I’m unsure what to say next, unsure how much to tell him. But I have to make him believe that Ned died by his own hand.
“If we’re talking of murder, Mr. Hawthorpe, I think you should know that Hunter was murdered.”
“Hunter? Ned’s security guard? What are you talking about? He wasn’t murdered, Ned dismissed him.”
Consumed by doubt that I might be saying too much, I sink onto the nearest chair.
“No,” I say. “That’s what Ned told you. But the truth is that Hunter was murdered two days before your last visit here. Ned and I had been to lunch with a man named Lukas, and on our way back, our car was ambushed. Hunter was dragged from it and shot dead.”
“Where?” Jethro Hawthorpe is skeptical. “Where did this happen?”
“Along a country road somewhere between here and Haven Cliffs, on the coast.”
“I don’t believe a word of it. Why would someone want to murder Hunter?”
“He was murdered in retaliation for the murder of Lina Mielkut?, the accountant at Exclusives.”
“Hunter murdered Ned’s accountant?” He barks a laugh. “You are delusional. What is this, some kind of joke?”
“No, none of this is a joke! Hunter didn’t murder Lina, your son did. Hunter’s murder was a warning, a warning that Ned understood. It’s why he hid himself away in Haven Cliffs. He knew they’d be coming for him and thought it would be the last place they’d look for him.”
“How dare you! How dare you accuse my son of murder!”
“I saw it with my own eyes, Mr. Hawthorpe.” I stand and walk toward him. “I saw him suffocate Lina with his bare hands right outside that door.” My eyes well with tears as I point to the hallway.
He moves away from me to stand at the window. “Why would he murder this woman?”
“Because she threatened to tell the police about the payments Ned had asked her to make to staff members who he had sexually harassed. She was a friend of—”
He holds his hand up. “I’m not going to listen to any more of this. You need help, you’re fanciful and dangerous.”
“It’s the truth!”
He walks past me, our shoulders almost touching as he heads toward the door. I can’t let him go.
“Did you know that Justine Elland, the woman who accused Ned of sexual assault a few weeks ago, has disappeared?” My voice rings out across the room, stopping him in his tracks.
“She’s in France,” he says, turning to face me. “Like you, she was after Ned’s money and when he offered it to her, she took it and ran.”
“That’s what Ned told you. But when I go to the police and tell them that I saw your son murder Lina, I’ll also tell them that he told everyone she’d gone back to Lithuania, just like he told everyone that Justine had gone back to France. I’ll ask them to check that Lina actually arrived in Lithuania and when they find that she did, I’ll suggest that they dig deeper. And when they do, they’ll find that the person who went through immigration at the airport in Vilnius was not Lina Mielkut?, but someone traveling on her passport, someone who was paid to travel as Lina by Ned. That’s how he hid Lina’s murder, Mr. Hawthorpe, by getting someone to fly to Lithuania using her passport. Lukas, the man we had lunch with on the day of Hunter’s murder, knew Lina. He had discovered this cover-up and made Ned understand that he knew what had happened. Ned was worried and told Lukas he’d asked Hunter to take Lina to the airport, suggesting that if anything had happened to Lina, it was down to Hunter. We left soon after—and then Hunter was murdered.”
“If what you say is true, that you saw my son murder this woman, why haven’t you been to the police?”
How can I tell him that in the month since I married Ned, I’ve had no access to the outside world? It would add to the fantasy he thinks I’m creating. I need him to drop his threat. I need him to listen.
“Because of your foundation,” I say.
“And why would you be concerned about the foundation?”
I take a step toward him. “Mr. Hawthorpe, I know how important the foundation is to you. If you persist with your claim that Ned was murdered, the truth will come out about the women he has killed, and your foundation will suffer. Do you think your benefactors will continue to donate if your son is accused of murder, even if he’s no longer alive? The best thing, for everyone, is to accept the truth, which is that Ned took his own life because he knew that Lukas was coming after him for Lina’s murder.” I pause, worried he’s not buying it. “There’s another thing. The day before Ned died, I told him that I’d seen him murder Lina. I also told him about the letter I’d sent to a journalist detailing what I’d seen and instructing her that if she didn’t hear from me within seven days, to go to the police and give them my letter. Ned knew then that one way or another, he was going to have to pay for Lina’s death. If Lukas didn’t get him, the police would.”