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Tyler winked at him. “It’s my course – I should be good at playing it.

In answer to your question – I felt Alexander deserved the best. I’d known him for a little while before I bought his contract, and I thought he was a huge talent.

He made one mistake, that’s all.” He glanced at Alexander, who was standing by, gazing blankly at the golf course.

“I intended to keep him at that point, but let’s face it, I’m old enough to be his father.

I wanted to make sure he was equipped to handle his life as an IS if I should die or have to sell him – which was what happened. ”

Without saying a word, Alexander placed a ball on the tee and handed Josiah a club.

Josiah smacked the ball with a blunt lack of finesse, in contrast to Tyler’s far more elegant style.

The ball landed on the green all the same, although much further from the hole than Tyler’s shot.

“You had Alexander’s best interests at heart, then? ”

“Of course.” Tyler slapped Alexander’s arm affectionately. “His mother and I were friends for years. I always tried to do my best for him, as far as I could, for her sake. I knew it was what she’d have wanted. Isn’t that right, Alexander?”

Alexander gave a vacant smile. “Yes, sir. Completely right.”

“So, this complicated story you mentioned?” Josiah prompted.

“Yes, of course. I’ll tell you while we walk.

” Tyler led the way across the course at a fair trot, but Josiah easily kept pace with him.

“Look, I’m not from a privileged background, like Alexander.

I’m a self-made man. I came from nothing and worked my arse off to get all this.

” Tyler waved his hand at the island, with its beautiful mansion and perfectly manicured golf course.

“I’m not sure if you know this, but my father was the brains behind the first Lytton AV – the classic post-Rising duck that got the country back on its feet again.

You know the design – ugly as fuck, but it did the job and got people and goods around the country. ”

“I’m not all that interested in ducks, to be honest,” Josiah said.

Tyler gave him an incredulous look. “Green, utilitarian, no frills, but solid and reliable. That was the Lytton Classic AV – and it was my father’s brainchild. He was Alexander’s grandfather’s IS.”

“What did Alexander’s grandfather bring to the table?” Josiah asked.

“Money.” Tyler shrugged. “He financed it and took all the profit. Theodore Lytton never gave my father a penny of the money his design earned.”

“I seem to remember reading somewhere that Lytton mortgaged his house and sold everything he owned to make his company a success,” Josiah said.

Tyler glanced at him sharply. “It wasn’t without risks, but once it was successful he didn’t share anything with my father – and they were good friends. My father was a quiet, unassuming, gentle man – he was satisfied with what he had.”

“But you weren’t?”

Tyler sighed. “No, because I saw how hard he worked, and that he deserved so much more. We all lived in that fucking great house together – my mother was the housekeeper, and I grew up with Noah Lytton, Alexander’s father, running up and down the long dark corridors, chasing each other, playing hide-and-seek in all those rooms. Even back then, I knew he was the lord and master, and I was the servant’s brat. ”

“So you were bitter?”

“Not at all.” Tyler grinned. “It was the making of me. Growing up in all that luxury but never owning any of it myself gave me the drive and determination to build a business of my own. I went to Oxford with Noah – his father paid for me, because he wanted him to have a friend there.”

“Someone to keep an eye on him?”

“No, just a friend. Noah didn’t exactly need watching; he was always a model student.”

They reached the green, where Josiah took four shots to sink his ball into the cup. Tyler only needed two.

“After university, I rejected Noah’s offer to be his IS at Lytton AV and struck out on my own,” Tyler explained as they walked to the next tee.

“It wasn’t easy, but I had a head for business and gradually built up my own company.

So, when Alexander came to me with his designs for a new, high-concept kind of duck, I admit I was intrigued.

I knew the family so well, and despite my feeling that they owed my father more than they’d ever given him, I was fond of them.

The Lyttons and the Tylers – we have a long, complicated history. ”

“I’m intrigued about one thing…” Josiah watched as Tyler teed off again, hitting yet another perfect shot onto the green.

“You said in your court deposition that Alexander’s designs couldn’t be made to work, and yet now you say you used him to develop the new Destiny range, and this time it did work.

What happened?” Josiah took his own shot and sent his ball flying… straight into a bunker.

Tyler patted his arm in commiseration. “Designing ducks is hard – Alexander’s designs were promising but needed considerable tweaking,” he said, striding off.

“So, after his disgrace you bought his contract to finish what he’d started?” Josiah called after him.

Halting, Tyler hesitated. “No. At that stage, I still thought the designs wouldn’t work.”

“Then why buy him?”

Tyler sighed. “I didn’t ask him to steal that money, Investigator Raine.

I had no idea he was going to do that, but I did feel sorry for him afterwards – and for his poor father.

I asked myself if I’d put too much pressure on him, but I’m a businessman, and I wanted a good return for my company.

I admit I felt guilty. I bought his contract partly because Lytton AV was in poor shape.

It would have gone under if Alexander hadn’t been sold for a good price, so I put in a very high bid.

My father loved that company and poured the best years of his life into it; I didn’t want it to fail.

” He glanced away, looking suddenly vulnerable, then pulled himself together.

“I also couldn’t bear the thought of him falling into the wrong hands – he was so notorious by that point, I genuinely feared for his well-being if his contract was sold to the wrong person.

I wanted to make sure he was treated properly, with the dignity he deserved. ”

“So, it was a rare act of sentimentality from a hard-nosed businessman?”

They’d reached the bunker, and Alexander handed Josiah a club. Josiah didn’t have a clue which iron he needed to hack his way out of the sand, so he was grateful that Alexander seemed to know.

“I have my weaknesses – don’t we all?” Tyler shrugged. “I’m sure you do, too, Investigator Raine.” He gave Josiah a knowing wink.

Josiah shot him an enigmatic smile by way of reply.

Tyler turned his attention to Alexander, who was studying his golf bag intently as he waited for Josiah to take his next shot. “Alexander – am I telling this story right? I would hate to get any of the details wrong. Please do correct me if you feel I’m being inaccurate or biased in any way.”

Alexander slowly peeled his attention away and met Tyler’s eye. It looked to Josiah as though some unspoken conversation was taking place between them, then Alexander shook his head. “You’re telling it perfectly, sir. I don’t recall it being different in any aspect.”

Tyler smiled and glanced back at Josiah. “And there you have it. I hope that answers your question, Investigator Raine.”

Josiah swung his club at the ball in the sandbank and managed to bludgeon it onto the green by sheer force. “Not entirely. If you felt so much compassion for Alexander, why did you sell him?”

“Like I said, I needed the money. I agonised about it for some time, but in the end I had no choice. I explained it to Alexander, and he accepted it. I think he was even a bit excited about his new life. We both felt there were no more challenges left for him with me. I didn’t just sell him to the highest bidder, though – I researched Elliot Dacre thoroughly to make sure he was a man of integrity, who would treat Alexander well.

I’d met him socially a few times, and I liked him.

He assured me that Alexander would be his only IS, and that he’d be looked after – to be honest, it sounded like Dacre would spoil him rotten.

He was looking for a muse for his holophotography, and he sure as hell found that in Alexander.

And, of course, Alexander got to mix in exciting new circles.

I could barely read a news site without seeing photos of the lucky fucker and his new houder at some celebrity party. ”

“Idyllic,” Josiah murmured as he watched the other man sink another hole.

“I was sorry to hear of Dacre’s death,” Tyler said in a more sombre tone. “But I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it. I did my best by Alexander and then sold his contract on as responsibly as I could. I didn’t want him back.”