Jade’s bedroom window with the view of the shed. I know what she did. Jade was talking about Bebe.
When Bebe shook her head, strands of hair stuck to her forehead. She was sweating. Afraid. And Miles wasn’t done yet.
“You know what else Jade saw? She saw Jasper, out on the lawn. You saw him, too, didn’t you? You and Ned. And Ned couldn’t have him knowing. He couldn’t take the chance that Jas would run off and tell Flynn.”
Watching Bebe was mesmerizing. Her eyes got enormous while every muscle in her face went slack. “Ned would never hurt anyone. Never.”
“What about Flynn? What would he do if he found out about you two? Oh, I’m sure he suspects—your trip up here together, the way you’re always fawning over Ned. But what would he do if he knew for sure? Flynn’s not great at controlling his temper, is he? You know how he feels about Ned, how afraid he is of losing him. He’d rip you both apart.
“You’d be finished at the company, of course,” Miles went on. “The business can’t afford a scandal, not with Attitude nipping at your heels. You and Ned would both be out so fast it would make your heads spin. I’m sure Ned doesn’t care. He’s leaving anyway. But your reputation would be obliterated, and Ned knows it. Did he tell you he’d protect you from all of that? Did he explain Jas would have to die, or did he leave that up to your imagination?”
I didn’t know what type of law Miles practiced, but I’d have bet money he had experience as a litigation attorney. He watched Bebe closely while awaiting her response. He had her trapped, and he knew it.
“So you see why I’m worried,” said Miles as he crossed one leg over the other. “In the past twenty-four hours, Jasper witnessed his best friend banging his sister and then promptly disappeared. I’d say that’s cause for concern, wouldn’t you?”
“Ned would never hurt Jasper,” Bebe repeated weakly. She looked ill.
“You’re sure about that?” I asked, taking Miles’s lead. “Your feelings for Ned might be skewing your perception of things. Right now you two are happy. You’ve got each other’s backs. But soon the sparkle will wear off, and when it does do you want me wondering whether you, Mrs. Sinclair, are involved in your brother’s disappearance, too?”
“You can’t seriously tell me you’re going to listen to him,” Bebe said. “This is a setup! You want to talk about feelings getting in the way? Miles is angry with me, and his solution is to frame Ned for murder. We’re through—not because of Ned, by the way, but because Miles is a selfish bastard who only married me for my money.”
“What money?” said Miles, deadpan.
Another vibration. Another text. I was starting to get worried. If McIntyre had news she’d shoot me a message asking if I was free to talk—just one. Something was up, but I couldn’t hit pause on Bebe and Miles. What I was witnessing was better than all those episodes of Geraldo I watched with my mom as a kid, and it was getting me closer to where I needed to be.
“This is insane,” Bebe said. “If you insist on treating this as a suspicious situation, the person you should be questioning is Abby, or Bella, or whoever she is. Jasper barely knows her and she’s about to get kicked out of the country. She has nothing to lose.”
“Jasper must know her better than you think,” I said, “considering he’s about to propose.”
Bebe and Miles traded a glance. The act was automatic. They hadn’t been on the outs for long. “Who told you that?” said Bebe.
“I believe that news came from Jade.”
The room was plunged into silence. That told me everything I needed to know. Jade had the inside track on Jasper’s life, and it was common knowledge in the family. The mention of her name was confirmation enough for Bebe. Jasper and Jade were friends, and he confided in her. Jasper did plan to propose to the girl who now sat in the parlor with his blood all over her. When Jasper divulged his secret, Jade immediately turned around and told Ned. Why didn’t Ned pass the news along to Bebe? Where exactly did Ned’s loyalties lie? I wondered the same about Jade. Of all the people in the house she could have told, she didn’t go to a family member but a man she hardly knew.
Something else occurred to me that complicated things further. According to Miles, Jade told him she saw Bebe and Ned sneaking into the shed. If Jade and Jasper were so close that he’d revealed his plans to propose, surely Jade talked to Jasper about the dirt she had on Bebe and Ned. It wasn’t Jasper in that raincoat, peeking through the shed window. But Jasper had to know what was going on.
Dusk was falling on the island. Night was a few hours away still, but the leaden light beyond the window had dimmed. Moments earlier I could see Bebe clearly, but now she sat in shadow. I wanted to flick on a lamp to get a better look at her expression, but I didn’t dare. I didn’t move.
“So who did it?” I said into the void. “I think we all know Jasper didn’t stage that grisly scene up there as a prank. Someone inflicted the wound that resulted in that bloodstain. So was it Ned, or was it Abella? Or”—I looked to Bebe—“was it you?”
She let out a startled laugh. “You can sit here and devise ridiculous theories all night long for all I care. I’m leaving.”
As she stood and turned to go, Bebe knocked my full mug of coffee to the floor. The mottled liquid spread and darkened the antique rug.
“Nana’s going to love that,” said Miles. “Better add it to your list of confessions.”
Bebe’s head whipped around and a look of sheer horror came over her face. “Don’t even think about it. Don’t you dare.”
“It’s not like it would make a difference. She despises you already.”
I watched them carefully, trying to read between the lines. From one second to the next Bebe had changed. Her vigor drained away. Now she looked at Miles with desperation in her eyes. “Please, Miles, you can’t. Tell Flynn, I don’t care. Just don’t tell Nana.”
I was missing something. Camilla wouldn’t approve of the affair, but Bebe wasn’t close to her like Jasper was. What was the worst that could happen if Camilla found out? “Mrs. Sinclair,” I said slowly. “I should warn you, in the course of this investigation your relationship with Mr. Yeboah may well come out to your grandmother.”
She spun around to face me. “No. I won’t allow it. It would be too much for her. Jasper, and that blood . . . it’s all too much.”
I pictured Camilla. Her gaunt face. The wig. The realization hit me like a stream of icy water. “Camilla’s sick.”
“Cancer,” Bebe said, nodding. “She has a few weeks at most. My poor, poor grandmother.” She ratcheted up the sadness in her eyes.