Sebastian shook his head. “I once sold a bottle of air to this guy for a hundred thousand pound, convinced him it was full of this deadly gas, and another, a vial of pink liquid, told him it was so unstable, a single drop in water could make a nuclear explosion. I even had a gun that could vanish in thin air after a shooting, I called it the ghost gun. I’m a con man, and I conned assholes, the lowest of the low.”

“How?”

“I was clever about it, I spent money, set up small experiments, faked video footage. Had meetings, I wined, and dined, and looked legit. I pushed people’s buttons, found out their weaknesses, their desires, convinced them I had the answer to all their problems.” Sebastian pointed at the pier. “The skills I learned here only got better. I seduce, I manipulate, I convince, I play people, and I did it to you.”

Rory shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“I knew you were a police officer the second I saw you. Some young, attractive guy who thought he could con me, seduce me, manipulate me for Hamish and at first I was angry, and I wanted you gone.”

Rory’s side prickled, and his breath caught in his chest. “You stabbed me.”

“I wanted to scare you, hurt you, make sure you left, and I didn’t know whether you were suicidal, or just stupid, but you came back. So I thought I’d have fun with you, mess you about, and mess with Hamish’s head in the process, but the lines started to blur. I stopped pretending to like you and did like you. I stopped pretending to want you and did.”

Rory heard pebbles crunching behind him, someone walking up the beach. Sebastian was looking at them and shot them a sad smile.

“How did you know about me?” Rory whispered.

Sebastian gestured to the person. “Rory the Rat, meet Morris the Mole.”

Rory turned, linked eyes with Morris, then leapt off the bench. Sebastian caught him around the middle, pinned his arms to his sides, and hauled him back.

“Sorry, I’m fifteen minutes early…”

Sebastian snorted. “As long as you’re here.”

“Let go of me!”

“Wait, okay, hear us out.”

Morris stopped by the bench, and twisted her face in an uncomfortable frown. “Hi, Rory.”

“Who are you? Are you even a police officer?” he blurted, struggling with Sebastian.

“Yes, have been for twenty years, but I don’t say no to some extra money.”

Sebastian hushed in his ear. “Calm down, okay. Morris and I are friends, she used to warn me when the police were looking into me, getting too close. She told me about Lester, but I didn’t believe her. I didn’t believe that he’d do that, but then I saw him in William Hamish’s car.”