There, beyond the high wrought-iron fence, on the other side of Turl Street, was a face he hadn’t seen for years, and the time that had passed wasn’t enough. Standing across from him was the man he’d once loved, but over the years had come to hate.

The man whose face he had almost forgotten: Benjamin Elmys.

Chapter 35

‘Elliot?’ Jessica said. ‘Are you OK?’

Her concern was evident, and she tried to pull him towards the door in the corner of the churchyard, but Elliot was transfixed.

Not tonight of all nights. Had it been eleven years already? How dare this man come back into his life? Ben was watching them from the mouth of the alleyway that ran between the old Mitre building and the parade of shops that lined the west of Turl Street. He looked as though he was enjoying the dismay his reappearance had caused.

Elliot had never visited him, nor opened a single one of the weekly letters he’d written. Instead, he’d spent years in therapy trying to come to terms with the wreckage of Benjamin Elmys. This man might have murdered his parents, and as he’d matured from child into man, Elliot had promised himself he would find the truth one day. He felt years of suppressed anger rise within him, and realized today might be that day.

‘Elliot?’ Jessica asked again.

‘Why don’t you go to your room? I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. There’s something I have to do,’ he replied, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

She looked completely baffled, but he didn’t know how to explain it. The loss of his parents hung over him every day, their ungiven love, their unlived lives haunting him. He still wore his mother’s necklace, a circular silver pendant with an embossed relief of a half-moon and a cluster of stars above the word ‘Beth’. When all other memory was faded, he would always recall the feeling of his father’s embrace the night he’d given it to him. If this was an opportunity to avenge his parents, he would not pass it up. He ran along the path towards the fence, and when he glanced over his shoulder, Jessica was watching him in total bemusement.

His mind wasn’t on her any more. He was fixed on Benjamin Elmys, the man who’d once held himself out as some kind of surrogate father, the man who’d filled Elliot’s head with mad imaginings. Ben simply stared at him, and there was something about the impassive gaze that made Elliot hate him even more. As he clambered over the fence, Elliot saw Ben Elmys turn and head into the alley.

‘Hey!’ he yelled. ‘Stop!’

Elliot dropped onto the road. He sprinted down the alley and went through a patch of total darkness before emerging into a service area that contained a few bins. The foul-smelling space was a dead end apart from a fire door that led to one of the neighbouring pubs. Elliot tried the door, but it was locked. He kicked it in frustration. Ben must have had his escape route planned. His intention was clear. All he’d wanted to do was show up and give Elliot a sinister message: I’m back in your life.