TOYL

lost his balance, staggering back a few drunken steps and narrowly missing an elderly woman who had also been admiring the photograph. As he righted himself Emma was shocked by his horrified expression.
    ‘Eric, I just want to talk,’ she said, stepping towards him.
    But he shook his head and headed for the exit.
    ‘Eric,’ Emma said, catching up with him and grabbing hold of his arm. ‘Please, I need to speak to you.’
    ‘Get off me!’ he shouted, shrugging her off. His shout had attracted the attention of the exhibition’s security officer, who rose from his seat in the corner, so Emma let go of him.
    ‘What are you going to do?’ Lizzy said, as they watched Eric escape.
    ‘Follow him,’ Emma said, setting off in pursuit.
    Lizzy didn’t argue, so they set off after Eric, catching up with him just outside the Gallery.
    ‘Leave me alone,’ he said, crossing the road and jogging down the steps into Trafalgar Square. Emma and Lizzy followed.
    ‘Eric, the police are looking for you,’ Emma shouted, drawing interest from groups of tourists. ‘If you keep running, they’ll just think you’re guilty.’
    That stopped him dead in his tracks.
    ‘Guilty of what?’ he said, his face a mixture of anguish and anger. ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’
    ‘The police just want to ask you some questions,’ Emma said, deliberately softening her tone. ‘That’s all.’
    ‘I’m sorry about the photos,’ he said. ‘It’s just that… you’re so photogenic. I didn’t follow you for long – they were all taken on the same day. I know it looks like I’m some kind of stalker, but I’m not, really. Please, there’s no need to threaten me anymore. I won’t go near you again, I promise.’
    ‘I wouldn’t threaten you, Eric.’
    ‘But you got him to threaten me,’ he replied. ‘You didn’t need to do that.’
    ‘Eric, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who threatened you?’
    ‘I just want to forget about it.’
    ‘Eric, just tell me who threatened you,’ Emma demanded.
    ‘Don’t pretend you don’t know. He said you’d asked him to tell me to stay away. If you wanted me to leave you alone, you should have just said. I’m not a stalker. I’m not.’
    ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Emma said, ‘honestly. Who spoke with you?’
    ‘Your boyfriend. Now please, leave me alone.’
    Emma and Lizzy watched dumbfounded as Eric stormed off across the square, breaking into a run and scattering the flocks of pigeons.

50

    ‘We can’t just leave him here,’ Will said, looking down at Stuart and then across at his father. ‘If we go, he’ll die.’
    ‘It’s what he wants, Will,’ Edward replied, his voice strangely emotionless.
    ‘How can you say that?’ Will protested. ‘Dad, he’s going to die.’
    ‘Will – he took the tablets. He chose to end his life. If we do save him, do you think he’ll thank us for it?’
    ‘I… I don’t know. Maybe he did this on the spur of the moment – maybe he doesn’t want to die. It might have been a cry for help.’
    ‘To who? Will, this man has no friends. He destroyed any chance of happiness when he did what he did.’
    ‘No.’ Will shook his head. ‘I won’t let him die.’
    He headed for the phone and picked up the receiver.
    ‘Think about it, Will,’ Edward said, putting his hand over the telephone and cutting off the connection. ‘If we call an ambulance, the police will end up getting involved. How will we explain this?’ He held up the gun.
    ‘I don’t know. We can hide it.’
    ‘And when they ask us why we’re in his flat, what our relationship is with him, what are we going to say?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Edward said, ‘you don’t know. Will, no matter what we do, he’s probably going to die anyway. Why should we throw everything away, trying to save a dead man? A man who has made your life hell? Why jeopardise everything for him?’
    ‘Because I’d never be able to forgive myself, Dad. Haven’t you got any conscience?’
    ‘How dare you,’ Edward said, rounding on his son. ‘Everything I’ve done – everything I’m doing now – is to protect you. Do you think I really want to be here, in this flat, wondering what to do with him?’ He jabbed a finger at Stuart. ‘I’m only here because of you.’
    ‘I’m sorry if you resent helping me.’
    ‘For God’s sake,’ Edward said, throwing his hands up in the air. ‘Will, don’t you see that this could be the end