Werner also took another. There was a dab of cream on it, and gold-colored pearls. Miniature masterpieces, made with great care.

A British couple sitting opposite Helen had already polished off at least six. The woman was slim and chic. Her husband had a slight paunch, but none of the guests in the lounge had the sort of figure you would expect to see on somebody who regularly overindulged in these calorie bombs.

Werner followed her gaze. “Once they’ve finished their afternoon tea, I’m sure they’ll both spend hours running around the ninety-three acres of garden and parkland, looking for flowers for their room.”

The woman heard Werner’s overly affected English pronunciation and shot him an irritated look.

“You’re being told off.” Helen kept her head still, but pointed the woman out with her eyes.

Werner raised his hand and winked at the guest, who turned away. “That must be because I don’t know what ‘the done thing’ is. Nouveaux riches, madame—my apologies.”

Helen almost choked on a mouthful of cake and held her hand over her nose and mouth, coughing.

Werner grinned at her over the rim of his china cup. There he was again, thought Helen: Werner as she used to know him, the boy she had fallen in love with. He was still there, then, hidden under his pragmatic and irritable exterior. She leaned forward to take his hand, but he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“The light in here is really nice.” Werner stood up. “Come on. Let’s take a photo for the folks at home.”

22

22

“Why would your father want to murder your mother?” asked Ralf. “Because of the alimony?”

Sara had leapt up from her bed and was standing in the middle of her lavishly furnished room, staring at the wall. “Alimony?”

Ralf tried to imagine how he would feel if somebody told him that one of his ex-girlfriends had conspired with his father to murder his mother. He couldn’t—he didn’t know where to start. It was totally insane.

Sara’s phone buzzed. Just once, discreetly. She paid it no attention. “Alimony?” she repeated. Her eyes were moist.

Ralf wanted to tell her what he had seen. Compared to what Sara had just learned about her father, the news that he also had a girlfriend on the side didn’t seem particularly shocking. It was like telling someone who’d severed an artery that they’d also grazed their knee. But when he saw how hurt Sara already was—how disillusioned and deeply betrayed—he decided to keep it to himself for the time being. “Yeah, I don’t know. Obviously he wants to get rid of her. He must be afraid that he’d have to pay her too much money if they got a divorce.”

“The business doesn’t belong to my father.”

He hadn’t seen that one coming. “What do you mean?”