by the time I camped.”
“With your girlfriend?” Jonah asked. “Is that right?”
“Yes. Ex-girlfriend,” he added. “I mean, obviously, it was thirty years ago…I’m married, and not to her.”
“What time did you meet up with your girlfriend?” Jonah asked.
“Ahhh…To be honest, I can’t remember. I probably gave a statement at the time.” He rubbed a thumb across his forehead, his skin puckered in a frown.
“I’m sure we can check, thank you,” Jonah said. “And once you were there, at the campsite, you didn’t leave at any point? And you didn’t hear any sounds, or witness any other walkers?”
Mackenzie shook his head. “We weren’t that close to any of the roads,” he said. “Which was a conscious choice. The official campsites can be heaving at that time of year, and the weather was perfect. Mind you, my choice pissed Di off. She wasn’t a fan of hiking a mile and a half down a track in the dark to get there. I had to go and meet her.” He gave a half smile. “I should probably have taken that as a sign of ultimate incompatibility.”
“You had a few drinks that evening?” Jonah asked. “I think there’s a report that you’d both had wine.”
“Yes, I think we had a couple of glasses.”
“So it’s possible you would have slept through some sounds,” Jonah said.
“Oh. Yes, I suppose it is. Not the world’s lightest sleeper anyway.” He gave a slight shrug—a half smile.
“Thank you. Could I just have your ex-girlfriend’s name?”
“Oh. Diana…Diana Pitman.” He gave a short laugh. “I had to work to remember that.”
“Is there anything else at all you can think of that might be useful? Anything that occurs to you?”
Mackenzie considered for a while. “No. I don’t think there is. I…I’m not sure how much I really remember at this stage. And how much I’ve misremembered by now. I’ve probably overwritten a lot of what really happened by trying furiously to remember things, and beating myself up over not camping closer by. Not hearing anything.”
Jonah nodded. “This is my card. Please let me know if anything occurs to you. If you have anything useful, like diary entries or records of Aurora’s work, that would be appreciated.”
Mackenzie took the card, peered at it, and nodded. Jonah felt a faint dampness in his fingers as the teacher took it. The teacher was sweating.
Mackenzie nodded after that, and watched them leave in silence.
20
Aurora
Saturday, July 23, 1983, 12:35 A.M.
Everything had become fragmented. Confusing. She was dizzy with alcohol and spinning. Dizzy with contact. With the pervasive smell of Connor.
“I feel a bit…weird.”
She pulled back from him, her skin blooming into full sweat. She lost her footing slightly, and Connor steadied her.
“OK?”
“I don’t know.”
She heard a peal of laughter, and Connor went rigid. He was looking past her, toward her sister. Of course it had been Topaz laughing.
She found herself turning to look, too. Topaz was standing close to Brett, whispering in his ear. Her hand was on his shoulder and her long hair was brushing his forearm. It made Aurora feel profoundly uncomfortable.
Brett was smiling, but his gaze moved and fell on Aurora. She didn’t have time to pretend she was happy that her sister was moving in on him.
His smile faded, and he pulled away from Topaz a little. “Hey, we should dance!” he said. He bent to put his drink down and then moved a little closer to Connor and Aurora. “Come on!”
He started nodding and swaying slightly.
Topaz didn’t approach him. Instead, she walked over to Coralie and took her hands. She drew her friend toward her and began to dance, too, pressed against her, with her hands on Coralie’s back.
Aurora jumped as Connor suddenly started to move again. He pushed at her to get her to go with him.
“Sorry. I don’t really feel like dancing anymore,” she said quietly.
“Don’t be stupid,” Connor said, and he pressed closer to her.
She didn’t want him to touch her anymore. More than that, she didn’t want him to force her to move with him. Her arms felt limp and her feet had turned into heavy, clumsy things.
She saw Topaz spin Coralie round, and then look from Brett to Connor, and back again. Both of the boys were watching her, and Aurora couldn’t help watching, too.
With a smile, Topaz half turned and drew Coralie toward her, tilting her head until their mouths met. Coralie did not resist. She responded by putting her arms round Topaz and pulling her further into the kiss.
Aurora couldn’t help staring. She