Chapter 70
Jon
Thursday
Jon paces his office floor. In the conference room down the corridor, the Thursday-morning Heads of Department meeting rumbles on without him.
He’d said he had a conflict. His door is closed and his blinds are drawn and he just needs peace and quiet to think.
He can’t get Leesa’s revelation out of his head.
Susan went somewhere the morning Savannah’s body was found, and she lied about it.
Where was she, and why lie? There could be any number of reasons, realistically—maybe she just needed some time on her own.
A coffee, a massage, a trip to the shops.
But he can’t get away from one possible reason that terrifies him.
And one cold, hard fact: Savannah was wearing the bracelet last week.
And Susan has that bracelet now. What did Susan see?
He needs to talk to someone. And there’s only one person who can help.
Greta picks up, sounding snappish.
“What is it, Jon? I’m having a nightmare day so please don’t make it worse.”
“Do you know where Susan was last week when…when Savannah…”
“What? At home with Bella, I assume. Why?”
“She wasn’t. I found out she asked Leesa to babysit. She said she had physio.”
A sigh. “So presumably she had physio. Look, Jon, I’m dealing with a complete shitshow here. My hockey camp has lost half its members and people want their money back and there’s talk of calling the police and I really don’t need an extra headache.”
“Greta, there is no physio. It’s just something we said when we needed a babysitter for…well, we were going to marriage counseling.”
Silence.
“Greta?”
“You really are some fucker, aren’t you? You were cheating on Susan while going to marriage counseling? Is this all one big joke to you?”
“I thought maybe the counseling would help…”
“I think maybe breaking up the affair would have helped more,” Greta says dryly.
“I know, I know…but Susan suggested counseling and I had no good reason to refuse. She knew there was a distance between us, but she thought it was the pregnancy and the baby.”
“And you let her think that. You’re a monumental dick, Jon, you know that?”
“Absolutely,” Jon says. “But we are where we are, and Susan lied to Leesa about where she was on the morning Savannah…”
Greta barks a laugh. “Oh my god. Next thing you’re going to say is that Susan went to Savannah’s that morning.”
Jon doesn’t laugh.
“Jon, come on. Pull yourself together and think straight. If you fall apart now, we’re both going to be in trouble. You told me you called the gardaí yesterday and gave them Albie Byrne’s name, right?”
“Yes.”
“So they’re probably questioning him as we speak. Anyway, why on earth would you think Susan was anywhere near Savannah?”
“Because Savannah was wearing a bracelet that morning, one I gave her. And now Susan has it.”
“Maybe it’s just a similar bracelet.”
“No, it has an engraving.”
Silence.
“What if Susan was there that morning, Greta?”
“She wasn’t. You’d have seen her. So stop thinking it, and for god’s sake stop saying it out loud. Get back to fixing your marriage, and I’ll get back to fixing my business.”
“What if the police—”
But she’s hung up.