Henry stood there in the pantry, frozen. It made so much sense. There wasn’t a photo or a mention of the murder weapon in the paper because maybe the murder weapon was never found. Claudine had hung on to it all these years, just in case she needed to keep Henry in check, remind him she was in control of his fate. Now he was talking about quitting the company? Putting the statue in the Secret Santa was her way of reminding him that she was the one who made those decisions. They were finished only when she said they were finished.

He was embarrassed he hadn’t figured it out sooner. Now that he had, though, he had the upper hand. But upper hand to do what? “We have to outplay them,” Claudine had said. He had no idea how to do that or what that even meant. He went to get another drink and think it over before heading back to the game. How was he supposed to outplay her?

Claudine

Of course it had crossed Claudine’s mind that Henry might’ve brought the statue. He was the first person she thought of. All that talk about quitting the business and leaving the state. If he had somehow managed to get his hands on it, wouldn’t that put him in a pretty little spot to ask of her anything he wanted? Dangling the old murder weapon in front of her. Reminding her he could throw away everything in a minute. Threatening to tell the world what they had done so she’d set him free. She hadn’t listened to him when he tried to talk to her about it. Maybe this was the only way he could get her attention and force her to take him seriously.

But she had immediately ruled him out based on his initial reaction. First his cluelessness, then his fear: it seemed genuine. Then his drinking. If he was in control he wouldn’t slip up like that. But he had proven to be a surprisingly good liar. Honestly, she never thought he’d be able to keep their secret all these years. She thought for sure he’d crack, wind up in the hospital with a nervous breakdown a lot sooner than he did.

When he scampered off with Jules to get the candles was when she finally took him seriously as a suspect. No, she never believed he would cheat on her. But then, she never believed she’d ever see that statue again. Tonight had proven that anything was possible. Was Jules in on it with him? Had she coached him on how to react? When he said he wanted to leave town, was it Jules he was planning on taking rather than Claudine?