Jimmy follows in the killer’s footsteps. Fear nags at him, but he’s determined not to let it push him off course. His gaze stays fixed on the figure up ahead. The killer’s slim outline is wrapped in a black coat that billows in the breeze, a woollen hat pulled low over his hair, face obscured by his raised collar and scarf. Jimmy’s tension only subsides when he senses that the figure he’s trailing is also afraid. The owl releases another piercing call, and the killer swings round in panic, forcing Jimmy to hide in the long grass.
It’s easier to stay out of sight once he reaches the eastern shore, hope rising that Naomi Vine is still alive as his lungs fill with saline air. Moonlight shifts across uneven waves as he follows the figure over the beach, the tide beginning to turn. He stops frequently, concealing himself behind boulders, as they reach Covean Beach. Jimmy sinks below the dunes, hoping for a direct view, when the person up ahead comes to a halt, but the light is too poor. All he can see is the ocean unwinding into the distance, breakers whitened by flashes of moonlight. The figure stands motionless, watching waves crash onto the shingle, oblivious to the scouring breeze.
Once the killer moves again, his movements are jerky with panic. He stoops down to light a match then walks away. Seconds later Jimmy hears a cracking sound, then the sky ignites; he sees an explosion of colour through cracks between his fingers, white heat surrounded by blood-red smoke. Jimmy waits until the brightness fades before rising to his feet, but now the beach is empty. The killer has disappeared from view.