Page 117 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

“What?” Mandy said.

“I wondered if Fiona was happy it happened. Because she thought it would stop the project.”

“You think Fiona killed Justine Long intentionally?” Mandy asked.

“Maybe not. But I do think she came on this trip to confront us. There’s no other good reason for Fiona to show up now. Devon fired her after Justine died, and Babette gave her plenty of shares to stay quiet. It worked. None of us have heard from her for months. And now, suddenly, she shows up, saying Babette invited her? She must have been lying. You saw how she reacted when the helicopter didn’t drop Babette on the beach. Fiona wanted to go back to the rim right away. But then I guess she found another way to get what she wanted.”

“How?”

Charlie looked out at the gurgling river. “The water bottle. The one I found in Babette’s lap. Fiona has the exact same one. Maybe she doctored it to poison my sister.”

“Hold up,” Guy said. “If Fiona didn’t think CareFree was safe or if she didn’t trust you, I could see wanting to kill the product. But if Fiona was secretly Stefan’s boss, she’s the biggest investor in CareFree. Why would she put all her money behind a product she didn’t believe in?” Guy shook his head. “And how does a dermatologist have a secret second life as a multinational investor?”

“Fiona comes from serious wealth,” Charlie said. “Her dad was one of the pioneers of the microprocessor boom in South Korea. I don’t think she does much doctoring these days.”

“So you think . . .” Mandy said.

“I think there are two reasons to make a big investment in a company,” Charlie said. “To make money off of it or to bleed it dry. Whoever killed Babette and Stefan wasn’t doing what was best for CareFree. They were doing what was best for themselves.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

Once Lucinda’s ball cap had helped her cool down, Liv was back on track. She rose from her perch, shook out her numb legs, and crept around to where Devon was holed up under her makeshift tent.

“Knock, knock,” she said. It sounded stupid. For the thousandth time, she wished she had her badge. Or a chaotic, extroverted sister who could get the conversation going.

Devon pushed the kimono away from her face, and for a moment, Liv had the impression that she was removing a veil, like a fortune teller ready to spin stories about the past and future.

“Any joy?” Liv asked, nodding at the papers.

“Not really,” Devon said. “It’s the contract we signed with ADD Inc. a year ago, when we started ramping up production of CareFree.” She peered more closely at Liv. “You feeling okay?”

“Just a little hot,” Liv said. “The hat’s helping.”

Devon nodded. “Fiona gave me one of her masks. The science on them is questionable, but these blue ones are cooling. You want to try it?”

Liv glanced down at the alien object by Devon’s side. She pressed it against her face for a few seconds. It wasn’t a discernibly different temperature, but it did make her cheeks tingle and tighten. She shivered. She put the mask down.

“I’d rather take a look at that contract.”

“Be my guest.”

Liv started flipping the numbered pages. “Any idea why Stefan would bring a canceled vendor contract on this trip?”

“No. But there is one thing I remembered. I think Stefan was the one who recommended this vendor to us in the first place.” Devon stared at the papers, as if they could speak their secrets aloud. “When Fiona first identified the risk associated with the datura waste material, she had a disposal vendor she wanted to use, owned by a friend of hers from Seoul. Very pricey. And complicated. Engaging them would have involved an overhaul of our manufacturing process—maybe a two-year delay. She tried to convince me to do it, but I wasn’t sure. Then a few weeks later, Babette secured the Regent Group investment, and Stefan came forward with this company, ADD Inc., that they’d worked with before. ADD came in cheaper, so we went with them.”

Devon shot a glance over to where Fiona was offering PK a sip from her sparkly glass water bottle. “Fiona was pissed.”

“Because her vendor wasn’t chosen?”

“Because of . . . all of it.”

Liv thought about the dates. The ADD contract was signed twelve months ago. A couple months before that would have been fourteen months ago, when the third focus group went wrong.

“Is that what Justine Long died of? The datura waste material?”

Devon nodded. “At the time, we didn’t know how volatile the waste was. Justine got some on her hand, and she must have touched her face.”

“What form does the waste material take?”