“It’s not entirely damning on its own,” Avery answered, looking around. “Though the fact I do not see him present in the crowd at all anymore is…curious.”
“The plot thickens,” whispered Saga, which was when she noticed Mr. Bowen tentatively approach them.
“Excuse me,” he said with a polite smile. “I don’t mean to interrupt you, but—are you Saga Trygg?”
Saga smiled at her name, but the confusion was apparent. “Have we met before, Mr. Bowen?”
“Ah, no, you don’t knowme,” said Mr. Bowen. “I am Ms. Goff’s executor. I recognize you from the pictures your grandmother gave us for the funeral.” He scanned the room briefly. “I was hoping to see Saoirse again, but I assume this proved to be too much for her.”
A moment of dread passed over Saga, knowing the conversation that was looming on the horizon. “Did… Do you know her?”
He smiled, genuinely. It was the sort of smile you hope you never see when you must be the bearer of bad news. “I would not dare to call us friends, but we crossed paths rather frequently—she was helping Eira tie up some personal affairs. After Eira passed she was integral to helping us gather memorabilia and photographs for today. I still have a rather large box full of ones we didn’t quite have room for. I will need to talk to her next week about Eira’s estate, but perhaps I can send you home with the box for her?”
“Em…” This made things more complicated. “Icantake the photos…”
It did not take strong powers of observation to see the discomfort and dread in Saga’s face. “Is Saoirse all right?”
Saga glanced from the lawyer to the detective at her side. The news of her grandmother’s passing had not broken, but surely it was not a secret, was it? Finding reassurance in Avery’s expression, she took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Bowen, I’m afraid my grandmother passed away.”
He did not speak. He did not move. He was suspended in time with the stillness of a deer too petrified to move. “What?”
“Two days ago,” Saga confirmed softly.
“No.” His back straightened. “No, that’s… That’s impossible. I saw her just earlier this week.” Reese Bowen searched both their expressions as if he’d find proof that this was some strange sort of joke. Finding nothing but sincerity, he only became increasingly upset. “How?”
Saga’s chest tightened as the memory flashed involuntarily through her mind. “Heart attack.”
He looked confused and hurt. Had he known her grandmother more than he’d let on? His eyes were wide, the whites accentuated by his dark lashes. “I’m so sorry,” he offered helplessly. He took a few slow measured breaths and then searched the room with a near-desperate look in his eyes. “There’s something I should attend to…” He nodded his respects, at a loss. “Again, I am…so sorry.” It felt like more than a platitude of courtesy.
Saga and Avery watched him walk away, stopping abruptly in front of Elis as if seeing him for the first time. They could not make out what passed between the two men, but Reese Bowen’s jaw looked tight and his left hand made a white-knuckled fist at his side before both walked out of sight.
“That was strange,” said Saga.
“Very,” agreed Avery.
“Hearing about Mamó’s death hit him a lot harder than I would think someone with a passing professional relationship would take it.”
Avery only nodded. “He seemed angry just now.”
“You think Elis knows something?”
“Possibly.” Avery turned nonchalantly toward Saga so she could eye theother side of the room from her peripheral vision. “Heard quite a bit about him from Eira’s mysteriously missing young lover.”
“Please don’t use that word,” Saga pleaded. “The woman was practically my surrogate grandmother.”
“If that’s too much for your delicate sensibilities, be grateful you didn’t speak with him yourself.”
“Whatsortof information did you hear?”
Avery casually glanced over the rest of the mourners. No one else was unaccounted for. She could still see the cousin, the rival, the CEO… “He told me about the mysterious death of Elis’s wife and child, and how he’s been rapidly spending through his allowance.”
“Elis is on an allowance?” Saga couldn’t quite keep the judgment out of her tone.
“Did you miss the part where I said mysterious death of his wife and child?”
“We all knew about the plane crash,” said Saga. “It wasn’t mysterious, it was a malfunction. My grandmother went to the funeral. It was awful…” She stopped, realizing why Avery was focused on it. “Do you think somehow Elis might have caused it?”
Avery gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’m not ready to make conjectures about it, I just know the man had a wife who died from unnatural causes, and he’s made a bit of a reputation for himself by spending a lot of money on a new female companion every week.”
