“No, it was more than that. I asked her once if she missed Sweden, missed her family. She shrugged and told me that her parents had always been cold and distant with her. I think they had her later in life and that she was a surprise, and not a particularly happy one. Hannah said she always knew that, and as a result, spent her childhood feeling lonely and unwanted. Maybe that’s why she needed attention, craved it even. And I could tell that Parker was under her spell, just by the way he looked at her. It wasn’t just that he lusted after her, although I’m sure that was part of it. He’d look at her like she was the most precious thing in his world.” Diana looked at me. “I think he was in love with her. Deeply, deeply in love with her.”

“Did James know?”

Diana shrugged. “I don’t know the answer to that. And I don’t know if he and Parker ever discussed it. Before Hannah went missing, or after.”

“Did Parker tell you what happened that night when he followed Hannah?”

“He said he didn’t catch up to her until she’d already reached the beach. There was a full moon that night. Apparently, it was so bright, Parker said it was almost like there was a spotlight shining on the water. Parker asked her what she was doing, and she told him that she wanted to see how far out she could swim. And then—” Diana paused. “Parker said Hannah started taking her clothes off.”

I tried to picture this scene in my mind. The lovely Hannah undressing in the moonlight. The lovestruck Parker watching her.

“What did he do?”

“He said he told her to stop. That it wasn’t safe to swim at night, especially after they’d had so much to drink.”

“That doesn’t sound like Parker.”

“No, I agree. Although he was always loyal to James, so maybe he’d hesitate to skinny-dip with his fiancée.”

Despite the fact that I’d known about the engagement for a week now, the word “fiancée” still cut through me.

“What happened then?”

“According to Parker, Hannah turned nasty. She called him names I won’t repeat, and then shouted at him to go away. Which he says he did.”

“And, what, he just left her there?”

“According to Parker, he went back to the campsite and fell asleep. And then the next morning, when Hannah hadn’t come back, Parker panicked.”

“But why didn’t you tell the police any of this?”