Then Rowlinson’s hand gripped his and there were more hands helping. He had the sensation of movement, of being dragged along the floor, Elinor and Julian with him.

The last thing he saw before he passed out was the pale moon peering behind the church spire as it collapsed with an ear-splitting noise.

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Priest pulled the tray out of the grill and examined the two burgers with a spatula. Satisfied that they looked sufficiently chargrilled he pulled them out and deposited each in a bun before piling on a selection of salad, radish, gherkin, ketchup, mayonnaise and cheese into each and offering one across his kitchen breakfast bar to Georgie.

‘It’s a Priest Burger,’ he explained.

She took it with clear trepidation and prodded the top of the bun. ‘Why a Priest Burger?’ she asked, suspiciously. ‘Why not just a normal burger in a bun with what appears to be salad?’

‘You forgot the special ingredient,’ Priest said, taking a bite.

‘Which is?’

‘Mainly carbon.’

Georgie nodded and then took a tentative bite. ‘Not too bad,’ she concluded.

So far Georgie had spent a lot of time explaining to Priest how Hemingway had come to an unfortunate end, the news of which he had received with dignity. In return, he had recounted the story of meeting Dominique in an abandoned theatre and watching Karl Jones shoot him. He then recounted the story of what happened at Devil’s Point. She had sat, wide-eyed, riveted to her seat, and listened.

‘You mean Karl Jones, the big nerdy one?’

‘Yes, the big nerdy one.’

Georgie nodded.

‘You don’t sound surprised,’ Priest pointed out.

Georgie shrugged. ‘Once you explained about the safe it was always going to be one of The Real Byte staff. Or you, I guess.’ She said it so matter-of-factly. The suggestion caught Priest off guard.

He retorted, ‘Equally, it could have been you, if you think about it.’

Georgie looked puzzled. ‘But I know it wasn’t me.’

‘That’s logical, I suppose.’

‘Were the charges on the cliff actually set?’

‘Bomb squad say they were primed and, by all accounts, both buttons would have set them off.’

Georgie whistled. ‘He wanted to kill you then?’

‘I actually think he wanted me to witness the last scene but if I’d have died then, in his mind, I wouldn’t have been a worthy witness anyway. He deliberately left that part to fate.’

‘All this for a schoolboy crush. You think Karl was mentally ill?’

‘I think they both were. But let’s not dwell on that too much.’

Priest finished his burger and put the plate aside.

‘So let me get this straight,’ said Georgie, picking the gherkin out of her burger. ‘Elinor Fox was abused by her father. She can’t recall any of it, but, at the same time, she recalls everything, in a diary, without realising it’s actually her she’s writing about. And Karl realised this.’