‘Yes.’
‘You’re saying Zack shot her?’
I nodded.
‘And you’re… a fugitive? Why the hell didn’t you tell me any of this?’
‘Why do you think?’ I shot a glance at Miranda, who was still staring at Samir’s note.
Something happened in that moment that chilled me. Holly looked at me like she didn’t know me, backing away, a look of genuine fear and disbelief in her eyes.
‘You’re really saying Zack– Miranda’s Zack– shot Morag dead? But why?’
I narrowed the gap between us. ‘Please, keep your voice down. I don’t want her to alert Zack.’
‘Answer the question.’
‘Why did Zack kill Morag? Because I think she saw Samir with Zack but was too scared to speak up.’
‘Why?’
‘Because she was reliant on the company’s money. I think Zack saw an opportunity: get rid of the person who had seen him and Samir, and frame me for it at the same time. He obviously knew no one would believe me if I was standing there holding the gun.’
She stared at me, mouth agape.
‘Youbelieve me, don’t you?’
Her hesitation was a moment too long for my liking.
‘Holly?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Holly, please. You must know this is something I wouldn’t do.’
‘But you escaped from the police. That’s…’
‘I know. It’s fucking crazy. But I have to find Jasmine. Shecan vouch that I wasn’t involved in what happened in the cave. Susan thinks I did that, too. That I killed Lewis. Holly, I swear, I never did any of this.’
Maybe it was because she heard the desperation in my voice, but she nodded, finally seeming to believe me.
‘We can’t tell Miranda,’ I whispered, just as Miranda began to make her way back over to us.
She was still dazed, allowing me to take the note back.
‘Do you really think Lewis had something to do with that ghastly app?’
‘I can’t see any other explanation.’
‘I want to go home,’ she said. She didn’t seem to want to face the possibility that Lewis was connected to Samir’s death.
We made our way out of the library and back towards the exit, then trudged through the snow to the car. Miranda got into the back seat first, and I gestured to Holly, letting her know I needed to talk to her alone again.
‘I need to take this note to the police,’ I said. ‘It proves—’
‘What? It doesn’t prove anything, does it? It doesn’t even have Zack’s name on it. If anything, it implicates Lewis, who, being dead and unable to argue, would be an even more useful scapegoat for Zack than you.’ She was upright again now. ‘If you go to the police, they’ll throw more charges at you. Evading arrest, is that a thing? Jesus Christ, leaving a police officer injured, fleeing the scene. They’re going to lock you up for ever.’
‘This is not making me feel better, Holly.’
