I considered hiring a car, finding where he lived and running him down. It felt like it would be satisfying because it would mirror what he did to Dad’s family. But it was clear from his page that he lived a quiet life to the point of almost being a hermit and very rarely went out. Plus, by then I was already working on the ships, I had very little time off and it would be hard to get back to where he lived, and there was also a risk that the ‘accident’ could get traced to me.

So I needed Michael to come to me. I sent him a message from a fake Facebook account telling him he’d won a competition. A cruise! As I suspected, he entered so many competitions it didn’t register that he hadn’t actually ever entered this one. Many competitions ask you to ‘share’ that you’ve entered, so I knew he was often trying to win holidays from what appeared on his feeds.

I also knew from his competition entries and other posts he was keen on hot tubs. He’d been trying to win one for a while. I timed his ‘win’ with one of my trips back to the UK and paid for the smallest suite I could find with a hot tub on board Immanis with some of my money from Dad. I paid in cash in a high street travel agent which has since closed, as so many have. A cruise doesn’t have to cost quite as much as you might imagine if you pick the right time of year and anyway, it was worth it.

Then all it took was a quick google of hot tub safety, taking out a breaker switch and loosening a few of the lights to expose some wires, and the electricity did the rest.

He’d only been on board for a few hours, had seen no one and didn’t seem to have any family, having entirely cut himself off from Jesse and Karen. His next of kin was given as his virtually estranged elderly father, who turned out to be in very poor health and living in a nursing home. He was happy to accept the explanation of a tragic freak accident and a compensation payment from Heracles in return for signing an NDA.

Jesse died in his sleep at home while I was out walking my little dog Chi-Chi on St Tibuda’s main beach. Everyone knew he was very protective of his sister and that he had been deeply unsettled by her death, so while it was a shock when word of his death filtered back to the people who knew him, it wasn’t a surprise. Not that there was anyone very close to him left, except Danielle, of course.