‘I know,’ he said gently, handing her a bottle of cold water. ‘I know.’

When she had gone, he thought: This is not my story. I have no place here. This is something that happened to the woman I love, a long time ago.

Nikki and Fleur needed to be left alone to come to terms with this; Jack was sure of it.

When James Mohktar returned that evening and sat with Jack out on the balcony while the two women showered, Jack felt he could voice his thoughts. Mohktar smiled his priest’s smile and said, ‘It is hard, I think. You are torn. Your woman is having a child. But maybe Miss Montrose and Mrs Campbell need to be alone together to talk over their lives at that time, lah?’

Jack was unsure whether Mohktar was talking as a policeman, hoping they might remember something vital if they concentrated, or if he was being an astute judge of character.

‘I will make sure they are taken care of. We do have good doctors here you know. It is a tourist area, so English is spoken.’

‘Oh, I’m sure,’ Jack said hastily.

‘You must decide. But if you wish, I could find out what flights there are out of Kuala Lumpur to Auckland?’

‘Could you? That would be great.’

Fleur and Nikki came out of their rooms looking rested and cool. Jack’s heart missed a beat. Nikki looked so young and pretty and he thought, It is as if our future hangs in the balance; as if I know somewhere inside me that she might never return to the life we have together; that this terrible thing that happened so long ago might erupt once more and destroy us.

Mohktar, watching him, said very quietly, reaching out to touch Jack’s arm, ‘Your woman is having your child. Neither distance nor the past can change this fact. Inshallah. God willing.’

And the strange policeman moved from the veranda into the room where the two women waited anxiously for whatever he had to report.

TWENTY-THREE

Jack flew to Auckland from Kuala Lumpur twenty-four hours later. He felt guilty relief not to be sitting on his butt doing nothing, but going home where he could be of some use. Driving through KL brought back memories of student days. He realised how caged and restless he had felt in the small rest house with two grieving women, but he left Nikki with a heavy heart.

After Jack had driven off in the hire car the wooden house seemed still and empty. I felt a surge of loss for the largeness of his presence. But if I couldn’t sleep I could roam the house at night without alarming him, and I felt my limbs begin to relax at the thought of time alone trying to understand how I felt about everything.

Fleur and I were suddenly awkward with each other. Jack had acted as a buffer without either of us being conscious of it. The heightened emotions of Fleur’s disappearance and the relief at finding her safe were slipping away from me. I felt the old vague irritation creeping back, the childhood suspicion that she might be playing a role. It was the unpleasant side of me that I would have hated anyone to suspect I had, especially Jack.