I call in on Grace who is now fully awake and seems refreshed. We sit outside together on the walkway and have yet another cup of tea.

‘Did you find her, then?’ Grace asks.

‘No, I think she’s another girl who has up and left me for a better life.’

‘Ah well, never mind, plenty more chairs in the library. She was a lovely girl, though.’

‘Thanks, Grace, that really helps, but she wasn’t as nice as you might think. She had a way of drawing you in, but it was for her own ends – nothing to do with affection or love or anything.’

‘Bit like you then, Gary.’

‘I suppose. Fair point. But I do want to confirm that I am sad about my loss and expect you to treat me like a prince in the coming weeks.’

‘I always do.’

‘Are you all ready for your operation tomorrow?’

‘I’ve cancelled it.’

‘Oh fucking hell, Grace, what did you do that for?’

‘I’m not ready for it just yet. I got scared, scared that I wouldn’t wake up, scared that it wouldn’t work and I would be in pain for the rest of my life. I mean, I do all right as I am and we’ve got a pretty good thing going looking after each other, don’t you think?’

‘Well, yeah, I do most of the heavy lifting, but I reckon you’re right.’

‘Can I ask you, Gary, when you first met me, did you want me to like you?’

‘Definitely not. I thought you were a grumpy old bag.’

‘There you go, then. Maybe that’s a lesson to be learned for you.’

Back in my flat, I lie on my bed and try to think through my plan for handing over the dongle and returning the gun.

The only downside to handing over the dongle is the obvious one that McCoy and Peterson and their cohorts will remain free to operate. For better or worse, I have already decided that is not my primary concern. Truth is, even if I handed it over to the authorities, that would still be a million miles from actually nailing them, and what would the consequences be for me? There has to be a chance that I would suffer the same fate as Brendan. I am going to give them the dongle. It hurts me slightly that Emily will never suffer any consequences, but it’s time to let that lady lie.