Page 63 of The Last One to See Him

Ellis spins around, frowning. He’s a private person, she’s worked out. ‘Yes?’ he says, his voice laced with annoyance. He probably just wants to get home.

‘Hi, I know you don’t know me, but I really need to talk to you about your wife.’

Everything changes now, and he stares at her. ‘Kate? Is she okay?’

‘Yes, yes – it’s nothing like that. Please – can we just talk quickly? There’s a coffee shop just over there.’ Harper points across the road.

He flicks his wrist and glances at his Apple Watch. ‘I suppose so. But Kate and I are separated. I’m moving out soon and we’re getting a divorce. Unless this is about our son, then?—’

‘It’s not about Thomas. But this is very important.’

He raises his eyebrows; Harper has got his interest now.

‘Let me buy you a coffee,’ she says. ‘Or would you prefer a drink? There’s a bar just a bit further down the road.’

Ellis nods. ‘Okay. Let’s have a drink.’

Once they’re inside the bar, nerves get the better of her. It was one thing getting him here, quite another to convince Ellis to believe what she’s about to say.

She offers to get the drinks, but he insists on getting them and heads to the bar without giving her a choice. At least it gives her a few more moments to prepare.

‘There’s no easy way to say this,’ she says, when he comes back with a beer for himself and tonic water for Harper. ‘And I know this situation is a bit…bizarre because I’m a stranger to you. But…I recently found out that my husband is having an affair.’

‘Oh. I’m sorry,’ Ellis says.

‘And the woman he’s been having an affair with is your wife.’ She watches him, registering the shock on his face.

Ellis composes himself and puts down his glass. ‘I don’t think so. That doesn’t sound like something Kate would do. Honestly. Let’s just say she doesn’t agree with people having affairs.’ He drinks some beer, wiping froth from his mouth with a napkin. ‘I know that from personal experience.’

Harper knows all about Ellis’s affair with the woman he worked with. A one-night silly mistake that came back to haunt him. Hardly comparable to what she’s sure Jamie and Kate Mason have been doing. It was weeks ago she first found that picture of Kate on Jamie’s phone. ‘Forgive me, but isn’t that why Kate left you? Becauseyouhad an affair?’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Does it matter? Am I right? Kate ended your marriage because you made a mistake. Once. No second chances.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ellis says. ‘I betrayed her. And the whole time we’d built our marriage on trust. I don’t blame her for leaving me. She’s always been completely honest with me about…everything. And I threw it back in her face with my deception.’

‘Are you listening to what I’m saying, though?’ Harper says. ‘Why did your marriage end?’

Ellis hangs his head. ‘Because I slept with another woman. But it was just once.’

‘So Kate left you because you had an affair, but she’s been having one too!’

Ellis lifts his head. ‘What?’

‘It’s true. I found a photo of her on my husband’s phone. A few weeks ago. And the date on it was six months ago. That’s before you had your affair, right? And that means that Kate was cheating way before you did.’

In silence, Ellis studies her, scrutinising every inch of her. The atmosphere has changed now, just as she’d expected. ‘Why are you telling me this?’ he says eventually.

‘Because I need proof. I need to get Jamie out of my life and this will help me.’

‘Just confront him. Tell him you’re leaving him.’

Ellis is right – if Jamie were a normal person, then she could do that. But he isn’t, and she will never be rid of him unless she confronts him with irrefutable proof. Conning all those women out of money is one thing, but whatever he’s doing with Kate is something else, and she needs to know what it is.

‘We have a son,’ she says. ‘It’s not straightforward just to walk away without proof.’ She pulls out her phone. ‘This is Jamie. Can you think of any other reason your husband might know Kate?’

Ellis studies the picture. ‘I’ve never seen him. And I’ve never heard Kate mention anyone called Jamie.’ He sighs. ‘We have a son too. Divorce messes kids up.’

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