‘DON’T YOU FUCKING MENTION HIM!’ Tim screams the words and James flinches but manages to keep his balance. Tim’s face has contorted into a sudden mask of rage, and as Matt sees the way his lips pull back over his teeth – as he takes in the now unmistakably yellow tint in Tim’s eyes – the main thing he feels isn’t disgust or pity or sadness. It’s relief.

‘You’re more like him than I suspected.’

Tim’s yellowing eye rolls around and finds Matt’s. For a second he stares at Matt in defiant anger, but then he drops his gaze to the ground and his face creases up. He closes his eyes and starts to cry. This time Matt thinks the tears are genuine.

‘That boy who disappeared last year on Rutmoor was 13, Tim. He was the same age as us.’ Now Matt feels like he might cry. He bites his lip to hold the tears back. ‘And he wasn’t the only one, was he? In Southampton… those twin girls…’

Tim’s face is red and his eyes are screwed up. His mouth is wide open as he sobs silently into the ground, lines of spit falling from his mouth to mix with the dirt. His whole body shakes.

‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ He repeats the words again and again, like a mantra.

Snot runs from his nose. Tears slip from his closed eyes and trickle down his cheeks into his open mouth.

Matt stares at him for a second or two longer, then bites his lip again. He gets to his feet.

‘Not as sorry as I am.’

Matt takes two steps forward and jumps down into the river. His feet sink into its soft bed and the freezing water comes up to his thighs. Then he turns and grabs Tim. He takes Tim’s flailing arm in one hand and the hood of his coat in the other and nods to James, who stands up and grabs Tim’s other arm.

‘NO!’ Tim screams. The sound is high-pitched and deafening. ‘NO, NO!’

James jumps down into the river with Matt and they yank Tim forward. He spills over the bank and lands on his belly in the water, kicking and writhing. He comes up, spluttering, and as Matt tightens his grip on the back of his hood Tim manages to twist his head and find Matt’s eyes with his own.

‘Wait, wait!’