He returned to the Daveys’ again, heading along the side of their property. Once he was done there, he repeated the same routine at Randolph and Emiline’s, trying the front door before disappearing out of view at the side of their house, and then reappearing a minute or so later.

What was he doing?

Finally, he emerged again and took a few steps up the slope in the direction of the main gate. He looked like he was getting ready to go.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he began coming down the track towards us.

‘You need to go upstairs,’ I said to Healy.

‘What?’

He stared at me like I’d offended him.

‘We don’t know who this guy is and you’re supposed to be dead, so I think it’s better if he doesn’t find you in here, because I don’t fancy going to prison – do you?’

I gave him a look that said everything, but he still lingered for a moment, his stubbornness an echo of the man he’d been before this, when every decision he didn’t like became a battle. Eventually, though, he went, his path upstairs a series of creaks.

I switched my attention back to the window.

The man was continuing his approach, his pace slowing as he got closer to the farmhouse. I’d retreated further, using the darkness of the interior to disguise myself, but even though I knew it would be difficult for him to see me, I felt no particular comfort in knowing that: there was a severity to his expression that set me on edge.

Twenty feet from the front door, he finally saw the Audi.

His whole expression changed, his body tensing, his eyes narrowing, and then his gaze switched between the kitchen window, the living room and the upstairs bedrooms. By then, I’d already started moving, heading out into the hallway.

He knew someone was here.

I didn’t have any choice but to confront him.

16

The man’s eyes were already on me as I stepped out of the house. He tilted his head, watching me from under his brow.

‘Can I help you?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know,’ he replied with a smile – but it looked awkward on his face, discordant. ‘I didn’t realize there was anyone else here.’

‘Neither did I until a minute ago.’

‘Is that your car?’ He gestured to the Audi.

‘It is, yes.’

‘Let me guess: you hit a deer?’

He must have spotted the animal in the undergrowth at the edge of the road on his way in. The question was odd, though: even as he asked it, something else moved in his face. I couldn’t work out what it was, but it stuck with me as he once more glanced at the windows of the farmhouse and said, ‘You here by yourself?’

‘Yes,’ I replied.

‘I see.’