyone. But I said no. I wanted it kept quiet. I’d come back for the party, catch up with my dad, meet Sacha and Luke. But I didn’t want anything official. None of that back from the dead stuff.’

‘Mind if I ask why not?’ Clare said.

He shrugged. ‘I wasn’t sure I’d want to stay. And, if folk got to know I wasn’t dead, well, maybe I’d get sucked in. Wouldn’t be able to go away again. So I told Gaby I’d keep my options open and she was to tell as few folk as possible.’

‘Did she agree to that?’ Clare asked.