‘He stopped breathing after a time; I don’t know how long. I couldn’t touch him, but I could see no pulse in his neck. I was reasonably certain that he was dead.
‘Then quite suddenly I began to think again, and realized the danger of my own position. I had not killed him, yet in a way I had. Certainly I had stood and watched him die, and had done nothing. If I stayed there, if I reported his death, I would almost certainly be accused of having caused it. I got down that hill as fast as I could. I don’t know why I went down, except that the bottom was closer than the top. I then followed the usual path and went up the Zig-Zag; that’s when you saw me.
‘I have always been a churchgoer. I do not know if I am morally responsible for his death. The thought has tormented me ever since it happened. I think you may have seen me in the peace garden, trying to resolve my emotional state. I have left Alderney, perhaps for good, so that I may have a chance to come to terms with my own conscience. I hope you will believe that I would not have kept silence if someone else had been accused of his murder.
‘I could not have hidden with Robin forever. I am grateful to you for providing the catalyst for action.’
It was signed simply ‘HG’.
The flight to Southampton is a short one. We deplaned, collected our luggage and made for the railway station. There was a rubbish bin outside the station. We stopped, and Alan helped me tear the letter into tiny pieces and consign them to oblivion.
Smile and be a Villain Page 24
