“We can’t rule anything out.”
“Are you here for my help beyond that? There are three more murders on the show. My character, Charlie King, murders a woman named Helen. It was his mother’s name. And then he murders his father and stepmother.”
DCI English nodded. “We know. We have a team analyzing the show and the murders. We just need the cast and crew list from you, Mr. Cavendish. And we wanted to make you aware of the situation personally so you can be on alert. We must caution again, however, that the reason we did not want this information released to the public was for public safety, but it’s likely the tabloids will speculate.”
It was a warning.
Formysafety.
People might blame me.
Or more likely, the actors on the show.
Like North.
Fuck.
I might not be on speaking terms with North, but he’d been through enough this year.
“You have my utmost discretion in this matter,” I promised. “Do you have an email? I’ll get that list to you by the end of day.”
Twenty-Four
SARAH
Iwas lost in my thoughts, worrying about Theo, and hadn’t even noticed the two women enter Flora’s Café. My palms hugged my coffee mug, seeking the heat as nerves churned in my gut. I was worried about Theo. Other than how he was when he chased after me from London, I’d never seen him so off-kilter as he was yesterday. He’d told me about the police and the fact that they believed the Hangman serial killer was copycatting the serial killer fromKing’s Valley.
We’d walked around the village while Theo made a few phone calls, the most important one being to his executive producer at Skylark World Productions, giving her a heads-up and asking for a full cast and crew list from the show that he could forward to the police. Next, he sent a blunt text message to North. I know he still hadn’t forgiven him, but I also knew Theo didn’t want his friend going through another year of media scandal.
North had tried to call him after the text, yet Theo couldn’t bring himself to answer. Instead, he’d just stood there, staring at his phone, looking so lost and forlorn. Unable to bear it, I’d broken my promise to myself to keep my physical distance fromTheo until I felt like I could trust him again, and I’d wrapped my arms around him.
He’d held on so tightly.
I tried to tell him that none of this was his fault, but he was deeply disturbed his work had been used in such a horrific way. And I couldn’t blame him. I’d feel the same if someone took my books and turned them into real-life crimes.
“Sarah? Sarah?”
I blinked, my name on repeat breaking through my thoughts, and I turned to find Sloane Harrow leaning across the distance between our tables, her brows pinched with concern. She was accompanied by Monroe Adair, a primary school teacher and wife to retired Hollywood actor Brodan Adair. Brodan and Monroe were a good seven years older than me, so I hadn’t been in their friend group, but I’d known that the famous couple were best friends growing up. They’d taken separate paths after high school but found their way back to each other almost twenty years later. Their story was utterly romantic. Monroe had fallen pregnant quickly upon their reunion, and they’d married in a private ceremony. Their baby boy Lennox followed a few months later.
Sloane, an American transplant and single mum to Callie, was friends with Aria, so Aria had gotten Sloane a job as a housekeeper at the estate. We hadn’t worked shifts together, but the pretty American had been sweet and polite to me and brought all of us the most amazing baked goods. She’d had some trouble with her daughter’s father, and Walker, a new security guard at the estate who also happened to be Brodan’s ex-bodyguard, stepped in to help her. They’d fallen in love, gotten engaged, and according to Jared, they’d married while I was in Gairloch.
Sloane quit housekeeping at the beginning of summer to open a bakery that was now extremely popular in the village. Itwas only open three days a week, much to everyone’s chagrin, but I admired Sloane’s determination to run her business the way she wanted to. I shouldn’t think of her as Sloane Harrow anymore. She was now Sloane Ironside.
“Hi.” I shook my head, blushing at the fact she’d obviously called my name several times before I heard her.
“Are you okay?” she asked, studying me carefully.
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
She grinned and held up her hand where a beautiful engagement ring was nestled beside her wedding band. “Yeah, still can’t believe it sometimes.”
“Well, congratulations. To you and Callie.”
Surprise softened her features, no doubt because I’d never been a great conversationalist when we worked together. But these last few weeks with Theo had helped me gain a lot of confidence. If I could converse easily with someone as intimidating as him, I could pretty much talk to anyone.
I smiled at Monroe. “I don’t think I got the chance to congratulate you on your marriage or your son, so congrats.”
Monroe stared at me like she’d never seen me before, but then quickly recovered. “Thank you, Sarah. How are you doing?”
