Chapter 75

75

I'll do it," Elin says, but as she speaks her voice splinters, the weight of the news she's about to impart suddenly overwhelming. It's as if the sight of Hana, Caleb, and Maya has breached the barrier she's had in place since the beach. The memory hits her afresh—Jo Leger's bloodied body on the sand.

"You can take a moment," Steed says, watching her.

"I think it's only just... sunk in. A double shock, in a way; I was so convinced that it was Farrah, and then to find someone else..." She blinks, reliving the moment.

"Understandable. You want me to do the honors?"

Elin smiles, grateful. "Please."

Hana stops a few yards away. Elin and Steed make their way over. Hana's hair is wet, legs stained with mud splatter. Caleb and Maya are standing awkwardly behind, equally bedraggled. Maya's dark curls, freed from their usual headscarf, are clinging in damp clumps to her shoulders. Caleb tugs out an AirPod as they greet him, but he looks discombobulated as he fiddles with the hem of his blue T-shirt. Numb.

"Sorry to jump on you right away, but we need to speak with you privately." Steed steers them into a corner. He lowers his voice. "What I'm about to say is going to be a shock, but I need you to try not to react or draw attention to what I'm saying. Does that make sense?"

It's only Hana who seems to pick up on something in his expression, or perhaps his tone of voice. "Something's happened, hasn't it?" she says quickly.

Steed cuts straight to the chase. "I'm afraid I have to tell you that Jo is dead. We found her a little while ago."

A sharp intake of breath. A sudden change in the air; it's charged with emotion. The group's eyes lock as a collective first on Steed's face and then Elin's, as if waiting for the punch line of a joke, but there's none to give.

"It's not possible," Maya stutters. "She was with us not long ago. At the villa." She turns to Hana. "You said she was packing, didn't you?"

Hana's face is ashen, tight. "Yes. I thought she was." A note of hysteria creeps into her voice. "We knocked for her before we left, but there was no answer. We assumed she was making her way up here." She lets out a low moan. "Who would do something like this? Why us?"

Caleb puts his arm around her shoulders. "What did I say?" he mutters. "This place, it's not—"

"How?" Maya says desperately, cutting across him. "What happened?"

"We found her on the beach. It looks like someone attacked her there."

Hana starts to cry, shoulders heaving. The emotions pull at Elin. Despite the fact that Caleb and Maya are next to her, she looks alone. Vulnerable.

Clearing his throat, Steed looks between them. "I'm sorry to have to ask this right now," he says, voice soft, "but have you all been together these past few hours?"

"Yes, we've been in the villa, getting our stuff ready to come here." Tears are welling in Maya's eyes too. "I mean, not together every minute... We were in our rooms, but no one left, did they?"

"Wouldn't go anywhere here on my own." Caleb gives a small, bitter laugh, but it doesn't detract from the wobble of his lip. A sob breaks loose and he turns away, embarrassed as another guest, on their right, looks their way.

"Nor me." Hana shakes her head, tears now streaming down her face. "I can't believe it. Jo as well..."

Maya bites down on her lip, but she can't stop it from coming; she, too, starts audibly crying.

Steed leaves it a beat before speaking again. "Look, I'm sorry to keep bombarding you with questions, but it would be helpful if you can tell us exactly when you last saw Jo so we can get a clear picture of her movements."

"That's probably easiest for me to answer." Caleb turns the AirPod case over in his hands. "I haven't really seen her today, not since breakfast. I haven't left the villa either, apart from getting some food, a few hours ago."

Maya tries to compose herself, wiping at her eyes. "The last time I saw her was after breakfast."

"And you?" Steed addresses Hana.

Drawing up her chest, Hana blows out through her cheeks. "I think I probably saw her last outside, by the pool. We... we argued. I grabbed her..." She stops, another sob breaking free. "I grabbed her and I..."