Contents
62. Carter
Overview
Carter regains consciousness in a secret tunnel beneath Spyglass, tended by DCI Bird. Bird confirms the tunnel leads to Blackwater Bay and explains Mary’s inheritance grudge as motive for infiltrating the family. Pressed for time, Bird recalls a childhood entrapment in the tunnels, kisses Carter for luck, and departs, leaving him to escape alone.
Summary
Sgt Carter awakens in darkness to DCI Bird’s voice and realizes he is in a tunnel beneath Spyglass. Dizzy and bleeding, he pieces together recent events and questions Bird about her authority and Harrison’s whereabouts.
Bird urges Carter to conserve his strength, confirming he was right about secret tunnels and that this passage reaches Blackwater Bay. She shifts focus to Mary, revealing Mary’s decades of underpaid service to Bird’s grandmother and her anger when the will left Spyglass to someone else, prompting Mary to work at The Manor and befriend Gabriella and Harrison with hidden motives.
When Carter presses for clarity, Bird says she is almost out of time and must leave. She adds that Mary has already gone and offers Carter practical guidance: follow the sound of the sea to get out.
Before departing, Bird shares a personal memory: as a child she accidentally stumbled into this tunnel from the library, nearly died, and escaped by following a swallow to the ocean. The incident fractured relations between her mother and grandmother, deepening a family history of unforgiveness.
As a final gesture, Bird kisses Carter “for luck” and disappears into the darkness. Carter is left alone in the tunnel, hearing only a door close and the distant sea, forced to navigate his way out.
Who Appears
- Sgt CarterWakes injured in Spyglass’s tunnel; questions Bird; is told to follow the sea to escape.
- DCI Bird (Birdy)Tends Carter, explains Mary’s motive and the tunnel to Blackwater Bay, recalls childhood entrapment, kisses him, and leaves.
- MaryFormer carer at Spyglass; resented losing the inheritance, infiltrated the family; has already left.
- HarrisonSought by Carter; his whereabouts in the tunnels are unknown during this scene.
- GabriellaMentioned as unknowingly befriended by Mary during Mary’s scheme.
- Bird’s grandmotherFormer Spyglass owner; her will bypassed Mary, sparking Mary’s grudge.
- Bird’s motherEstranged from Bird’s grandmother after Bird’s childhood tunnel incident.