I went into the room…and I was¹ very surprised．

The room was full of strange³ things．Colouredshirts and suits．Three guitars．Andthere were posters⁵ and photographs⁶ on the walls．

I looked at the posters．

Jake Rosso's face looked down at me．

I looked at the dead⁷ Jake Rosso's pictures，andI remembered all the photographs on the walls of my room in Hong Kong．Icould never forget that face—the face ofmy favourite singer．

Then，while I lookedat his face，something strange happened．Ibegan to see another face in the posters．Anolder face，and with a moustache，butthe same face．

I saw⁸ the face of Mr Ross．

‘No！’Isaid．‘It's not true！’

But it was，I knew itwas．

‘Mr Ross is…JakeRosso！’

‘No！'saida voice¹¹ behind me．

I turned round and saw Mr Ross．Hewas standing¹² in the doorway．He looked…afraid．

‘I don't believe¹⁴ you！’Isaid．

‘You have to believe me！’

I looked at the posters．‘Whois that，if it's not you？’

‘It's Jake Rosso．Hewas… my brother．’

‘That's not true！Ishouted．‘I don't believe you．Listen，JakeRosso was my favourite singer—I hadhundreds of pho tos of him．I still haveall his records．I loved him，doyou understand？Thousands of people lovedhim．’

‘He's dead，'mrRoss said⁹ quietly．

‘No！’Ishouted．‘You're Jake Rosso！Youlook different now，yes．You'vegot short hair，you've got¹⁸ a moustachenow，and you wear glasses．Butyou're… Jake…Rosso．You were my favourite pop¹⁹ star，so I know．’

Mr Ross said nothing，andwatched my face．

‘He doesn't know what to do，’Ithought．‘He knows I don't believe him，andhe's afraid．’

Then he said，‘Itwas you in the passage²¹ last night，wasn'tit？’

‘Yes，’Ianswered．

He looked angry．‘Iwas wrong to give your mother a job，’hesaid．‘I thought²⁰ it was OK because youcame from Hong Kong．And I needed helpwith my work．I needed a good secretary．’

‘Does your other secretaryknow who you are？’I asked．‘Dothe other people on the island know？’

Mr Ross didn't answer，butwalked across²⁶ to the window．He wasthinking．

‘What's he going²⁷ to do？’Ithought．

Then he turned round．‘OK，you'reright．I…Iam Jake Rosso．’

‘I knew it！’

He looked worried²⁸ and unhappy．‘Canyou keep a secret？A very importantsecret？’

I thought for a minute，thenI said，‘Yes，Ican keep a secret．’

Then he told me：

‘The other people on thisisland are my family．’

‘Your family？’Isaid．

‘Yes．Myreal name is James Duncan，and Mr and MrsDuncan are my father and mother．Tony ismy younger³⁰ brother，and his wife，Lisa，is mysecretary．It's she who's in hospital．’

‘And Stella and Dan Parks？’Iasked．

‘My mother's sister and herhusband，’he said．

‘But what are you doing hereon this island？I don't understand．’

‘I'11 tell you，’hesaid．He sat³² down on a chair and took³³ aguitar in his hands，but he didn't playit．‘You were right．Iwas a famous³⁴ pop star．I was very rich，andI had¹⁵ a beautiful wife．But things wentwrong．’

‘How？’

‘I took drugs，’hesaid．‘I drank a lot of alcohol．Igot drunk³⁷ and crashed³⁸ cars．I did²⁵ stupid，terriblethings．I knew it was wrong but Icouldn't stop doing it．I was…crazy，for a time．’

‘I can understand that，’Itold him．‘I've taken drugs，too．

He looked surprised．‘Youhave？’

‘Yes，’Isaid．‘After my father died，Iwas very unhappy²⁹ and things went wrong for me too．Butgo on with your story．’

He went on．‘Onenight，I was driving my car．Iwas drunk and— and I hit somebody．Ayoung girl．She…died．Ikilled her．’

‘Oh，no！’

‘Yes，’hesaid．‘She was fifteen years old．Iwanted to die，too．Themoney didn't matter any more．Nothing mattered any more．’

‘What did you do after theaccident？’I asked．

‘I drove⁴³ on in the car．Ididn't stop，and I didn't tell the police．Ihad killed⁴² someone⁴⁵ and I was afraid．’Helooked afraid now．He put the guitar downand went on with his story．‘So I madea plan．Jake Rosso had to die，too．Itwas the best thing to do．And so…I “killed”him．’

‘But you're still alive．’

‘My family know I'm alive，but no other people know．’Helooked at me．‘But now you know．’

‘How did you do it？’Iasked．

‘I told my family about myp1an and I told Greta，my wife．Atfirst they didn't like it．But after along⁴⁸ time，they said OK．ThenI faked the car crash．’

‘Faked it？’

‘Yes，’hesaid．‘I put some of my things in thecar．A guitar，andsome clothes．Then I pushed⁴⁹ my car over acliff and burned it．The police⁴⁴ found⁵⁰ theburned car and thought I was dead．Everybodythought I was killed in the car crash．’

‘But you faked the crash，’Isaid．

‘Yes．’

‘What did you do then？’

‘My family hid⁵¹ me away formonths．I tried to change into adifferent person— with shorter hair，amoustache， quiet suits．Allmy money went to Greta and she changed her name to Ross．Itold her to buy this island．Now I investher money，the money that was mine．Andnow I'm “James Ross．”

‘What about“JakeRosso”？’I asked．

‘Jake Rosso took drugs，’hesaid．‘Jake Rosso got drunk and crashedcars． He killed a young girl，sohe had to “die”．Ican never forget the girl．I think abouther every day．’

‘And that's why you alwayslook so sad，’I thought．

I looked around the room．‘Whydo you keep a room like this？ Why do youkeep the guitars，the posters andphotographs？’

James Ross did not speak for a minute．Thenhe said，‘I need to remember my oldlife， and what Jake Rosso was like．I'mnever going to sing again and I'm never going to take drugs³⁵ But I need thisroom，to remember．’

I looked at the posters and the photographs．AndI looked at his sad face．‘I'm notgoing to say anything．I won't tell mymother，I won't tell anybody．’

James Ross looked at me．‘Ithink you understand，’he said．

‘I do，’Isaid．‘I've done bad things．Iwant to forget them，too．Ineeded to get away，to hide，too．That'swhy we came²² to England，to begin a newlife Yes，I understatld．’

He took my hand，andwe walked out of the room and closed⁵⁴ the door．

I never went into the room again，andI didn't tell anybody．

My mother and I left the island at the end of the summer．Soonafter，I went to college．

My life⁵² is bettter now．Iwork on a farm in England and my mother works⁵⁶ in an office． Mymother doesn't worry about me，becauseI'm happier now．

I haven't been back to the island．

But I know there's a ‘deadman’living there．