‘You came to take him. But I asked how, not why. Arcadia’s way off the beaten track. And we value our privacy, which you and your father violated. So I’m wondering how that happened, how you found us. Did Skye tell your old man where we were?’

‘Guess so.’

He turns his head my way and raises his eyebrows. ‘And have you shared that information with anybody else? At a guess?’

‘Absolutely not.’ I shake my head vigorously. ‘I wouldn’t do that.’ Ah, perhaps Doyle has sent him after all, to find out what I’ve told Mark, if I’m going to lead him to the commune.

Finn speaks slowly. ‘So what exactly is your story? Can’t figure you out. A third wheel. Do anything for Daddy’s approval. Living with your sister. You don’t strike me as a halfwit but that’s some stunted life you’ve got going.’

I frown. ‘Not stunted. What you’re seeing now is an aberration, temporary. In a few weeks I’m heading back to Bali.’

‘On your own, by the sounds of it.’

I’d forgotten for a moment what Sal had said at the RE. Surely she’s only looking at houses to keep Ryan happy.

‘Sal and I are walking Ryan through a bit of a meltdown. We’ll be back in Bali before the end of January. You’ll see.’

He smirks. ‘“We”. She’s out of your reach, Water Rat. I know that woman, and you are not enough man for her.’

‘She’s not in or out of my reach. We’re friends, the three of us,’ I say. ‘You don’t get it.’

‘Think I do.’

How many beers have I had? How many spliffs have we shared? My words are chewy in my mouth. My head moves about like a ball on a spring. ‘So the rifle,’ I say. ‘That was unexpected.’

‘Feral pigs.’

‘Right. Right.’ I stare out at the night sky. ‘Ryan said you and Skye had something intense going on. But you know, that doesn’t explain her running away without Beau. I mean, she kept trying to get him back, so it’s not like she didn’t want him. She told my dad you had a bit of a temper, said a bunch of stuff about her that wasn’t true.’

He squints as if he hadn’t seen me until now, or isn’t quite sure what to make of me. ‘What happened between me and Skye is none of your goddamn business.’

‘Well it sort of is, since she was about to marry my dad. And the baby would’ve been my half-brother or sister, technically. So Beau would be something to me, too, I guess. No. Hang on.’

‘She was pregnant?’ he says.

Why wouldn’t the police have told him that?

‘Pregnant with your dad?’ he asks. ‘Your twice-her-age dad?’

‘He loved her. She left you, chose him. So that’s . . .’

‘Pregnant.’ He pauses. ‘Let me ask you something: were you with your dad when she had the crash? The police told me she was alone. But where were you, Water Rat?’ The air takes on a chill. His voice has a snarl in it now.