“Sure it is. It’s a goddamn gold mine. But Tern belongs to Camilla.”

“Can’t she loan Flynn and Bebe the money to get the business back on its feet?”

He flinched and said, “How should I know?”

Camilla. The previous day, when Jasper and Abella planned to play cards with Camilla, it was Ned they’d chosen to round out the game. In his interview, Flynn told me Ned encouraged him to drop in on Camilla. Ned knew she’d been waiting for Flynn to arrive at the island. That meant Ned had spent time with her already.

“I know Camilla’s sick,” I said. “There’ll be an inheritance soon. Why would Flynn and Bebe need Jasper’s savings if they have more money coming to them?”

“Not my family, not my problem. Look, that’s all I know.” Ned leaned back in his chair and tried to look confident. “We done?”

I’d gone into the interview believing Ned Yeboah was pivotal to the case. He’d been disingenuous with Flynn, and his behavior on the island was troublesome. Yes, he’d shown loyalty to Jasper and Abella, his besties from the city. As for Bebe, the woman he was sleeping with, he’d just called her a liar.

I wanted to believe Ned was an honorable person. I don’t know any hardened criminals who voluntarily spend their weekends cleaning up dog poop. I had to admit, though: the man was starting to piss me off. I’d waited all day to talk to him, and while he’d given me more to work with than the others, he was still holding out. Flynn, Bebe, Abella, Miles . . . every road led back to Ned.

“You wanna be done?” I said. “Okay, let’s finish with a recap. Jasper’s been missing for hours and that’s blood up there on his sheets, a lot of it. He was here last night, and now he’s not. This house is filled with his closest family and friends. I have a hard time believing not one of you knows what happened here.”

I tented my fingers and studied his face. “It’s been a long day, Ned, and I’ve conducted a lot of interviews. Would you care to know what I found when I grilled the others? I found you. You and Bebe.” I nodded at the window. “Out there, in that shed.”

Ned’s face opened up in surprise, and I felt a prickle of fear. Was it possible I was wrong? “You’re having an affair with her,” I said, pushing harder. “You’re sleeping with Bebe behind Flynn’s and Jasper’s backs, and yesterday somebody caught you. There was no mistaking what they saw. I have to tell you, Ned, it’s been suggested you might not have been so sorry to wake up and find Jasper gone. That maybe you had something to do with our missing person and his blood.”

“That’s bullshit. Who said that?”

“You say Jasper’s a good friend, but it looks to me like you used him to get to Flynn and now Bebe.”