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‘Janine, please. You have to know – I’m so sorry for your loss. I hardly knew him but Aaron was absolutely devastated when he heard Kostas had passed. The police said he was high when he crashed? That’s probably …’
‘Yes, on drugs that Aaron gave him!’
Olivia shook her head. ‘I know Aaron. He would never have given Kostas drugs. He wanted him clean.’
‘Oh, you know Aaron, do you? Is that what he told you? I bet he conveniently left out the fact that he’d visited the studio that afternoon, didn’t he? Kostas was painting – as always – even though it was the night of his big auction. Aaron made it clear that this was Kostas’s last shot. If he didn’t attend, and if his painting didn’t sell, he’d be dropped as a client. How cruel is that? He only ever saw Kostas as a money ticket – not for his talent. But Kostas didn’t care about schmoozing with buyers or being represented by some dealer. All he wanted to do was create.
‘I left to get us some food. It was always a struggle to get him to eat when he was in his creative flow. He didn’t like seeing anyone at that time either. That’s why I was surprised to see Aaron’s car leaving the driveway. When I got in, I knew something was wrong. I walked into the studio and that’s when I found him.’
Her eyes welled with tears. ‘He was acting strange, erratic. But he’d been sober for so long; I didn’t think … then I saw his eyes. His pupils were all dilated and weird. He was so far gone I barely recognized him. I didn’t think he should go to the auction in that state but he insisted. Now he was all amped up and excited – exactly Aaron’s intention.
‘He insisted on driving, even though I didn’t want him to. Begged him not to. I don’t have a licence or else I would have done it. He wouldn’t let me get in the car with him, though, so I had to follow behind in the cab. If you hadn’t been so stupid, stepping out right in front of him, he would have made it. And you just ran away. The police didn’t even question you. No one even knew you were there!’
Janine clenched her jaw. ‘But it was worth it for you, wasn’t it, when the auction lot sold for millions …? The rumours around his death were exactly the extra-special magic that Aaron needed. Do you think Kostas’s family saw any of that? No. What about the foundation he dreamed of starting? Not a penny. After his death, all the profit from his sales went directly to the Hunt Advisory. He’d signed over all his copyright. To you and Aaron.’
‘But, Janine … Aaron couldn’t have known Kostas would die that night.’
‘He might not have known your role in it. But he knew what the drugs would do to my sweet Kostas. I told the police that I’d seen you, but there was no way of finding you. Even then – seeing you behind bars wouldn’t be any sort of punishment. Not for how you went on to profit from his death. When I heard about this cruise ship deal, I couldn’t believe it. Mass-producing his beautiful art, watering it down, wringing as much out of his work as you can. But I was never going to let you get away with it.’
Janine’s voice was full of raw emotion, and part of Olivia wished she could reach out and hug her. In so many ways she agreed with her – the showcase, as it had happened, wasn’t what Kostas would have wanted. It wasn’t what Aaron had wanted. But there was no way Janine would listen in her current state. In the next moment, Janine jabbed the knife towards Olivia’s chest, snagging it on the material of her parka. Olivia yelped and took a step back.
‘I booked my passage on the ship, so I could get to you all,’ Janine said. ‘Aaron was the easiest. I’ve been threatening to expose him for months with footage of him giving Kostas the drugs. Leaving him notes. Text messages. Never letting him forget what he did, not even for a moment. All I had to do was lure him off the ship then kill him in the hotel room. I was back on board before anyone noticed.’
Olivia let out a cry that barely sounded human. Aaron was dead? All that time she’d spent being angry at him, cursing him, then wanting to make him proud … and Janine had just coldly confessed to his murder.
‘I thought you would be easy too – you’d drink the spiked champagne I had Liam put in your room and that would be it. Two down. But you didn’t drink it.’
‘The … the couple. The honeymooners. You killed them? And then you just carried on with the cruise?’
Janine’s eyes flashed. ‘How was I to know you would switch cabins? At least I’d taken Aaron’s phone before I left him, so I could throw you off the scent. Then I saw that Art Abroad guy utterly ruining Kostas’s vision. Luckily he was such a small man, I didn’t have any trouble staging his death either. And after Liam told you he had been bribed to put the bottle in the room – I couldn’t risk him telling the police when we got back. Now …’
Olivia’s mind was spinning. Janine had killed Stefan and Liam too. She thought of Stefan hanging from the window, then Liam’s body that they had dragged together on the pulk.
The extent of what Janine was capable of was sinking in. The body count she’d left in her wake. If Olivia didn’t get out of here quickly, she was going to be next. But she could hardly see through her tears, hardly think through the fog of grief that had descended. Aaron, gone. She thought she was going to be sick. ‘Janine … you’re right. I am to blame.’ Olivia sucked in a shuddering breath. She dropped her head in her hands. ‘I blame myself. I should have been the one driving Kostas that day. Aaron had asked me to pick him up, and his social media assistant. That was you, wasn’t it? Although obviously you were so much more than that. I am so, so sorry. But don’t think I don’t hate myself every day for my part in what happened.’
Janine blinked. For a moment, Olivia wondered ifby accepting some culpability, she had got through to her.
‘I thought we were becoming friends,’ Olivia continued.
‘Your apologies are not enough,’ said Janine. ‘I have to finish what I started.’ She took a step forward.
Olivia recoiled. Janine might be grieving, but she was also a cold-blooded killer. She’d proved that. It was all so senseless. Yennin’s death was an unspeakable tragedy, and she knew she’d played her part, but it didn’t warrant the murder and carnage that Janine had wreaked.
‘You won’t escape the police just because we’re in Antarctica. You won’t get away with any of this. But if you let me go, I’ll make sure Yennin’s art – his legacy – is respected. You know him best. Whatever you think he would want, whatever his family wants, I’ll make sure it happens. I’ll start the foundation in his name. He loved this environment, didn’t he? He’d want to help preserve it. We can do that.’
Janine shook her head. ‘I know what you’re doing, Olivia. You’re trying to logic your way out of this. Figuring out a way to manipulate me. I’ve done my research on you. I know you’re a fixer. And you know both sides. The art and the money. I’m sure you’ve always found a solution for everything. But let me tell you something. There are some problems you can’t solve. No matter what clever solution, what workaround you present to me, there’s one thing you can’t change. You can’t bring Kostas back.’ Her voice cracked then – she was on the brink of tears. ‘You can’t change the fact that he’s dead. And because of that – you need to pay.’
49
She lunged at Olivia then, thrusting the knife. Olivia shrieked, throwing her arms up over her head, trying to defend herself. The knife slashed the fabric of her jacket, creating a gaping hole.
She scrambled back against the desk. There wasn’t much that wasn’t nailed down – Janine had been right about that – but she threw whatever she could at her attacker – a pen, a book. Not much connected, but they threw her off just enough to not get in a fatal thrust.
There was a loud pounding against the cabin door. Pierre’s deep voice sounded through the walnut. ‘Olivia? Are you in there?’ The door handle shook.
The interruption helped. Janine paused for a moment, and Olivia went on the offensive, grabbing Janine’s wrist and twisting it so she dropped the knife.
‘Help!’ Olivia shouted. She ran to the door, pulling the chair out of the way of the handle. But by the time she got to the lock, Janine had recovered. She grabbed her around her neck and yanked backwards.