“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.