“I had plans for you,” said Siri.

“Really?”

“You were a bit too old to adopt but I could see you making a name for yourself in Vientiane.”

“Why me?”

“I asked around about you, Beer. You’re kind. You help people. You don’t—usually—accept any work that’s illegal or harmful. You’re smart. In fact, as far as I could see, the only really stupid decision you’ve ever made was siding with Yuki-san.”

“Well, that’s the truth,” said Beer, accepting another sip of whisky.

“What went wrong?” Siri asked.

Beer smiled and looked back at the moon.

“You know those angels and devils that sit on your shoulder and push you this way and that?” he said.

“I’ve had a few.”

“Well, I had just the one. He looked exactly like me and he was always beside me with his arm over my shoulder. Every time I was just about to do something foolish he’d give me a squeeze and raise his eyebrows. He was always making those important decisions for me. Censoring me. Pushing me in the direction of righteousness.”

“So where was he when Yuki-san came along?” Siri asked.

“That’s just it, Doctor,” said Beer. “Suddenly he wasn’t there anymore. I was lost. The Japanese offered me a fortune to accompany you and Madam Daeng, to report back everything you said, to translate the recordings, to bring you to the village where I was afraid in my heart you’d be killed. I honestly believed the villagers weren’t in any danger. He assured me they’d all be released. I knew it was wrong. I was waiting for my shoulder angel to make me see sense but the emptiness overwhelmed me. I panicked.”

“Do you remember when Yuki-san first approached you?” Siri asked.

“It was only a few weeks ago,” said Beer. “He’d heard I accepted odd jobs. He came to see me and made his offer. The other me would have said no.”

“And the other you’s still not around?”

“I’m more lost than ever.”

Siri took the glass and looked into the milky liquid.

“I’ve met him,” he said.

“Who?”

“The other you.”

“No, I think he’s just mine. I have an exclusive.”

“Son, you once told Madam Daeng that in your dream you live in a big house with servants.”

“It’s a dream that recurs to torment me.”

“But it’s not a dream, is it? I believe that at one stage you did live in such a house.”

Beer looked into the doctor’s brilliant green eyes, which sparkled in the firelight.

“How could you . . . ?”