Jimmy stays at home in his bedsit, avoiding the crowds. At fifty-three years old, he’s reliant on charity for the roof over his head, because no one has ever offered him a job. An old-fashioned gas fire keeps the place warm, yet tonight it’s impossible to relax. He stares at the objects on his windowsill: bundles of glossy white egrets’ feathers, an abandoned swallow’s nest and the broken shell of a hawfinch’s egg. But even his favourite possessions fail to calm him tonight.
When he peers outside, the bonfire is still blazing on Covean Beach, so he draws the curtains to avoid the spectacle. The flames remind him too strongly of the corpse he found this morning, his window sealed to banish the smell of smoke. Conscience tells him to honour his promise to the figure he saw in the fire, because the death he witnessed as a boy still haunts his dreams. But speaking to the police would terrify him. He can recite the names of every bird species on the island when he’s alone, yet words escape him when people are listening. He will have to find the killer without help from anyone.
Jimmy paces around the room, too agitated to relax. He turns on his radio, but strangers’ voices discussing things he can’t understand set his teeth on edge. Only one thing will settle his mind, so he stuffs a bag of seed in his pocket and hurries downstairs. The air in the yard is freezing, but he doesn’t care. The enclosure he built is made from chicken wire and driftwood, the frame rattling as he pulls open the door of the first compartment. Birds caw loudly as he drops food into their bowls, a juvenile puffin pecking at his hand.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ he whispers. ‘I won’t hurt you.’
An Atlantic gull lets him stroke its wing, his touch slow and cautious. The bird’s broken leg is mending and the starving kittiwake will soon be strong enough to release. Jimmy shuts the door of the enclosure, in case one of the injured birds tries to escape before it’s healed. He kneels on the mud to watch his friends settling down to sleep on piles of clean straw. The gull’s black eyes assess him without judgement, settling Jimmy’s nerves for the first time since he fled from Burnt Island. He concentrates on the birds’ quiet movements until the corpse’s ruined face slips from his mind.