“No. Suicide. He knew he was slowly going insane. He was losing his talent and his control. Looking back, I have concluded that was when the serum started to become a problem. The plants used in the formula had been mutating for years because of the radiation from the Vortex machine. Initially my father thought that the increasing potency was a good thing. Yes, we had to take the injections more often. Yes, more treatments inside the chamber were required. But the trade-off was increased talent. But in the past couple of years deterioration has set in. No amount of serum can stop it. And then Vortex went into meltdown. That’s when I knew I had to find the camera.”

“You used Sefton to find Grace Goodwin’s daughter—my mother.”

“Sefton had kept track of a few close friends who had survived the layoffs,” Spode said. “He knew your grandmother had a daughter and that there was a possibility she had inherited the camera. His dementia made it difficult to question him but I eventually got the facts I needed to find your mother.”

“You contacted her, told her you were from the Foundation. That the camera was dangerous. She mentioned my grandmother’s paintings. You conned her into giving everything to you, and then you murdered her.”

“A costly miscalculation on my part,” Spode admitted.

It was all she could do to keep from flying at him, fingers flexed to claw out his eyes. But the reality was that, even though he looked ill, he was physically a lot stronger than she was. She was buying time.

“How long did it take you to realize you couldn’t work the camera?” she asked.

“I wasted months trying to use Vortex to tune the vibe to my signature. A few weeks ago I gave up.”

“You decided to see if I could resonate with the camera. You got Gwendolyn Swan involved. How much does she know about Vortex and you?”

“Enough.”

That wasn’t much of an answer, but this wasn’t the time to push for more.

“Who was your father?” she asked.

“He was the greatest success of the Vortex machine, the first Piper.”

“He was the monster who murdered my grandparents and everyone else he could find who was associated with Vortex.”

Spode’s eyes heated with sudden rage. “My father was the future.”

“And your mother?”

“My father had an affair with her. He never brought her to the island. As far as she knew he was a consultant for an international firm. I didn’t see much of him when I was young, but when I started to come into my talent, he realized I was his heir. My mother died when I was thirteen. My father brought me here.”

“Convenient.”

Spode frowned. “What?”

“Your mother’s death just as you came into your other senses.”

Fury blazed in Spode’s eyes. “It was an accident.”