“Sorry, I . . . I thought I heard something.” The Manse breathes in its own way. And if anything, the wind and the rain outside are increasing in intensity. I turn back to the letter. Underneath the logo, in smaller font, is written:

MEDICAL DNA TESTING AND LEGAL BIOMEDICAL TESTING

“What is this?” Once again I have the feeling that I’m missing something, something I should have seen.

“Read it.” I’m trying to scan it, but I’m only getting snatched phrases. Close relationship DNA testing. Combined Relationship Index. “It says what I always thought. Read it,” he says, grinning, but he doesn’t give me any time to do that; he can’t help himself. “It says we’re siblings.”

“What?” He’s grinning and nodding. I look back at the letter.

Tested relationship: half sibling. Conclusion: The DNA from the samples labeled as James Calder and Ailsa Calder support the biological relationship. This means that the individuals from whom the samples were obtained are highly likely to have the relationship which was tested.

“How did you get my DNA?” I ask him shakily. James Calder and Ailsa Calder. Since when was Jamie a Calder?

“Hair.” He’s still grinning. “From your hairbrush.”

“You took my . . .” He took my DNA without my permission. Expressly against my wishes, in fact. “But Jamie . . .” When he asked, he said he was asking for Fiona. But now I think he was twisting the truth, asking for himself. What else was he twisting? “But . . . but this can’t be right.” My voice is not my own. It can’t find a definite pitch. “How could this be right?” What has he done? Who is he?

“I always felt it,” he says, an odd mixture of earnestness and something approaching intoxicated elation. “Surely you felt it too, when you met me? The connection between us? I always kent I couldnae be anything to do with Glen or that nutjob everybody thinks is my half sister.” He looks across at me, his eyes gleaming. He’s almost bouncing with the frenzy of it all. “Our father would be so happy, aye? You and me, together in the Manse? I used to think that it was so unfair, that this place would be yours. But I was missing the point. It can be ours. You and me together here. Can you just imagine it?”

“Jamie . . . I . . .” I look at his eyes, and everything I thought I knew, every iota of trust that I thought we had between us drops away, and I am suddenly, paralyzingly, scared. He’s not the biggest of men, but he’s a lot bigger than me. I start to reach for my phone, which is on the table, but he reaches out and grabs it first.