Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a Rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he never killed the thing at all. But Rooks don’t forget . . .