The Survivors(36)

When the word spread – and it had, fast – that the Nautilus Black had rolled, Verity and Brian Elliott were among the first to reach the cliffs. They had braced themselves against the wind, their hands pressed to their mouths and wet hair plastered to their skulls as water streamed down their faces. They had watched the boat rocking upside down in the waves and even while being treated by a first responder, Kieran could hear the pulse of their silent incantation. Please, please, please.

The minutes ticked on. Finn did not emerge from under the vessel.

Eventually, Verity had covered her eyes. Brian had seemed unable to look away as the rescue operation led by Julian Wallis fought its way through the swells and was almost immediately abandoned when they saw the conditions. It was already too late for this to end well, but down in the water Julian would have been able to see the desperate observers up on the cliffs. Brian and Verity, still clinging to a hope they both knew had long passed. Toby’s parents, Kevin and Anne, who had raced over from their place on the other side of town. Their other son, Sean, was there too, as was Toby’s wife, Sarah. They all stood beside each other in numb disbelief. Toby’s head wound was washed grotesquely clean and the high-visibility strips on his life jacket kept him in their sight the whole time as he floated facedown in the waves. In the end, both men’s bodies were recovered, as was the boat, and that was more than anyone could reasonably have asked for.

In the days following Gabby’s disappearance, Kieran guessed that Sergeant Mallott and Constable Renn had considered the dual fatality at the caves and decided not to push Brian Elliott too hard when they inquired about the last known sighting of the girl. Because wherever Gabby was just over an hour after she was last seen on the beach, it was not with Kieran’s father as he stood on the clifftop with a dozen fellow townspeople and watched his eldest son drown.

Kieran was still thinking about that when he and Verity entered the Surf and Turf that evening. He and Mia had spent a long afternoon clearing out the hall cupboards, while Verity had tried to distract Brian from helping.

‘Brian. Sit. I am begging you,’ Kieran had heard her snap from the living room as she turned up the volume on the TV.

The Surf and Turf was quiet as Kieran pushed open the door. He could see no sign of Julian, either front of house or in the kitchen, but Lyn the waitress greeted them with a nod. She finished clearing a tray then threaded her way through the mostly empty tables, wearing the same orange uniform and faint aura of cigarette smoke as she had that morning.

‘No baby with you?’ She looked disappointed at Kieran’s empty arms and he shook his head.

‘We weren’t sure you’d be open,’ Verity said to Lyn as she wrote down their takeaway order.

‘Julian didn’t want to, but I suppose he felt he should.’ Lyn nodded to a couple of tables filled with a handful of police officers, including one or two Kieran thought he recognised from Fisherman’s Cottage earlier. They looked subdued as they ate. Sergeant Renn sat at the end of one of the tables, sipping coffee and talking to the officer next to him. Detective Inspector Pendlebury was not with them.

A third table by the window was occupied by two other men. Kieran would have recognised the better looking of the pair even without the hint of makeup and the impractical suit that was already damp and sandy around the ankle cuffs. The reporter had been appearing on the local TV news since his hair had been that dark naturally. He was flicking through his phone. Across the table a cameraman, more comfortable in flannel and denim, yawned and checked his watch. Killing time before the 10 pm live cross, Kieran guessed.

‘They were interviewing Janice Manning outside the supermarket earlier,’ Lyn said. ‘I don’t know what they think she can tell them about anything, she’s only been here since the late nineties. Anyway –’ She punched their order in. ‘This’ll be as quick as we can. They’re short-handed in the kitchen obviously, and I’m on my own out here.’ She glanced at the door. Outside, the road was dark. ‘Julian asked me to cover. The two girls who were rostered on tonight refused to come in.’

‘Is that right?’ said Verity. ‘You didn’t mind, though?’

Lyn shrugged. She avoided looking at the kitchen where Liam usually worked.

‘Got my bills to pay, like everyone else. And look, I’m not saying a word –’ She took a deep breath and licked her lips. ‘But that boy is a piece of work. Just because his stepdad owns this place, he swans around here, thinks he can get away with mur–’ She stopped herself in the nick of time. ‘– with anything. You should hear the way he speaks to me sometimes. And Julian does nothing. Spoils him, gives him chance after chance. And Liam was all over Bronte, even when she told him she wasn’t interested.’

‘Did she?’ Kieran said. ‘You heard her say that?’

‘Not directly, but I know she would’ve. A girl like her wouldn’t be interested in Liam. She had a boyfriend for a while anyway, foreign bloke, but still. Liam didn’t like that, I can tell you.’ Her eyes slid to the few occupied tables. ‘I told the police that, as well.’

Verity frowned. ‘It feels like you might be making a bit of a leap, Lyn.’

‘Sometimes you just know, though, don’t you?’ Lyn sucked on the end of her ballpoint pen like it was a cigarette. ‘Can feel it in your gut. You know what my first thought was this morning, when we heard it was him?’ She paused for effect, drawing out the moment until Kieran and Verity both shook their heads. ‘I thought to myself: “Yeah. That’d be right.”’