I hear movement; then, a few seconds later: ‘She’s right. There’s still a pulse.’

Relief washes through me. There’s an ambulance outside, Aidan. Just hold on a little bit longer.

‘Stay away from me!’ Mary growls like an animal. She’s behind Waterhouse, pressing the gun against his head. Her hand is shaking, her finger wobbling the trigger. ‘I’ll kill him if you come any closer.’

‘That’s my fiancé you’ve got there,’ says Charlie. ‘Did you know that? Remember, we talked about him? You wondered why I wouldn’t choose to paint him, if I had to paint somebody.’

‘I don’t care who he is. Stop where you are, or I’ll shoot him. I mean it!’

‘I love him. We’re supposed to be getting married, even though everyone we know thinks it’s a really bad idea.’

‘Shut up!’

‘It isn’t a bad idea, though, because I can’t be happy unless I’m with Simon. And after what I’ve been through, I think I deserve to be happy. You know all about what happened to me, right? You told me you did. I’m just like you, Martha. My life was in pieces, all because of a man . . .’

‘Don’t call me that!’

‘. . . but I was lucky enough to find a way out of my despair. I’ve got a chance to be happy now, and . . . well, the thing is, Simon and I haven’t actually been happy together yet, even though we’ve known each other for years. All we’ve done is waste time.’

Mary swings the gun round, points it at Charlie. The hammer falls from her left hand. That’s right: she broke her fingers.

‘Put the gun down, Mary,’ says Waterhouse.

‘Keep quiet!’ Her voice is shaking so much, I barely recognise the words. ‘Or I’ll shoot you so you die, like Gemma. Not like these two. I never wanted to kill them. Ruth’s my friend.’

‘You didn’t want to kill Aidan?’ Charlie says. ‘You shot him in the chest.’

‘I shot him in the shoulder. I . . . I meant to aim higher. I didn’t want to shoot him at all, but he wouldn’t . . .’

‘Wouldn’t what?’

‘He wouldn’t admit that he loves me.’

I hear a series of noises that are painful to listen to: shrill one minute, rasping the next. Can they all be coming from Mary? They don’t sound human.

‘The medics need to come in here and help Aidan and Ruth,’ says Charlie gently. ‘You’re going to let them do that, aren’t you, Martha?’

‘Martha’s dead!’

‘You said you didn’t want to kill them . . .’

‘If I do what you’re asking, what will happen to me?’