Chapter 9
Winifred did not deny the notebook.
She denied murder.
Specific.
Useful.
“I did not touch Sofia’s boat.”
I stared.
“I didn’t ask whether you touched it.”
Her face changed.
There.
She knew where the danger lived.
“Who did?”
Silence.
I called Anthony.
He entered slowly.
Winifred looked at him.
He stopped.
That told me enough.
“What did she ask you to do?”
Anthony’s face went pale.
“Lucius—”
“What.”
He swallowed.
“Check the fuel line.”
My hands became still.
“Why?”
“She said Sofia complained about the engine.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
I stared.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“And then?”
Anthony looked sick.
“Winifred asked me to loosen the inspection clamp.”
The room disappeared around me.
Not cut.
Not break.
Loosen.
Enough to create uncertainty.
Enough that vibration might do the rest.
“Why?”
Anthony’s eyes filled.
“She said Sofia needed a scare.”
Of course.
A scare.
A lesson.
Loss training.
Always something smaller than the possible consequence.
“What happened?”
“I refused.”
Winifred laughed bitterly.
“Now you’re brave?”
Anthony ignored her.
“I refused.”
I watched him.
Truth.
At least there.
“Then who did it?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Winifred spoke.
“Nobody.”
I looked at her.
“You asked one man.”
“He refused.”
“You stopped?”
“Yes.”
Lie.
Sofia’s engine still failed.
I stood.
“Who else knew boats?”
Winifred said nothing.
Anthony whispered:
“Martin.”
My cousin Martin had died six months ago.
Convenient.
Heart attack.
Natural.
At least I hoped.
“Did Martin work on the boat?”
Anthony looked at Winifred.
She closed her eyes.
There.
I had the answer.
Martin had not killed Sofia intentionally.
Maybe.
But he had altered something at Winifred’s request.
And the “scare” ended with my wife against eastern rocks.
May you like
Theo had not lost his mother to fate alone.
Someone had been teaching Sofia about loss too.
