“He’s dead.”
Kate stared at me, open-mouthed. “What?”
“Nikos is dead,” I repeated quietly.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know—I wasn’t there.” I avoided eye contact as I said this. I felt Kate staring at me, feverishly trying to work me out. “They were searching the north side of the island, where the cliffs are, and Nikos fell.… That’s what Jason said. That’s what he told me. But I wasn’t there.”
“What are you trying to—？” Kate looked frightened. “Where’s Jason?”
“He’s at the jetty, with the others.”
Kate stubbed out her cigarette. “I’m going to find him.”
“Wait. There’s something I have to tell you.”
“It can wait.”
“No, it can’t.”
Kate ignored me and walked to the door. It was now or never.
“He killed her,” I said.
Kate stopped. She looked at me. “What?”
“Jason killed Lana.”
Kate half laughed but it turned into a choke. “You’re mad.”
“Kate, listen. I know we don’t always see eye to eye. But you’re an old friend—and I don’t want you to come to any harm. I need to warn you.”
“Warn me? About what?”
“This isn’t going to be easy.” I gestured at a chair. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Fuck off.”
I sighed, then spoke patiently. “Okay—how much has Jason told you about his finances?”
Kate was bemused by the question. “His what?”
“So you don’t know. He’s in serious trouble. Lana found out he set up something like seventeen different company accounts, all in her name, in private banks all around the world. He’s been moving his clients’ money around, using her like a washing machine—like a fucking laundry.”
I bristled with indignation as I said this. I could see Kate taking it all in, weighing it up, weighing me up, working out whether to believe a word I said. I must say, my performance was pretty good—presumably because most of what I said was true. Jason was a crook. And I didn’t think for one second that Kate didn’t know this.
“That’s bullshit,” she said, feebly.
But she didn’t object further, so I went on, emboldened.
“Jason is about to be caught—if he hasn’t been already. He’ll be going away for a long time, I imagine. Unless someone bails him out. He needs money very badly—”
Kate laughed. “You think he killed Lana for money? You’re wrong—Jason wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t kill her.”
“I know he wouldn’t.”
Kate stared at me, annoyed. “Then what are you saying?”
I spoke slowly, patiently, as if to a child. “She was wearing your shawl, Kate.”
A slight pause. She stared at me. “What?”
“That’s why Jason followed her to the ruin. Because he thought she was you.”
Kate stared at me, silent. She had suddenly gone pale.
“It’s true. Jason didn’t mean to shoot Lana. He meant to shoot you.”
Kate shook her head violently. “You’re sick … you’re fucking sick.”
“Don’t you understand? He’s going to frame Nikos—now he’s made sure Nikos can’t defend himself. I warned you not to make Jason choose between you. Lana was too valuable for him to give up. Whereas you … are expendable.”
As I said this, I could see the change in Kate’s eyes. A kind of pained recognition—that word, expendable, it chimed with something deep within her, an old feeling, from long ago—a feeling that she wasn’t important; not special in any way; not loved.
She grabbed the back of the chair—like she was going to throw it at me. But she needed it to steady herself. She held on to it, looking like she might faint.
“I need to find Jason,” she whispered.
“What? Haven’t you heard a single word I said?”
“I need to find him.”
Suddenly determined, she went to the door.
I blocked her path. “Kate, stop—”
“Get out of my way. I need to find him.”
“Wait.” I reached into my pocket. “Here—”
I pulled out the revolver. I held it out to her.
“Take it.”
Kate’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”
“I found it, in Jason’s study—where he hid all the guns.” I pressed the gun into her hands. “Take it.”