‘I haven’t heard anything since going in with him,’ said Mulvey, his voice still slightly husky from sleep. ‘But I was there when Mr Veitch examined him. He had a fractured jaw, so there may well be other head injury, and both tibia and fibula of the left leg were broken. They’ll know by now if there were serious internal injuries. They were going straight into theatre when I came away. Very lucky that Ivan Veitch happened to be there. It’s a relief to hear he’s come through the night okay anyway.’

‘Thanks for helping,’ said Pearly. ‘It was a real relief to have you there almost as soon as it happened.’

‘I’m afraid there wasn’t much that could be done on the spot.’

‘How was he on the way in?’

‘He was barely conscious throughout.’

‘I’m going to the hospital now,’ said Pearly.

‘Let me know how things are. An unfortunate end to a great night. The whole reunion seemed to go really well, and that’s a credit to all of you on the committee.’

Pearly took a cup of coffee in to Helen then drove to the hospital. He was rarely in the town so early, and few cars, or people, were about the streets. There was a truck with a mechanical circular brush cleaning the gutters, a tall man with absurdly tight green shorts loped in the cycle lane, a woman in a pink dressing gown briskly snatched up the paper at her gate and headed back inside. The breeze of the night before was gone, the dew on the grass verges glittered in the early sun, the gulls flew casually inland from the sea. ‘Poor old Gumbo,’ said Pearly. ‘We’ll see how he is.’

Even the hospital was quiet, but it was a calm laced with apprehension rather than peace. That’s the atmosphere of hospitals, and there was a faint fragrance that seemed to Pearly a combination of antiseptics, floor polish and the emanations of enfeebled bodies. He was told that Mr Veitch wasn’t there and that it was too early for visiting. He resolved to use his position for advantage and was mildly surprised he hadn’t been recognised. ‘I’m the mayor,’ he said, ‘and may not be able to come back for quite a while. More to the point, I’m a close friend of Mr Reece and was with him when he had the accident last night. I’d like to speak to a doctor at least, please. If at all possible.’