Page 23 of One Last Secret

I am far too overwhelmed to sleep, so I make myself some tea and return to the living room. I replay every event that led up to Victor’s disappearance in my head and try to come to some hypothesis about what might have happened.

The strongest and most unfortunate possibility is that Victor disappeared of his own accord. His sanity was hanging by only the slightest of threads. I can’t discount the hypothesis that he simply had a mental break and left for parts unknown. Perhaps he will return some days later, thin and subdued, but sobered by his experience and purged of whatever demons plagued him.

But I don’t think so. He was unwell, but he loved his daughter. That brief glimpse in the kitchen was enough to show me that whatever his faults, he would never abandon Celeste. Perhaps he’d wander off for a few hours, but he would return.

No, something happened to him. Someone attacked him, and if they didn’t kill him, they kidnapped him.

But why? Who could have such a motive?

Evelyn is the obvious first choice. Sophie Lacroix—the murderer of my last employer—worked for my employer for over thirty years only to learn that he had liquidated her life’s savings. She took revenge on him. Like Evelyn, Sophie seemed to care deeply for his children, so Evelyn’s affection for Celeste is not an indicator of innocence.

What is an indicator of innocence is the fact that she lives in her own home with a husband who also works and children of her own, children to whom she returned tonight. She cares for Celeste, but she is also removed from her and from Victor. She has a life outside of this job that she has worked hard to maintain. It’s notproofof innocence, but it does raise doubts that will have to be resolved before I’m comfortable naming her the murderer or kidnapper.

The other suspect is Lisa Reinhardt. Celeste’s hatred of her was palpable. Prior to the beach outing, it was the strongest display of emotion I’d seen from her. There must be a reason for that, and I doubt that it’s just jealousy or ordinary dislike. I’ll have to ask Celeste about it when she’s ready.

My own impression of Lisa is as I relate to Detective Reyes. She’s uptight and self-important. Because of this, she has a fragile ego. She took Victor’s jibe about commercializing his art personally.

But then Marcus called Victor on his hypocrisy and Victor admitted to it. She won that little verbal sparring match. And if Victor makes her money being alive and completing art, then why on Earth would she want him lost or dead andnotmaking art?

It’s a frustrating conundrum in which I find myself. The most likely suspect based on concrete evidence is Evelyn. The most likely suspect based on subjective analysis is Victor himself. The most likely suspect based on my own observations is Lisa. As for my intuition?

I don’t have one yet. This is still too new and shocking.

The only intuition I have is that this vanishing point is at the center of it. I must learn from Celeste exactly what that is. Does it refer specifically to the spot in the cove where Elias Blackwood committed suicide? Or does it refer to the general loss of people important to her? Or perhaps it means something else entirely?

I have finally fatigued myself with the whirlwind of thoughts my mind is dealing with. I head upstairs to my room and go to bed, leaving the door open so I can hear if Celeste wakes.

A part of me hopes that the dawn will rise on Victor’s safe return, or at least on some clarity surrounding his disappearance.

But I know better. Things are never that easy. If I ever learn what happened to Victor Holloway, it will be after grueling deduction and observation.

Fortunately, I am no stranger to this situation. Iwillfind an answer. Celestewillreceive justice, and so will Victor.

With that affirmation, I finally close my eyes and allow myself to sleep.

CHAPTER TEN

I call Sean first thing in the morning. He answers on the first ring, far more alert than he usually is at this time of day. “Hey, Mary. I’m afraid I don’t have any new information yet. Other than what I sent you before we came here, there doesn’t seem to be anything floating around out there about Annie. Have you had a chance to talk to Victor?”

“You haven’t heard?”

He pauses. “Christ in Heaven, Mary. Don’t tell me he’s dead.”

“I very much hope not.”

Another pause. “Why does that sound worse somehow? What happened?”

“He’s vanished.”

“What do you mean, he’s vanished.”

“There aren’t very many possible meanings to that, Sean.”

“All right, all right,” he says in an injured tone. “So he’s missing.”

I rub my temples. “Yes.”

“Well, shite. That complicates things. Foul play?”

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