‘I hope our time together wasn’t too much of a disappointment, Elliot, and that you’ll forgive my failings. I only ever wanted the best for you.

‘I was there for your birth. I wasn’t allowed in theatre, but I was waiting in the corridor for news from your father. I almost burst with joy when he came out and told me everything was OK. I held you soon after you were brought up to the ward, and I’m not ashamed to say I cried. David and Beth were perplexed, but they humoured me. They couldn’t understand what I was feeling. Our connection coursed through me, it made my soul shiver and I knew the moment I saw you that we had great things to achieve together. You were so tiny and perfect and I marvelled at the miracle of life and the magic of the universe bringing us together.

‘I’ve known you your whole life. Every step, every word, every fall, every tear, every smile, I feel it all so deeply. And your parents could see that love, which is why they asked me to be your guardian in the event anything happened to them. How could I say no?

‘I remember the day we went to their lawyer’s office. It was a sombre occasion. They joined the lawyer in cracking jokes and making light of the need for such preparations. They were young and healthy and your mother was so strong as you squirmed in her arms.

‘I was the only one who wasn’t smiling and joking. I was the only one wrapped in a cloud.

‘Because I knew what had to happen.

‘Beth was diagnosed when you were seven. They tried to keep it from you to begin with, but eventually she became too sick, and it became too much to hide, so you finally knew what I’d known sitting in that lawyer’s office all those years ago: she was fated to die.’

Chapter 45

Readers, Ben has his version of what happened, but it’s tainted by his role in events. I’m Beth’s husband and Elliot’s father, and I think it important you hear the truth from me.

Is it the whole truth?

What does that even mean?

Can truth be broken into fragments and parcelled out to create nuggets of belief? If parts of the truth are torn off, does it become a lie? How badly does it have to be dismembered before it is sufficiently disfigured for the transformation to take place?

We’ll leave Elliot and Harri listening to Ben in the cave. He talks to Harri about the walk they took along the ridge, and the night he saw her at the mosque, and tells her and Elliot the story I’m about to tell you. I will give you my version of events. Since I am the author of this book and believe readers deserve completeness, I will endeavour to make it the whole truth or as close to completeness as is humanly possible. Any disfigurement will be an oversight. It is not my intention to mislead, even if the truth makes you think less of me. I hope it won’t, but I suspect that at least some of you will hate me for what I’ve done.