Chapter 89

Late at Fairhaven Police Station, Donna and Chris continue working because neither has anywhere else to be. Chris fixes a jammed photocopier while Donna prints and prepares reports sent by the Cypriot Police Service, offering to bind them for Chris before his early flight.

Chris refuses to let Donna accompany him to Cyprus, where he has arranged an interview he hopes will finally establish Johnny Gunduz's whereabouts. Donna has searched passenger lists for flights, boats, and trains but has found no trace of Johnny entering or leaving the UK under that name, leading Chris to assume Johnny is using an alias.

Chris feels that Turkish Johnny fits the Tony Curran case: Johnny was wanted by police over the murder of a young cabbie and by Tony over the stolen £100,000. Chris still needs evidence, and the trip to Nicosia may provide it.

Chris remains less certain about Ian Ventham's death and whether it truly connects to a murder from fifty years earlier. He has officers trying to trace former nuns who might remember useful details, though poor records make success unlikely, and Chris wonders whether everyone is overlooking something simpler.

As Chris and Donna leave for the night, Chris asks Donna not to solve the case while he is gone. Privately, Chris reflects on his lonely life, his unhealthy snacks, and whether solving a murder might make him attractive to someone kind and funny.