Tryste makes no reply. Instead, he turns to his wife.

‘Are they in the bag?’ he asks. Helena shakes her head.

He turns to Karen and holds out his hand.

‘Give me your coat.’

She hesitates briefly. Stares at him until she realises there’s no point resisting. Then she slowly takes off her coat and hands it to Tryste who quickly digs through the pockets. Her car keys catch the light from the candelabra when he triumphantly holds them up. Karen turns back toward the door. Confused, she tries to catch Helena’s eye. But she keeps her head bowed, her dark hair hiding her face.

And then, the penny drops.

Chapter 74

74

When the door closes behind the Trystes, Karen’s knees nearly buckle. Maintaining a conversation with William Tryste while her mind reeled with thoughts of what he’s going to do to her had taken extreme effort and now she can finally relax. The release of tension is so intense it makes her whole body shake. She grabs hold of a chair arm and stands still, breathing deeply.

She had been convinced they were going to take her with them. Drive her somewhere, kill her there and then dump her body in the sea, she’d figured. It had given her a sliver of hope; taking her out of here would have introduced an element of risk for Tryste. Someone might have seen, someone might have heard. I’ll find a way to escape, she’d told herself. All I need is for him to be distracted for a second and I’ll be gone.

And then that other thought. That he might succeed. That these might be her last moments.

Sooner or later, the tracks will lead them here, she’d thought to herself. Enough people knew where I was going. I did tell Loots and Byle I was going to talk to Tryste, didn’t I? And Karl, too, right? They won’t make here it in time to save me, but eventually, someone’s going to look for me here. He won’t get away with it; sooner or later, they’re going to figure out what he’s done.

The moment she saw Helena Tryste in the doorway, she’d realised she’d been mistaken.

No one’s going to look for me here, she thinks and feels her relief at being alone slowly morph into panic. When they talk to Tryste, which they will, he’s going to say I was here for a little while and then I left. He’s going to mention that I said something about the ferry, he might even name a specific departure.

Karen looks at her watch and in her mind she can hear William Tryste’s voice, ‘I think she said she was going to try to make the seven-thirty ferry.’