Ahab had planned to get Forest back to the Mermaid’s Darling for lunch, to get him somewhere quiet so he could finally get the answers the boy had promised him in return for the dive . . . But Forest looked so happy and peaceful, laughing at Zeus’s antics, even chatting with strangers.

And did Ahab really want to throw himself back into that world right away? The world where Chips could be murdered in front of his eyes, and all of this, the marina and the tourists, was threatened by the Dread Pirate Blackbeard?

It could all wait half an hour longer.

‘Want an ice-cream?’ said Ahab gruffly.

Forest beamed.

Man, boy and dog walked along the sand, heading back to the inn. Ice-cream dripped down Ahab’s hand; Forest had nearly finished his already. Zeus was off his leash, although it got him no closer to the seagulls he was chasing.

When they got to the path leading up from the beach, towards the Mermaid’s Darling, Forest hesitated, then stopped.

‘I wanted to say thank you,’ he said.

‘That’s okay,’ said Ahab. ‘It was my pleasure —’

‘Not the ice-cream. I mean taking me diving.’

‘I knew what you meant,’ said Ahab.

Forest smiled weakly, his mind seemingly elsewhere.

‘Listen, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say . . . is it right that Aunty Miriam could talk to shells?’

Ahab went still – he didn’t like talking about his mother. ‘Yes, she thought she could —’

‘Well . . . so can I . . . can I show you?’

‘That’s not funny, boy,’ said Ahab.

‘I know it’s not funny,’ said Forest. ‘Do you want to see me do it or not?’

‘No,’ said Ahab, ‘I don’t.’ He continued walking, knowing his tone had shifted. Forest had flinched as though struck.

Forest caught up to him. ‘I really can talk to shells, you know,’ he muttered.

‘Let’s get back to the inn,’ said Ahab. ‘You owe me some truths.’

‘Alright,’ said Forest, now matching Ahab’s tone. ‘But I’m still hungry.’

Talking to shells . . .

Ahab pushed the emotions down. ‘I’ll get you some food,’ he said. ‘And some for Zeus, too.’

He’d set Forest up at a corner table of the inn’s restaurant.

‘Order anything you’d like, but I’d recommend the seafood chowder. Best in Tasmania. We have the award to prove it.’

Zeus was tied up outside, by the kitchen door, where one of the staff had given him some offcuts and a bone.

Ahab walked around the pub, greeting the regulars in the lunchtime crowd, pouring a few beers. He kept an eye on Forest at the other end of the room, but gave him space while his food was prepared.

Forest, who had clearly been expecting Ahab to sit down to interrogate him immediately, frowned.

Ahab’s mind was still on what the boy had said down on the beach. The same thing he’d said in the ambulance.