Page 44 of After the Accident
Daniel:She killed her son. What other argument do you need?
Chapter Twenty-Six
THE HUMAN SUNDIALS
Emma:I want it to be clear that I never went looking for trouble with Daniel. When I went to dinner, he was there. When I went to the pool, he was there. He was in Mum’s cottage and behind the back of mine. I admit that I deliberately wound him up at times – but that only happened because we kept being thrown together. Neither of us were blameless in that regard.
I walked to the village after the argument because there was one thing about Daniel that I’d forgotten I knew. It’s strange how things fall out of your head when there’s a lot going on.
When I got back to the car rental place, Barak recognised me. He went through his whole ‘pretty lady’ routine and told me how he’d saved me the best car once again. I could have mentioned how his last one stopped working in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn’t after another car.
I asked him how he knew Daniel Dorsey.
When he’d been at the pool handing out cards, there was that moment where Barak had called Daniel ‘Mr Dorsey’, despite not being introduced. Daniel insisted he’d never been to the island, but it felt like a lie.
I knew for certain it was a lie when I saw Barak’s reaction.
He stepped away and picked up a clipboard before making it look as if he was busy. In an instant, he went from trying to offer me a car to trying to pretend I wasn’t there. He said: ‘Who?’ and I went through the spiel of what was said at the pool. Barak started saying that it was a misunderstanding, which was exactly what Daniel said at the time.
I don’t think I can explain quite how uncomfortable Barak looked. Whenever you walk past his lot, he would have his arms wide, trying to get people inside. He’s loud and personable and remembers people’s names. I suppose he could have had other concerns – but he went from that to shuffling his feet and keeping his eyes down.
I kept on at him, saying that he knew Daniel – and that Daniel knew him. Barak mumbled something about not wanting to get into it. There were a couple of tourists on the lot by that point and I could tell he was torn.
In the end, Barak said that ‘someone who looked like Mr Dorsey’ had been on the island two or three months before. He couched it by saying that it might have been a brother, or cousin – but we both knew the truth.
After that, Barak went off to talk to the other couple and he was back to his old cheery self, talking about the best cars and so on.
Daniel:This is the final time I will say this: I had never visited Galanikos before that trip with Geoff and Beth.
Emma:I know I keep saying that Daniel isn’t a clever man – but this is an example of what I mean. It’s such a weird thing to lie about. So what if Daniel had been on the island a few months before? He could have said he’d heard Dad talking about it and wanted to see for himself. He could have said he’d read great reviews and wanted a holiday. He could have come up with anything that would have seemed normal. It was the fact he was so insistent on not visiting before that made it suspicious in the first place.
Daniel:People need proof if they’re going to make these allegations.
Emma:I went back to the cottage and locked myself inside with the curtains closed. The envelope I’d taken from Dad’s suitcase was secure in my safe, alongside the letter I’d found at the PO box. I read everything through and couldn’t think of another explanation other than the one I’d come up with.
Dad and Alan had been bringing money to this island over a series of years. After Alan’s death, the money had got stuck, and it was only now that Dad was returning to claim it. I assumed Daniel knew about it. I hoped Mum didn’t… but perhaps that was wishful thinking.
The thing Julius told me about overhearing money disputes – plus the argument Mum spoke of – suddenly made sense. If there were money issues with the company, then no wonder Dad needed to reclaim the cash that had been left building interest on a foreign island.
There were so many more questions than that. Was it a simple tax thing… or something more?
Julius:Did anyone ever see this so-called fake driving licence?
Daniel:Have you seen this so-called fake driving licence? This list of bank account numbers? Have you even checked that this bank exists? I’ve never heard of it.
Emma:Another thing I realised then is that nothing was safe in my room. My phone had already gone missing and then reappeared – so somebody had got in and out without me knowing how. By that time, Daniel would have known I had what he was after.
I put the driving licence, PO box key and bank account letter into a hotel dry-cleaning bag and then buried it under a towel in my beach bag. I didn’t know where I was going to take it, I just knew I needed to get it away from the hotel.
Julius:Just stop for a moment here. Let’s say all this is true: every word of it. Why should Emma care? If there was money that belonged to Dad on an island and he’d gone there to collect it… what’s it got to do with her?
Emma:Daniel and Liz always reserved sun loungers in the spot where there’s the most sun during the morning. The day before, I’d noticed that they left a second set of towels on the other side and then shifted to those as the sun moved around. It’s almost like they were human sundials. You could tell the time of day based upon their position around the pool.
There is no way to leave the hotel from the cottages without going past the pool – so I went the long way around in an attempt to not be noticed. I didn’t see Julius or the girls that morning, but then I was walking as quickly as I could.
I don’t think anyone spotted me, but, even if they had, I was only carrying a beach bag. I went through the lobby and out the front, before heading down the path towards the village. I was trying to look for somewhere safe to leave that dry-cleaning bag. There’s not a bus station as such – but there is a rank where the airport buses stop, and I remembered a row of lockers there. I’d never paid much attention to them but figured I could find out if there was someone in charge and how I could get a key.
I didn’t get that far.
