‘Northern gannets. Morus bassanus,’ List said. ‘They have a colony on Les Etacs. That little rock, over there. Here is too noisy for them, with all the booming and the banging. Nobody fishes the water now, so food is plentiful, and that rock is safe.’ He turned to Joe. ‘There are benefits to war. We Germans love nature.’

There was life, in all of this, life.

‘I like birds,’ List went on. ‘There are not so many in Alderney. We have disturbed their habitats. But Jersey now, there’s a place for birds. Sea birds, especially. Puffins. Do you know about puffins?’

Joe said nothing.

‘Answer me,’ List said.

‘They’re a comical little bird.’ His teeth were clenched, and Joe spat the words. ‘That’s for sure.’

‘My girlfriend and I watch them all the time,’ List said. ‘Trude thinks they have a face like a clown. Would you agree?’

Trude. Joe heard no more. Trude was dead. Could this be a different Trude? It was a common name, surely, like Mary, or Joan.

‘It’s a small world,’ List said. ‘She’s a nurse, you know.’

This man spoke of her as if she was alive, when he had killed her. Mocking her memory. He wanted to fly at List, strangle him so his eyes bulged from their sockets and his voice snapped in two.

‘You murdered her.’ He didn’t watch his language. He had nothing to lose. ‘Before my eyes.’

‘You saw her die?’ List said, calm as a glider.

That pistol crack, that thump as she fell. He’d heard for sure. They’d murdered her, her face too frightened to look up at Joe. He hadn’t saved her. Couldn’t save her. But no, he hadn’t seen her die, except in his mind’s eye.

‘It was a game.’ List was laughing. ‘For our amusement.’

‘Game?’ Joe’s voice broke like a boy’s. He couldn’t think. What kind of game was that? Trude? He loved her, thought she loved him. He would have told her he loved her, would have asked her, Do you love me? had they had more time. Had it all been a game with her? Was he her plaything? Had she toyed with him? He gave up everything for her. Would have married her.

‘Would you like to look through my binoculars?’

Joe shook his head.

‘Report to the kitchen when you’ve done this,’ List said.