“Tim!” Amber shouted, and Tim let go. Robin slid back down the wall, gasping. “We stick to the plan. We have the evidence. We stage the crime scene. You know that.”

“Why are you doing this?” Robin said, still gasping. “Why did you do all this?”

Tim laughed again. “Well, it all started very simply, really. You see, Robin, you’re staring at the two people who just happened to kill your wife.”

Chapter Sixty-Five

Robin couldn’t feel anymore. The life went out of his body, replaced with an inconceivable sorrow. Sam. His Sam was dead. She wasn’t here anymore, not here in this world. And the worst thing about it was that he had known. He had felt it that first day she was gone, three years ago in their flat. He had known that she wasn’t coming back. And three years of unchecked grief fell on him in one instant.

As he listened to Tim’s story, he didn’t cry. He didn’t squirm. He didn’t try to run away. His voice was distorted, like he was underwater, like he was drowning.

“Robin, you still with us?”

Robin looked at Tim, through misty eyes. He didn’t even notice he’d stopped talking. “You killed her?”

“Yes, that’s what the story was about,” Tim said.

“She was alive. She was still alive, and you... Why didn’t you help her? Why wouldn’t you just take her to the hospital? You didn’t have to...”

Tim looked at him, almost like he pitied Robin. “You clearly don’t understand. She was on that road, in the dead of night. She was invisible. We would have run her down if we’d been stone-cold sober. Anyone would have. So what happened to your wife—she brought it upon herself.”

Robin felt his blood boil up. He wanted to lunge at Tim, but his body still didn’t work. All he managed was a small dip forward and back.

Sally’s head lolled on his shoulder. She had gone quiet and he couldn’t see if her eyes were open. Please, Robin thought, don’t let her be dead. But then she made a noise and Robin knew she was still there. At least for now.

“Why did you tell me?” Robin said.

“What?” That wasn’t Tim. It was Amber. She walked into his line of sight and stood next to Tim.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Tim said.

“No.” Amber held up a hand. “What did you say, Robin?”

Robin looked at her and sniffed. “I said ‘Why did you tell me?’ Why did you tell me about Sam? You could have just killed me. You could have just got it over with and I would never have had to know.”