Page 129 of The Impossible Fortune

‘You forgot to pass it on?’

‘Must have,’ says Joanna. ‘You know how busy I’ve been. That Brazil deal. And I got married recently.’

‘Uh huh,’ says Paul. ‘You forgot. It happens. Just to make absolutely sure. You didn’t keep it quiet because a bit of you suspected me at that point?’

‘Suspected you?’ says Joanna. ‘No. God, no. I never doubted you for a second.’

‘But still,’ says Paul, ‘you didn’t tell me?’

‘I don’t tell you about every phone call I take,’ says Joanna. ‘Where would we be?’

Paul smiles and reaches out his hand to hers. ‘Did you ever think it was too soon? You and me? Getting married?’

‘Too soon?’ says Joanna. ‘No, I knew. Instantly.’

‘Didn’t think, perhaps you didn’t know everything about me?’ asks Paul. ‘Perhaps you were rushing into it all?’

‘Never thought about it for a second,’ says Joanna.

‘Youneverworried?’

‘I didworry,’ says Joanna. ‘I mean, I knew you were the one, but who knows with life?’

‘Who knows with life,’ agrees Paul. ‘On the surface I look like a professor of sociology, but what if I were a double-murderer?’

‘Yup,’ says Joanna. ‘A bit of me thought that would be just my luck. There’s always a catch, isn’t there?’

‘So,’ says Paul, ‘you took the call from Jeremy Jenkins?’

‘Yes,’ says Joanna.

‘And a bit of you, even if it was only a tiny bit, thought maybe I’d killed Holly?’

‘Yes,’ says Joanna. ‘And Nick too to be fair. I didn’t thinkyou had, but a tiny bit of me thought “What if?” I mean, I’ve met your uncles.’

Paul nods. ‘I think that’s fair enough.’

‘You do?’

‘Of course,’ says Paul. ‘I told Jeremy Jenkins to hold on to the envelopes, that Nick would be in touch as soon as he could.’

‘If Elizabeth and Davey manage to find him,’ says Joanna. The two of them have teamed up but to little effect.

‘Someone will think of a smart way to track him down sooner or later,’ says Paul. ‘Thank you for telling me the truth.’

‘I’ll always tell you the truth,’ says Joanna. ‘From now on. Can I askyoua question though?’

‘Of course,’ says Paul. ‘Have I committed previous murders?’

Joanna laughs. ‘Did you ever have doubts? That it was too soon? That we didn’t know each other well enough?’

Paul hesitates. ‘We’re telling the truth?’

‘No more lies,’ says Joanna. ‘Big or small. Always the truth, except for surprise parties or presents; or, if there’s a TV show you’ve seen that I want to watch, you have to pretend you haven’t seen it before and you have to watch it again with me. Those are the only exceptions.’

‘Deal,’ says Paul. ‘I had a wobble. Not a wobble, an amount of self-doubt. Like, I never doubted you, I doubted myself. Does that make sense?’

Joanna thinks back to her chat with Ibrahim. His certainty echoing the certainty already in her heart. ‘It does. When was this?’