Page 125 of Butterfly

“You’re not messed up,” Jarvis cut in.

“I am.” Ollie snorted softly. “But maybe not that much. I remembered the move you taught me, Captain. If anyone ever grabbed us from behind. We were to drop to our knees. It was a bit more difficult with the needle, but I got down. He stabbed it in the jacket.” Ollie touched the jacket, but the patch had dried while his nose was being assessed.

“We’ll need to take the jacket as evidence,” Harrison said. “All of your clothes, actually.”

Ollie nodded. “He rolled me over, punched me in the face.” He gestured to his taped-up nose. “Things got a little woozy after that. He shoved me towards the edge. I was trying to get him off me, then…then he was gone.”

He lowered his gaze, too afraid they’d see his lie. Part of it had been self-defence, but the other part…he’d just wanted Teddy to be free of his demon.

He’d wanted to make sure Pichard couldn’t hurt him again.

“Pichard and Teddy,” Sebastian murmured. “I had no idea they knew each other. I never saw them interact…”

“Pichard has treated him many times,” Jarvis replied. “He established control, made Teddy feel worthless, like he’d never be listened to, because not many people have tried to listen to him. They see him grunt and growl and distance themselves.”

“He felt hopeless,” Ollie whispered.

“But someone took the time to listen.” Jarvis smiled softly. “Someone became the catalyst to fight back. He just didn’t know how to do it. He didn’t know who to trust in there.”

“He trusted you.”

Jarvis nodded, but his smile faded. “Because you did. But maybe he shouldn’t have. You still got hurt. Pichard should never have got to you.”

Ollie turned to him. “If I’m not to blame for Rory getting hurt—”

“Which you’re not,” Rory said through his mask.

“Then you’re not to blame for this,” Ollie finished, gesturing to his face while keeping eye contact with Jarvis.

Harrison cleared his throat. “I think it’s time to drive to the station. Bag up your clothes. Take your statement.”

Ollie nodded glumly. “What about Teddy?”

“Teddy is already there,” Harrison said. “He’s been there all night with detectives.”

“What?” Ollie asked, glancing at Jarvis.

Jarvis nodded. “He wrote everything out. It must’ve taken him weeks. He made an appointment with me this morning, and he looked scared out of his mind. I sat there, and I read it, and I looked into his eyes, and I knew it was true, every word. I took it straight to the police station, wouldn’t leave until they took it seriously. Then they picked him up from Hollybrook and took him to the station to go through it all.”

“Last I heard, he’s still there now,” Harrison mumbled, grabbing the radio receiver strapped to his shoulder. “They’ll probably keep him in a holding cell overnight so he can continue assisting the detectives first thing in the morning.”

“He has no idea any of this has happened,” Jarvis said. “He thinks Pichard is still on holiday. He thinks you’re safe.”

“I am safe,” Ollie said, then he looked at Harrison. “And now so is Teddy.”

21

HarrisonhadkindlyallowedCaptain to ride in the police car with Ollie while Jarvis followed behind. The grumpy officer kept shooting wary glances at Captain in the mirror.

Cleary, the two officers hadn’t made that decision together, but Ollie was glad he wasn’t alone.

Captain kept cracking his neck, clearly tense. He held a small pot in his right hand, flexing his fingers around it.

“Jarvis gave it to me,” Captain murmured when he caught Ollie looking at it. “It’s moustache wax.”

Ollie frowned, staring at Captain’s top lip. “But you haven’t got a moustache…”

Captain smiled. “No, I don’t.”

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