I said nothing. Shook my head, didn’t stop, just shook it. The ambulance men were rushing. Talking urgently. The door slammed shut on my brother and the engine started up. Mum looked panicked. Gareth stepped forward and as the ambulance drove off, its siren bursting into life, he pulled a pen and an old receipt out of his jacket pocket. ‘Here’s the number of the hospital,’ he said as he scrawled on the scrap of paper. ‘If you need to, dial this and ask for your mother. They’ll get a message to her.’

I took hold of the receipt and scrunched it into my hand.

‘I’ll look after her,’ Gareth said quietly.

I glanced at Mum, pale and shellshocked, then nodded.

‘We’ll see you at home.’

Images of Granfer’s blood spattering the walls and floor battered me. My skin crawled at the thought of the loss that pervaded the air in that cold and claustrophobic house. ‘I’m not going back there.’

Max joined us. ‘I’ve explained it was an accident but the police want statements from us all. They said we could go to the station, either later today or in the morning.’

Edie went to the hospital with Mum in Gareth’s car. She pulled at her sleeve repeatedly, her face wracked with fear, skin so pale she looked like the dead. Perhaps she really did love him? Though as I stared at her through the window I saw her swear silently, her expression twitching with anger, which led me to suspect Edie Davenport’s reasons for running away had little to do with feelings for my brother and everything to do with what Edie Davenport wanted for herself.

When the two policemen led Eleanor away from The Cliff House I watched from the threshold of the front door. They didn’t cuff her or even hold on to her, she just walked between them as if they were all going for a summer’s day stroll. As they reached the car she glanced back towards the house and we held each other’s gaze for a moment or two and I knew from her eyes that if she could she’d run back for the knife and drive it into my heart. I didn’t drop my head or look away, but stared back at her, my face impassive. One of the policemen said something to her, then held open the back passenger door. She drew her attention off me and thanked him, before climbing unsteadily into the car.

I walked into the house and closed the door and leant against it for a moment or two. Max was out on the terrace. He was sitting at the table, looking out over the sea, one leg crossed over the other, blue leather shoes cradling his feet. I pushed off the door and went into the kitchen, picked up some dirty plates and walked them to the sink.