Contents
Johnno — Chapter 66
Overview
Johnno is discovered over Will’s body, pulling a knife from Will’s chest, and is arrested by the Gardaí. He denies killing Will, citing drug-induced haziness and not being in the tent. Wracked by guilt over the schoolboy’s death, he accepts blame for the past but insists someone else murdered Will.
Summary
Johnno narrates the immediate aftermath of Will’s stabbing. He describes coming down from a pill given by Peter Ramsay as the lights failed, finding Will in the dark with a knife buried in his chest. Overcome, Johnno hugged Will and, in panic, pulled the knife out, worsening the bleeding.
Femi, Angus, and Duncan confront Johnno with torches, treating him like a threat and demanding he drop the knife. Unable to explain over the noise and shock, Johnno is restrained until the Gardaí arrive and place him under arrest for Will’s murder.
Johnno admits he once considered killing Will in the sea cave but insists he did not do it. He argues he wasn’t in the tent to take the knife and blames his hazy memory on the drug. He rejects the label of murderer for Will’s death, even as he confesses his complicity in the fatal school hazing of the Loner.
Haunted by visions and guilt, Johnno concludes he has been imprisoned by that past since the tide rolled in on the hazing day. Accepting that justice may be coming for the old crime, he still asserts that someone else killed Will.
Who Appears
- JohnnoBest man; finds Will stabbed, pulls out the knife, is arrested; denies killing Will and recalls drug haze.
- WillGroom; found with a knife deeply embedded in his chest, dies from the wound.
- FemiUsher; confronts and restrains Johnno at the crime scene with a torch.
- AngusUsher; helps surround and hold Johnno until authorities arrive.
- DuncanUsher; joins Femi and Angus in disarming and restraining Johnno.
- Peter RamsayGuest; supplied Johnno a pill, contributing to Johnno’s hazy recollection.
- GardaíPolice; arrive by boat, cuff Johnno, and arrest him for Will’s murder.