Ahab slammed the door shut. Forest scurried after him, dragging Zeus on his leash. Ahab had found them a headtorch each, and they flicked them on as they headed down the path to the boulders.

‘If there aren’t any bones down there —’ began Ahab.

‘There are,’ said Forest. ‘Keep your voice down. Have some respect for the dead.’

They walked along a path through the scrub, insects buzzing around their headtorches, before the track opened out onto the boulder fields and the renewed sound of waves. Clouds covered the sky, bringing darkness save for the small twin circles of light offered by their torches.

Across the angular planes of the fallen stones they went, Ahab crawling on all fours when it was too steep, cursing the lack of visibility, stopping once to have a cigarette. The boy was more limber than him, scampering ahead and waiting for him to catch up, but the dog was ill-suited to rock climbing and Forest demonstrated remarkable patience when coaxing him along, finding passageways the dog could wend through when the path was too steep. Ahab took his time, his shoes now wet from stepping in a rockpool. He wasn’t surprised the tide reached all the way up here – these fallen rocks created all sorts of channels for water.

He stopped for another cigarette.

‘Can I trust you, Ahab?’ said Forest from atop a boulder Ahab was yet to scale. Zeus had slipped through a tunnel and made it to the other side already, barking for his master. ‘Before I tell you what really happened . . .’

‘What are you playing at, boy?’

‘You want to know why I’m here, don’t you? You think I’m just after the money. I’ll give you a clue . . .’

He disappeared down the other side.

Grumbling, Ahab climbed up after him.

Forest was waiting for him at the foot of a nearby tree. He rested his hand on a stone that appeared to make the crossbeam of an arch. He took a deep breath of salty air. ‘The truth is in the story everyone believes about what happened to Jesse, Alexandra and Forest.’

‘No one knows what really happened,’ said Ahab.

‘But who do they blame?’

‘Jonah Donnager.’

‘Good. Remember that name. We have to go inside here,’ said Forest, crouched, his forearm resting on the mouth of what Ahab now saw was a cave. ‘You’re sure it’s low tide?’

Ahab nodded, gesturing for Forest to continue.

Forest pulled Zeus’s leash from his pocket and tied the dog to the roots of the tree. ‘It’s alright, boy, I’m not taking you inside.’ He pressed his face into the dog’s fur and rubbed his ears, then faced the mouth of the cave again. He took another deep breath, steeling himself, then walked inside.