She examines it more closely, scrutinising the photo for clues. Is it him? It looks exactly like Rob. He’s wearing a floral shirt, shorts and espadrilles and seems drunk, almost leering at the camera. Then she notices a watch on the left wrist. Rob is left-handed. Maybe the picture was printed incorrectly, as a mirror image. He wears his watch on the right, doesn’t he?

61

Jake

Jake pushes back his chair, staring at the screen as he calls Bex on his mobile. Her computer is behaving strangely. First, the camera came on unprompted yesterday, and then it woke up without any reason when Kate was here today. He’s checked the settings and it hasn’t been programmed to sleep or wake at certain times. And now the screen cursor seems to move occasionally by itself. It might just be a hardware fault, but it’s making him jumpy.

‘Technical support here,’ he says. ‘Have you been experiencing any problems with your computer recently?’

‘How was Kate?’ Bex says, ignoring his attempt at humour.

Kate’s obviously told Bex about her flying visit to the village and Bex obviously doesn’t approve.

‘Fine,’ he says. ‘I put her back on the train.’

‘How did you find her?’ Bex is sounding like she always used to when she talked to him – dismissive, short. It’s as if their recent conversations about Kate never happened.

‘It was good to catch up,’ he says, not sure where the conversation is heading. ‘We talked some more about Capgras.’

‘And?’

‘I think she found it reassuring – she’s going to talk to Dr Varma about it.’

Bex doesn’t reply.

‘She also told me about the body on the beach,’ Jake continues. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Nothing personal, but I can’t believe she jumped off the train like that,’ Bex says, choosing not to pick up on his mention of the dead body. ‘She was so focused on getting to London. Being with Rob.’

‘She wanted to see the boat,’ Jake says defensively. ‘How are things down there now?’

‘The dog’s doing my head in, but otherwise fine, thanks.’ She pauses. ‘Actually, not great. I can’t get the image of the dead man out of my mind. And because I was one of the first to see the body, everyone wants to talk to me about it.’

‘Better out than in,’ Jake says, struggling to find the right words. ‘Talking about it, I mean.’

‘I’ve been thinking,’ Bex says. ‘I might come back up to the village – I need to get away from here, the beach.’

‘Tonight?’

Jake glances back into Bex’s kitchen. He will need to tidy up, find somewhere else to stay.

‘In Rob’s car,’ she continues. ‘He said I can use it. I’ll bring the dog too.’

‘Do you want me to move out?’ he asks.

He’s become quite settled in Bex’s house.