Page 54 of The Bridesmaid

It was common knowledge that Simone’s family weren’t the ‘right people’. She got in on a scholarship so it didn’t exactly surprise me that she had some strange relatives hidden away somewhere, breeding bizarrely dressed chubby offspring.

But what I didn’t expect was to feel such anger toward Holly. It’s not like I have any feelings for Simone. Why do I care if she hired some relative to work for her?

Now I’m wondering something else. Could Simone’s niece be here to investigate her death?

And wasn’t Holly holding an envelope, when the elevator door slid open?

I’m thoughtful. ‘I can try to find out.’

‘You need to do better than try, Petra. Unless that slot is filled in the next two days, I’m running the interview of you with the Columbian police. Those no comments don’t paint you in a good—’

‘All right!’ I snap, trying to think. What could Simone have found out here?

My mind drifts back to the courtroom. Adrianna’s twenty-first birthday on Elysium was scheduled for two weeks after the case kicked off. When I was called to the stand on the first day, I’d been nervous. My attorney had explained that Silky claimed tohave proof. Pictures that showed abuse of younger girls. That was uppermost on my mind, as I walked into the court …

I shift my attention back to Max on the other end of the phone.

‘This could bring down the whole Kensington family,’ he’s saying. ‘We’re talking front page, all around the globe viral.’

Hot fear spikes in my throat. ‘Are you saying Simone found some dark secret about the Kensingtons?’

‘It’s even better than that,’ he says. ‘From the pitch that Simone sent to the networks, it isn’t just aboutwhokidnapped Adrianna. It’s aboutwhyshe was kidnapped.’ He pauses for effect. ‘That’s what you’re going to find out.’

I hang up the phone, my jaw tightening. ‘But you’re assuming, Max,’ I say, ‘that I don’t already know.’

Chapter Forty-Two

HOLLY

In the dark of the lava tunnel, Fitzwilliam reaches in to grab the birthday invitation.

‘Wait.’ I shine my light around carefully. ‘Don’t disturb evidence until you’ve examined the situation, right?’

I pull it out, inch by inch.

‘Trinity,’ muses Fitzwilliam. ‘Why would that be on an invitation to Adrianna’stwenty-first birthday party?’

‘I’ve seen this invitation before,’ I tell him. ‘Simone brought it back from a meeting with Leopold. Evidence that Adrianna’s stalker began threatening her before the birthday party.’

‘It wasn’t on the police file.’

‘I don’t think the Kensingtons go to the police,’ I tell him, eyeing the invitation. The turquoise card is thick, but the color has faded from a vibrant blue to something more muted and patchy. I think for a moment. ‘There’s something stagey about this, right? The trail of violet light. Then this old invitation. Like something Simon might set up to shoot forWrongly Accused.’

‘I don’t watch the show.’

‘We use real cases,’ I explain. ‘But Simone sets up evidence in an engaging way. This birthday invitation is exactly the kind ofthing Simone would have the crew film her unearthing. Assuming it relates to the kidnapping case. Forensics,’ I say. ‘Wrongly Accusedalways uses forensics. It was Simone’s specialty.’ I hold the invitation up. ‘I think we need to take a look at this in more detail. I have a full forensic kit in my luggage.’

The rumble of an engine resounds through the cave.

‘We need to go,’ says Fitzwilliam.

‘OK.’ With a gloved finger, I begin bagging the invitation, avoiding unnecessary contact. The gold catches the light.

‘Fancy,’ I murmur. ‘I guess Adrianna was more bling back then.’ I’m thinking of the more muted, but decidedly expensive wedding invitation.

Fitzwilliam grabs it. ‘We need to gonow.’ He slides the invitation into the evidence bag, nods and puts it in the pack still on my back. It’s a surprisingly intimate gesture, and he seems to realize this just after he closes the zipper, not quite meeting my eye.

As we head back toward the hot springs, we pass the boxes and buckets of flowers, and the giant, flower-clad ‘K’. Approaching it from the opposite direction, I get a clear view of the unfinished back.