Chapter 15. Should You Say the First Thing That Comes to Mind When You’re Being Questioned? #2
Elizabeth picks up the evidence bag. “It looks like something that was 3D-printed. Perhaps from a plan found on the dark web.”
“How do you know about such things?” Officer Rolle asks.
“Book research,” we say together.
“Eleanor is correct. A hazard of our profession, I’m afraid. One has to go to some of the darkest places to find ideas, plug plot holes, and fill in details.”
“I see. And you’ve seen these plans?”
“Not at all. I’m merely saying that there are many things like that available at the end of a few keyword searches. I’m sure it will have occurred to you that anyone who knows the details of that previous case would know about this device.”
“I don’t think that particular detail is public, though,” I say.
“How would you know?” Officer Rolle says.
“Because of my book. Amalfi Made Me Do It. It’s coming out in a few weeks, and it’s a fictionalized account of what happened in Italy.
I read all the news reports to make sure I got the details right, then used creative license where I needed to turn it into fiction.
The news reports don’t mention it. But…”
“Yes?”
“It is in the book. That device. I included that detail.”
“But this book isn’t out yet?”
“No, but there are lots of advance reader copies around.”
“What is that?”
“Before a book comes out, the publisher distributes early copies to reviewers and other authors to get endorsements.”
“Who did they send it to?”
“I don’t have the list. Vicki would have it.”
“Anyone here?”
“My sister has read it, and Oliver. Vicki, of course, she’s my editor. That TikTok guy, Stefano. And Sandrine, I think. Not sure about anyone else.”
So, basically everyone.
“I received a copy, I believe,” Elizabeth says. “Never got to it, though, I’m afraid.”
“That’s fine, Elizabeth. It doesn’t matter.”
“I will get a copy of this list.” Officer Rolle marks it down. “Anything else?”
“I’d look into how Guy got the job here.”
“Yes, I plan to.”
“What happened to the previous person?”
“Mr. Knowles said he’d received a better offer.”
“Is he still in the Bahamas?”
“Not that I am aware of.”
“And the other victim, Brian? There must be a connection between him and Guy.”
Officer Rolle sits back again and strokes his chin. “If Mr. Charles was the intended victim.”
“If?”
“You said before, it was dark. Perhaps they made a mistake. Tell me more about what happened. What did you see, exactly?”
I do my best to think back. “I only heard them. I felt them, really. You know how you can feel someone standing behind you sometimes?”
“So, they were behind you?”
“Yes, but…”
“Could they have mistaken you and Mr. Charles? Was it dark enough?”
“It was very dark. And it was hard for your eyes to adjust because of the light that Elizabeth was holding.”
“A light?”
“For effect,” Elizabeth says. “It’s a technique Blackbeard used.”
“The pirate?”
“To draw attention.”
“Did anyone know you intended to do this? Use the light?”
“I may have mentioned it, I don’t recall.” She gives a small cough. “But what does this have to do with how Eleanor might have been the intended victim?”
“I need to explore the possibility. Particularly given what we found in the first victim’s room.”
“Which was?” Elizabeth asks.
Officer Rolle looks at me. “Confidential.”
My hands start to prick again, and I clutch them against my thighs. “Am I in danger?”
“I think everyone here is in danger.”
“We should cancel the conference.”
“You can do so if you wish. However, you will not be able to leave Nassau until we discover who the perpetrator is. And we do not have the resources to monitor everyone.”
“I’m sure Mr. Knowles will be pleased to have so many guests staying on…” I say.
“For now, we might as well press on,” Elizabeth says. “Let the participants get their money’s worth.”
“And get murdered?”
“I doubt any of them is a target.”
“You don’t always have to be the target to catch a stray bullet.”
“An excellent point, Ms. Dash. And hopefully, we have eliminated any more guns from this campus.”
“Any more?”
“One was found in Mr. Charles’s room.”
“He seems to have a way with bringing weapons into countries where they do not belong.”
“Another point to investigate. But this one was not used, thankfully.”
“Not yet,” I say. “You’ve heard of Chekhov’s gun?”54
“Was that a joke, Ms. Dash?”
“I hope so.”
“Can you think of any reason why someone here might want you dead?”
I hesitate. Wasn’t I making a list of potential suspects just a few pages ago? I was, I was. But I don’t have any evidence. “There are people here who do not like me. Mr. Botha did express that he blamed me for his brother’s death. And Sandrine is angry at me over something I didn’t do.”
“Which is?”
“She said I stole her book plot. Which I did not do.”
“Anyone else?”
I glance at Elizabeth. She’s watching me with curiosity. “Not that I can think of. Well, I guess you should put Cathy on the list. Though she’s been stalking me for years, so I don’t know why she’d decide to kill me now, after all this time.”
“Is that all?”
“Stefano may have a bone or two to pick with me.”
So, again, basically everyone.
“About?”
I explain about the bad review. My cutting off his access to review copies. It sounds petty to say it out loud.
Do people kill people for petty reasons?
They do.
But do they put together a whole plan of attack to do it? It seems too much. It doesn’t make sense. Not unless I’m missing something major here.55
So it must be Guy who was the intended victim. That makes more sense. Because one thing in books that’s different from life is that the victim is often a villain.
And Guy is a villain.
Hmmm. Do you even know when you’re a villain? What’s that thing the kids say? “My villain origin story”? If I have one, it was meeting Connor. But that was a long time ago in another country. Italy. A country that keeps showing up here like a bad penny.
“Are we done here?” I ask.
“For now.”
I stand and hold back Elizabeth’s chair, then help her up. “I’ll let you know if I think of anything more.”
“Yes, please do. And Ms. Dash? You’re not planning on investigating this on your own, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Wow. Look how easily that lie slipped out.
You should remember that, too.56