Contents
35. Carter
Overview
Ordered by DCI Bird to walk her dog, Carter takes Sunday to Blackwater Bay, where the dog is swept out. A mysterious figure whistles Bird’s command and the dog returns, then the figure flees and vanishes in the dunes. Carter believes the man looked like Harrison Woolf, raising new suspicions.
Summary
DCI Bird dismissively assigns Carter to walk her husky, Sunday, while she works. Irritated but compliant, Carter takes Sunday along the coast path to Blackwater Bay, noting the off-season emptiness and his own need for air.
As weather worsens, Carter realizes Sunday is missing and spots the dog struggling far out in the surf. Unable to whistle like Bird, Carter prepares to enter the sea, fearing the consequences if the dog drowns.
Suddenly, a clear two-note whistle—identical to Bird’s signal—sounds across the bay. Sunday immediately returns to shore, acting as if it were a game. Carter, alone on the beach, searches for the source and notices a black-clad figure on the far side.
When Carter approaches, the figure runs. Carter gives chase across sand, dunes, and rocks, closing the distance with his speed. But the runner disappears amid the dunes and cliffs, leaving no trace, as if swallowed by the landscape.
Breathless and unsettled, Carter concludes the figure looked like Harrison Woolf. The encounter suggests an unseen watcher who can command Bird’s dog and hints that Harrison may be alive, nearby, or covertly involved.
Who Appears
- Sgt CarterNarrator; tasked by Bird to walk Sunday, chases a mysterious figure he believes is Harrison.
- SundayBird’s husky; swept out to sea, returns instantly to a two-note whistle from a hidden figure.
- DCI Bird (Birdy)Carter’s superior; assigns him to walk Sunday and demonstrates the whistle command earlier.
- Harrison WoolfPossibly sighted; a black-clad figure who whistles Sunday back, flees, and vanishes in the dunes.