Page 84 of Murder in the Family

I remember that happening. Just dreadful. And you’re sayingRyderwas mixed up in it?

BILL SERAFINI

(nods)

He was one of the injured. He had superficial cuts and a broken arm, spent three days in a Beirut hospital, and then – not surprisingly – decided to leave the country.

The next time we catch up with him is in Assos, where, two years later, he would meet Rupert Howard and the last chapter of his life would start to play out. Not that he knew that then, of course.

HUGO FRASER

Horrible thing to happen, of course, but I can’t see how Ryder being caught up in a bus bomb in Beirut could possibly lead to someone tracking him down and killing him in London six years later.

Mitch’s lead, on the other hand—

There’s a general agreement and nodding of heads.

BILL SERAFINI

Not so fast, folks. That wasn’t the only thing I found out.

He turns and puts up a photo on the pinboard. It’s a well-built young man with dark-blond hair and a confident smile.

HUGO FRASER

Who the hell’s that?

BILL SERAFINI

It’s Luke Ryder.

People stare at one another, and then at Bill, clearly confused.

HUGO FRASER

No it’s not.

BILL SERAFINI

Yes it is. This is the man who left Sydney in November 1995, and was injured in a bus bombing in Beirut in August 1997.

Only he wasn’t injured that day.

He was killed.

The man we’ve been chasing – the man who met Rupert Howard in Greece, the man who married Caroline Howard and ended up beaten to death in her garden – that wasn’t Luke Ryder.

It was an imposter.

FADE OUT

– end credits –

Wrap-up email from Nick Vincent, 5thMay 2023

Importance:High

Date:Fri 5/05/2023, 9.15

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