"Aye. She wis queen of the Loch even then, an' irritated as all hell by the blastin' goin' on along the western bank. As I watched, she snatched yer grandfaither in her terrible jowls an' tore him to pieces, feedin' upon his flesh.

"My uncle dragged me away, but I wis shocked an' scared an' went through a' that you went through when ye were bitten, the night terrors, the fear. There were nae heid doctors tae see back then, so I swallowed my anger an' swore revenge. But I'd a'ready taken the blood oath o' the Black Knights, an' Uncle Liam made me swear on my faither's soul that I'd no' forsake the Order. A Wallace aye keeps his word, an' I kept my word, even after the demon tasted ye seventeen years ago."

"And then Calum's wife was killed."

"She wisnae the first, but after she wis taken, I went tae Alban, demandin' we kill the creature. He refused, an' threatened tae kick me oot o' the Order if I ever went public."

"Which you did, during the trial."

"I had tae. No' for my ain sake, but because I kent things wid get worse. Somethin' wis wrong in Loch Ness, that wis obvious, we jist didnae ken whit it wis. An' once that monster tasted human flesh again, I kent it wid continue its attacks, jist like it had after it feasted upon my faither. Mysterious drownin's durin' winter an' its eighteen hours o' night are a lot easier tae keep fraem public scrutiny than attacks durin' oor tourist season."

"And Theresa?"

"She's a close friend, nothin' mair. Her an' Johnny were havin' problems. He got a bit violent wi' her earlier that day, an' she turned tae me for help. So I went tae see him at the construction site. We had words, an' ye ken the rest. "Course, I couldnae tell a' that in court, that widdae implicated Theresa, an' the poor lass's been through enough. So I claimed he owed me money, only Theresa sent me a payment after I'd been arrested."

"And I was your insurance policy, just in case the monster didn't reappear. You lied to me to get me here, then used me to prove Nessie really existed."

"A' that's true, but it's no' the real reason I brought ye hame." He looked away, facing the window. "God kens I've been a lousy faither tae ye, Zachary, but ye're still my son, an' I've missed ye terribly. An' I kent ye were sufferin' inside, too, jist like I had as a lad. After I received a call frae yer mum—"

"My mother called you?"

"Aye. Back in January. She telt me whit happened tae ye in the Sargasso Sea, an' everythin' yer psychiatrist had tae say aboot yer night terrors an' ye bein' feart o' the water, a' stemmin' frae whit happened back when ye was nine.