Page 134 of We Chase Shadows

‘No,’ agrees Ernesto.

‘You did it for greed,’ says Steve.

‘Yes,’ says Ernesto. ‘I seen a lot of dumb, rich people and then this fell in my lap.’

‘Who did you meet?’ asks Amy.

‘Meet what?’ says Ernesto. ‘When?’

‘At Vern’s villa,’ says Amy. ‘While we were in Palm Springs.’

‘Ah,’ says Ernesto. ‘The trellis and the cistern and the Velux window.’

‘Who did you meet?’ Amy repeats. ‘You told us it was a false alarm. That there was no one there. Somebody must have told you everything? Vern and Connor Brooks and Eric Jacobs?’

Steve suddenly realizes he knows the answer. It must have been Georgie. If Eric Jacobs worked for Vern all those years ago, then he must have worked for Georgie too. She must have taken one look at the photograph of ‘Jakob Eriksson’ and put the pieces together immediately. How else would Ernesto have known the full story?

‘Just tell us, Ernesto,’ says Steve. ‘Do one decent thing.’

Ernesto looks at them both. ‘God is my witness, there was no one there.’

‘No one told you about Eric Jacobs?’

‘I was there all alone,’ says Ernesto. ‘I had the whole place to myself, I went through everything, files, old computers, I put the whole thing together.’

‘You’re saying,’ Steve takes a deep breath, ‘that Georgie Glazier told you none of this?’

‘The ex-wife?’ says Ernesto.

‘The ex-wife,’ says Steve.

‘I never even met her,’ says Ernesto.

‘The whole thing was you?’ Steve asks.

‘All me,’ agrees Ernesto. ‘All Ernesto. Thought I was a genius, thought I’d got the whole thing licked. Vern was tidying up his own mess after the note arrived. Korbin was the only one who knew the truth about Eric Jacobs, so Vern hired Mark Drury to kill Korbin.’

Steve sees it all now. ‘And then tried everything to make it look like Eriksson was still operating. So he could be blamed for everything.’

‘That’s the trick of it,’ says Ernesto.

‘And if you killed Vern and Mark Drury,’ says Amy, ‘you could take over the business with a completely clean slate?’

‘When I realized there was no Eriksson to catch,’ says Ernesto, ‘just Vern, I thought either I arrest Vern and get my promotion –’

‘Or kill Vern,’ says Steve, ‘and get your millions?’

‘I kill a killer,’ says Ernesto. ‘I take over the easy bit of the business, the vitamins and potions. And I’m a rich man.’

‘And then I recognized Mark Drury,’ says Steve.

‘I should have known,’ says Ernesto. ‘Why is Rosie in business with Steve if Steve isn’t the best?’

‘I’m not the best,’ says Steve. ‘I’m far from the best. But all I needed was to be better than you.’

‘Yes,’ says Ernesto.

‘You killed Vern with Mark Drury’s gun?’ Amy asks. ‘That’s why we never found it?’