Jack raised his voice. “If a ladder falls in a stable and no one hears it, does it make a sound?”
“Explain,” Sara said.
“I climbed up the ladder to the loft, but when I went to go down, the ladder was on the floor. I didn’t hear it fall.”
“So who did it?” Sara asked.
“Wasn’t this when you met Nadine?” Kate asked. “Maybe she moved it.”
“I can’t see an elegant lady like her lifting a ladder. You need to balance it. Doubt if she has the experience.”
“Ladies can do lots of things,” Kate said. “She could have—”
“Who left the gate open?” Sara cut them off. “Kate, you said the gate was open.”
She turned in the seat. “I didn’t tell you.”
“I did,” Jack said cheerfully. “Had lots of time while you were chasing after the banker.”
Sara was looking at her phone. “There’s no mention on the company website that the owner of Renewal has a husband and children.”
“Could have left that out for privacy,” Kate said. “English papers blur the faces of celebrity kids.”
“Any David in charge of finances?” Jack asked.
“Yes, but there’s nothing about him personally.”
“Think she’s telling a fib?” Kate asked. “Running a business takes a lot of time.”
“With her anger-driven ambition, maybe she didn’t have time for a family,” Jack said.
“Maybe she’s here for revenge,” Sara said. “Or she needs to see the past. She can’t release what happened to her until she fully remembers it.”
Jack said, “Like you when you moved back to where you’d grown up? Girl from the wrong side of the tracks makes good? Rubs their noses in it?”
“Jack!” Kate said.
Sara was laughing. “Exactly like that. Whatever their reasons, they all seem to be full of anger.”
“Except Byon.” He caught eyes with Sara. “And no, I’m not giving in to your idea that prison is a haven for writers.” He drove through the gate to Oxley Manor. “So what do we have so far? Ladder, gate—”
“Skeleton,” Kate said.
“And enough hate to set off bombs,” Sara said. “I don’t believe your Puck is as innocent as she seems. She’s spent her lifetime hiding from her hideous mother. That kind of rage builds up.”
“Like a teakettle,” Kate said.
“And soon it begins to whistle,” Sara added.
Jack groaned. “You two! We could still turn this over to the police. I’d tell them I was trespassing in the forbidden zone, fell through the hole, then—”
“Got the rope ladder and investigated,” Kate said.
“Then no one would ever know who killed Sean. I’m growing rather fond of him.”
“You like him because he looks like pretty boy here,” Kate said.
“Thank you.” Jack smiled at her.