Page 77 of The House Guest

Wanda cleared her throat. ‘By the time they got to junior high, Gabriel was designing computer games. Good games. He used to copy them on to cassette and sell them at school. My source remembers one calledTempestin which you were the ruler of this island and had to control all these characters, make them do what you wanted.’

‘Just like in the play.’

‘Yep.’

‘The play Ruth was in when Mona met her.’

Which had come first, I wondered? Had Mona encountered Ruth on the cruise and told Gabriel about her – this hot young actress who was appearing in a play he was obsessed with? Or had he seen the movie first, then discovered Ruth was going to be appearing in his favourite play? He would have seen it as a sign, surely. And then sent Mona to make contact with her.

It could have been either scenario.

Wanda went on. ‘Apparently, Gabriel’s computer-game enterprise ended when some bigger, tougher kids tried to muscle in, insisted that he had to pay them for protection and a sixty per cent cut of what he was making. He refused, and these kids beat the crap out of him. He ended up in the hospital, needed eye surgery. These kids all blamed each other and the cops could never prove which one of them had done it, plus they had rich parents who could afford good lawyers so they got away with it.’ She paused. ‘All those kids are dead now. They died over a five-year period. A series of accidents.’

I let this sink in. ‘What happened next?’

‘This is where it grows more murky. Gabriel moved to a new school so my source lost direct contact with him. But his mom told him later that Gabriel had gone to Columbia to study psychology, which was a big surprise to everyone. They thought he’d do computer science or maybe even drama.’

‘He wanted to learn how people tick,’ I said. ‘So he could manipulate them. Control them. Just like Prospero.’

InThe Tempest, Prospero rules the island he has been exiled to along with his daughter, Miranda. He causes the shipwreck and uses sorcery, and a spirit called Ariel, to monitor and direct the actions of the other characters.

‘You think he’s modelled himself on this fictional character?’ Wanda asked. ‘You’re a playwright too, aren’t you? It sounds like the kind of interpretation you’d come up with.’

‘True.’

‘All I know is that, for a few years after that, Gabriel disappeared. My source doesn’t know what happened to him and I haven’t come across anything online yet. But the article I found told me that he began to build up his portfolio of stocks and shares in dot-coms and other tech companies in the early 2000s. He was an early investor in this start-up that Google bought for a billion. Then he invested in property too. He’s seriously rich. Seriously, seriously rich.’

I wondered if he’d also bankrolled Mona’s businesses. Maybe even helped her buy the house in Williamsburg. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Mona’s family were rich, weren’t they? Maybe she’d loaned him money for his first investments. That made sense.

I remembered the first time I’d met her, in the lounge bar on the cruise ship. I had been sitting in the corner, writing, and she and Jack had sat at the next table, soon drawing me into a conversation. Mona must have realised I was Ruth’s boyfriend and had targeted me for information. Soon, she would befriend us both – or pretend to. It had happened just a few months ago, but it seemed like a lifetime.

‘From everything I’ve found out, I’m convinced he’s our guy,’ Wanda said. ‘He lives in his tower in Brooklyn, in the penthouse.’

I brought up Google Maps on my computer and found the address she had given me earlier. It was just a few miles north of Williamsburg. I switched to Street View, so I could see the tower. Fifty storeys of glistening glass and steel, though Street View only showed its base.

‘She’s there,’ I said. ‘Ruth. She has to be. So what’s the plan? Do we call the police?’

‘And say what? We think one of New York’s richest men is operating a cult out of his luxury building?’

‘But ... if he’s holding Ruth against her will. And what about Callum’s daughter, Sinead?’

‘We have no proof Gabriel is holding anyone against their will. We have no proof of criminal activities at all.’

‘What about Brandon? Jesse’s friend? The one who was knifed in the park. They murdered him.’

‘Again, we have no proof that’s linked to Gabriel or his people.’

‘And Jack? Krugman shot him. Then got some poor sucker to confess to it.’

‘Adam, do you really want to go to the police right now and talk about Krugman? Are you out of your mind?’

She was right.

‘So what are we going to do?’ I asked.

‘I can start working on a story. Talk to more people. There must be cleaners, maintenance staff in that building we could talk to. We can go through Gabriel’s financial dealings, look for irregularities ...’

‘No! That’s too slow!’ I stared at the map. ‘There must be something—’

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