The lieutenant raised a bristly gray eyebrow, and I went on. “Ned told me he’d bunked in the library. But when I pressed Miles about his sleeping arrangements with Bebe, he claimed he did the same thing. Miles was quick to accept my suggestion that he’d been downstairs, far away from the murder scene. He knew Norton would corroborate his story. What he didn’t know was that Ned already occupied the library couch. Guess they didn’t notice him when they moved Jasper’s body out of the house in the dark. Once I concluded Norton and Miles were covering for each other, I put the rest—their past, their relationship—together from there.”

I told Lieutenant Henderson everything I knew, including what I learned after Maureen McIntyre pulled me and Jade out of the river. Norton contacted Miles two years ago, hoping to make amends. Miles was still furious, but when he heard about the Sinclairs and Norton’s life with Camilla, it got him thinking. It was easy to track Bebe down in the city. Miles couldn’t compete with her wealth, but a lawyer with a beautiful teenage daughter was a respectable choice for a middle-aged woman who’d never been married, and Bebe bit. Miles convinced Norton it was better not to tell Jade who he was until she got older. Best not to upset the child. Let her get to know you first, he said.

Miles and Jade fit right into the Sinclair family. Jade got close to Jasper, who treated her like a peer and not the child she was, while Norton got to know his granddaughter after years of estrangement. Miles assured his father all was forgiven. But it didn’t take Miles long to discover Sinclair Fabrics wasn’t the cash cow he believed it to be. He made his move when his daughter finally spilled a secret worth knowing: Jasper was worried his grandmother was too close to Norton and feared Norton would take advantage of her trust.

It never occurred to Norton to manipulate his situation with Camilla. But Miles made sure to explain how much was at stake. If the business went down, the island would go with it. As a lawyer, however, Miles could help Norton retain his access to the land. If Norton could convince Camilla to will the island to him, he could protect it from Bebe and Flynn. The place Norton treasured, which he’d come to think of as home, would be safe. Jasper was the only thing standing in their way. Norton was understandably reluctant. He told Miles he had no intention of signing up for bloodshed. But as his young granddaughter’s infatuation turned into a serious obsession, it was decided. Jasper had to go.

“I know men like Miles,” I said. “He used Norton’s love of the island and guilt about abandoning his son to twist his thoughts. Jasper may have been a great guy, but he was still a Sinclair, and that made him everything Norton could never be—wealthy, privileged, able to provide for a family. Meanwhile, Norton had just gained a son and granddaughter. His luck had finally changed. He didn’t want Jade to end up pregnant and jilted any more than Miles did. Norton isn’t entirely heartless. It was his idea to hide the body so Camilla would be spared some heartache. By the time Jasper disappeared, the will had been changed. The island was his.”