“Shouldn’t the question be—do I drink to forget? Because the answer to that is yes. Absolutely. As much and as often as I can. But that night...it sounds completely lame, but I really don’t remember it. Last thing I remember was having a steak and a glass of wine at the bar. I woke up in her bed. I was naked, she was naked. Draw your own conclusions. Everyone else did.”

“It explains why Wilde would try to blackmail you. Though if you admitted it to Sutton, the power he had over you was gone. Why try again now?”

Because I didn’t tell her the whole truth. “I don’t know. The last we heard from Wilde, he was claiming Sutton wrote my books.”

“And you think he’s trying to blackmail Sutton, too?”

“Sutton’s always been blameless in all of this. It was stupid of her to engage, but Wilde is the one who dragged it on and on. Maybe he did try to take advantage, and she didn’t tell me.”

“Not entirely blameless. She did light a bag of dog poop on fire on the reviewer’s doorstep. Thanks again for sending the video. That helped.”

Ethan shook his head. “I told you before, I didn’t send you anything.”

“You didn’t?” The cop’s voice was light. “Are you entirely sure, Mr. Montclair? Because as I mentioned before, I did receive the video in an email that traces back to your IP address.”

“Let me see the email.”

The cop was watching him like a hawk above a field, sharp and wanting. There was more, she was holding something back.

“Let me see it again,” he demanded.

“You’re telling me unequivocally you didn’t email me the video of your wife?”

“No, I didn’t. Why would I? What would it gain?”

“You’d be helping the investigation.”

“I’d be discrediting my wife, is more like it. Let me see it.”

Holly didn’t move.

“Please, Officer Graham. May I see the video again?”

Finally, she pulled out her phone. The email address was indecipherable. She queued it up. Ethan watched. When it finished, Graham said, “One problem. Your friend Ellen thinks it’s a fake.”

“What do you mean?”

She queued up the video again. “Ellen felt this wasn’t actually Sutton.”

“That’s crazy. You’d think I’d recognize my own wife.”

“Watch it again.”

He did. Closely. Raised his eyes to the clear hazel of the investigator’s who held his life in her hands.

“Bloody hell. Ellen’s right. It’s not her.”

When All You Know Is False

WHEN ALL YOU KNOW IS FALSE

They played it back again, and again, until Ethan couldn’t see any vestiges of Sutton anymore.