CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEDid Delphine disappear in that agonising moment when the rope snapped, or did she vanish later? Talking to the police, Colin couldn’t be sure. He recalled sprinting to the side of the lock and seeing with horror his boat splayed upside down in the water, its revealed hull looking unbearably vulnerable. He remembered staring at the gauzy green stains on the paintwork, the river’s fingerprints, thinking, what do I do? What do I do? What have I done, and what do I do?
He swung into action then. With blinding velocity he climbed down the ladder into the lock and reached for the Dragonfly’s broken line. The cabin was already filling with water, sitting heavily, forcing the stern up and he was desperate to stop it sinking further. He tried tying the short length of rope to t
