‘Stone,’ she’d apparently shouted, pointing at it, aged two.
Her mum tells the story best, how she explained it was an island, surrounded by water, a long way away. Toddler Surtsey nodded forcefully.
‘Stone.’
And it was still her stone, a rock weighing her down. The place that had killed her secret lover. It was weird even saying that word inside her head, lover. Felt like she couldn’t do it without sarcastic quotes, without reaching for the sick bag, without it sounding like some 1970s hippy thing. But what else were they? Certainly not boyfriend and girlfriend. Fuckbuddies was too childish.
‘So, come on,’ Halima said, swigging her large Cabernet.
‘What?’ Brendan said.
‘Let’s have the theories,’ Halima said.
Surtsey frowned. ‘What theories?’
Halima did the eye roll and fake-punched her. ‘About what happened to Tom, of course. Our esteemed colleague and boss found with his head caved in.’
‘Christ, Hal,’ Surtsey said. ‘The man’s dead.’
Halima shrugged. ‘Of course it’s awful, but it’s a puzzle, right?’
‘You can’t help wondering,’ Brendan said.
Surtsey looked from one to the other. She loved Halima, but wasn’t sure she could use the same word for Brendan. He was just a bit of fun, maybe ‘fuckbuddy’ applied better to him. She knew that she and Tom couldn’t have lasted but she realised now she’d invested more in that relationship than the one with Brendan.
‘I’m not wondering,’ Surtsey said.
‘Come on,’ Halima said, incredulous. ‘What was he doing there? How did he die? Was it an accident? If so, how? During last night’s earthquake? If it wasn’t an accident then it was murder, so who did it? Did they know him? How did they get on the island? Where’s Tom’s boat? Is there any trace of this other person?’
She’d been counting on her fingers.
‘That’s ten unanswered questions right there.’
Her voice had got loud and two middle-aged tourists glanced over. The young mums splitting a bottle of Pinot in the corner while their kids threw Connect Four counters at each other were oblivious.
‘I don’t know,’ Surtsey said.
‘Of course you don’t,’ Halima said. ‘I’m looking for speculation here.’
‘It was probably an accident,’ Brendan said. ‘Maybe a rock dislodged during last night’s quake and hit him.’
‘A rock from where? He was on the beach.’
‘Maybe he wasn’t knocked out,’ Surtsey said. ‘Maybe he got concussed and staggered to the beach.’
Halima was wide eyed. ‘So where’s his boat?’
Brendan shook his head. ‘Maybe he didn’t moor it properly.’
‘That’s not like him,’ Surtsey said. She was surprised to find herself contributing to this.
‘True,’ Halima said.
‘Hey, how are my favourite nerds?’
It was Iona standing over the table, faded Snoopy T-shirt with the cleavage cut out of it, tied in a knot at the bottom so it clung to her body. Short black skirt over black leggings. Surtsey noticed Brendan glancing at the curve of her body. She was sexy but she looked exhausted.
‘Hey,’ Surtsey said.
‘I-ball, you’ll never guess what happened,’ Halima said.
‘You got laid for once?’ Iona said.
‘I’m serious,’ Halima said.
Iona looked around the table and put on a frown. ‘Judging by the looks on your faces, something sad. Did a report come out that said rocks were really boring?’
Iona had a thing about knowledge. Nihilistic bullshit, nothing was worth doing, the whole world was full of crap, might as well stay dumb and revel in it. Of course it was all a front but you couldn’t say that, just had to wait for her to grow up, find something she wanted to do with her life.
‘Our boss, Tom, is dead,’ Halima said. ‘Suspicious circumstances. Brendan found him.’
‘Really?’ Iona tried to hide her interest.
Brendan nodded. ‘Out on the Inch.’
Iona looked over the fish tank out the window. ‘Wow, that stupid rock just got interesting. Was the body decomposed?’
‘Come on,’ Surtsey said.
Iona held her hands out. ‘Just asking.’
Brendan shook his head. ‘He could only have been there a day, he was in the office yesterday. His eyes were gone, the birds got them.’
‘Get any pics?’
‘First thing I thought of when I found him,’ Brendan said, deadpan. ‘Snapped a few close ups, put them on Instagram.’
Surtsey smiled and remembered why she liked Brendan.
Iona gave him a look. ‘Just asking.’ She turned to the others. ‘You were there too?’
Surtsey pictured Tom, grains of sand stuck to his face, the angle of his feet. ‘We were on the other side of the island.’
‘And you didn’t go for a peek?’
‘We’re not all as freaky as you,’ Halima said.
‘I thought you were supposed to have enquiring scientific minds?’ Iona said.
Surtsey had enough. ‘Show some respect. This is someone we knew, someone we worked with every day. What the fuck is wrong with you?’
Iona held her hands up like a gun was pointing at her. ‘Who rattled your cage?’
Surtsey took a swig of her wine and put the glass down too heavily on the table. She saw Iona giving the other two a look, trying to make them complicit in the idea Surtsey had lost it.
‘Have you been to see Mum?’ she said.
‘Not today.’
‘When was the last time you went?’
‘I’m busy at work, Sur, you know that.’ Iona threw a thumb at the bar. ‘I’m just going on shift now.’
Surtsey kept her voice level. ‘So what have you been doing all day?’
Iona sighed. ‘Don’t start.’
‘I’m just saying.’
‘Don’t bother.’
‘Unbelievable.’
‘You sanctimonious shit.’ Iona turned towards the bar.
Surtsey felt her face flush.
‘She’s your fucking mum too,’ she shouted across the bar.
Everyone in the pub paused mid-conversation and stared at her.
Halima and Brendan sipped their drinks and stayed silent as Iona slammed the bar hatch and disappeared into the kitchen through the back.
Surtsey raised her wine but realised the glass was empty.
‘Hey, look.’ Halima was pointing at the television screen mounted high on the wall in the corner of the pub. BBC News was on, a reporter standing on a familiar beach, the knuckle of the Inch behind her. The sound was down but the ticker tape across the bottom of the screen was
