I needed fresh air. There was a lump in my throat I couldn’t swallow. My mind tripped over what my mother would’ve thought of the scene. Her eldest daughter dead, her husband and younger daughter at daggers. My mother had always seemed sad when I was growing up—no matter what good thing was on the horizon, there was a dark shadow trailing behind it. If I was honest, she hadn’t been wrong.

As I exited the church, the guards shot me a curious glance, but the one who’d hassled me was gone. I clattered down the steps. It was a sunny day, for April. I stayed upwind of a forlorn clump of smokers. On the sidewalk stood a creep with a camera, and he pointed the lens at me. I turned away, pulling out my phone. I needed a distraction before I exploded.

That was the moment I first saw the email. You have a private message from Caroline Crawley.

My sister had been Caroline Thraxton since her wedding day. The sight of her birth name made the message seem like something out of time, a digital relic of a person who’d vanished four years ago.

When I clicked on it, the screen turned parchment yellow. Osiris’s Vault keeps all your data safe and secure, read the text at the top of the screen. Caroline Crawley wants you to read this letter.

There was an image of Osiris, the green-faced Egyptian god who was hacked to bits by his brother and reassembled by his sister. Mythology had been my thing as a kid, and I still loved it. Caro liked to tease me about the tattoo of an ankh—the Egyptian key of life—on my shoulder. Was this a sick joke? I scrolled down.

Written above a text box were the words Caroline’s message to you. I took a breath.

Deirdre,

I keep thinking of Mom, and how you never believe you’re going to end up like one of your parents, until you do.

If you’re reading this, I’m already dead. No matter what it looks like, my death won’t be an accident. Theo killed his first wife and got away with it. Bring him to justice, no matter what you have to do.

I love you, Dodo. Always.

Caro

CHAPTER 2 DEIRDRE

CHAPTER 2

DEIRDRE

The words on the screen bled and swirled together. I shut my eyes, unsure what trick was being played on me. But when I looked again, Caro’s message was still there. It was my head that was spinning.

“You’re Caroline’s sister, aren’t you?”

The woman speaking was about the same age as me, but she wore a pink suit that looked expensive and matronly. She was skinny and coiffed like a weather girl, and she wore so much shiny makeup that her face glittered like a disco ball as the sun peeped out behind a cloud.