Creeping closer, her hands in the air, she says, ‘It’s not Nevis you want, Christopher. It’s me.’

He beckons her over. ‘Let’s talk awhile.’

She is a few metres away now, close enough to be able to see their faces, blue in the moonlight. Mulholland looks odd and crazed, the whites of his eyes like those of an animal caught in a snare; raging, unpredictable and with nothing left to lose. Nevis is beside him, hands held out unsteadily in front of her, her body stiff and angled away. She swallows hard and gasps a little. But she is not crying and there is something about the way she is holding herself, tensed and poised for action, which suggests to Honor that hope hasn’t left her.

‘You killed your mother, Christopher. I overheard the police radio. As weird as it might sound, I get it.’ He frowns and shakes his head. Still she presses on. ‘I used to feel for you, in the early days, when you first arrived at St Olaf’s, so much younger than the rest of us and so uncertain of yourself, so much in her shadow, living her dream. I know she gave you an alibi, that night after the Maths Society party and I know that because of that you would never be free of her, never become your own person. If that were me, I think I’d have wanted to kill her too. But Tash? What could Tash have possibly done to have deserved to die?’

‘She got in my way. She was a tittle-tattler.’ He cocks his head towards Nevis. ‘Just like your friend in the hospital. She didn’t understand that is the line you cannot cross. I gave her plenty of warnings but she always knew better. Natasha had a good death. A great deal of Valium and a little push to send her on her way. She had no idea what was coming. As for the other one, Jessica, I had absolutely nothing to do with that. She did the job for me. But I would have done, believe me. These women, girls, happily sold themselves for better grades. Why should I think anything of them when they thought so little of themselves? Listen, a man who can kill his mother can kill anyone. Anyone.’

‘Let Nevis go. You don’t hate her. You hate me.’

‘That’s plenty.’

‘You told me once that you loved Zoe, do you remember?’

At the mention of Zoe’s name he gives a start as though all this time he has been in some kind of dream that he is only just waking from.

Nevis’s eyes flare and she begins to tremble.