Chapter 6: Among Seven

The silence after Yuna spoke had a texture to it — dense, particular, the silence of people recalibrating quickly. Seven people in the room. Six guests plus Mr. Rennie the solicitor, who had organized this gathering and who was currently very carefully not moving. Yuna had been building toward this since the archive. She had the names from the 1979 transaction. She had the names from the 1984 guest list. Cross-referencing them had produced one overlap: a name she had recognized, when she'd seen it, with the specific feeling of a piece clicking into position. "The seventh guest," she said. "The one who was arriving tomorrow. There is no seventh guest." Mr. Rennie looked at her with the expression of someone who had made a decision and was sticking to it. "Lord Hirst left specific instructions," he said, carefully. "I'm sure he did." Yuna kept her voice even. "Mr. Rennie, how long did you work for Lord Hirst?" "Thirty-one years." "During which time you managed his estate, his legal affairs, and, I imagine, certain matters that required discretion." "That is the nature of the relationship between an estate lawyer and his client," Rennie said. "Of course." She looked at the list of 1979 transaction parties. "Is your name on this?" A pause. "I was a junior partner at the firm in 1979," he said. "I did not participate in the transaction you're referring to. I became aware of it later." "But you knew," Bea said. Another pause. Longer. "I knew. And I advised Lord Hirst, repeatedly, that the liability was significant and growing. He disagreed." Rennie looked at the table. "He was not a bad man. He was a man who made a serious mistake in 1979 and spent the rest of his life managing it rather than addressing it." A pause. "Rowan MacPhee found the documents. He panicked. He did not — he did not harm her. I want to be very clear about that. He paid two of the other transaction parties to frighten her into silence. She left the estate. The records were sealed. He believed that was the end of it." "But she disappeared," Penny said. "Yes. I don't know what happened after she left. I have wondered for forty years." He met their eyes in turn. "The reason Lord Hirst designed this gathering — the reason he left the will as he did — is that he wanted someone to find what Rowan found. He wanted it to be made right, finally. He died knowing it hadn't been and couldn't leave it alone." He looked at Bea. "He was the one who funded your research organization. Anonymously. Three years ago." Bea was very still. "He funded the investigation into his own crime," she said. "He funded the investigation into what happened to Rowan. They are not quite the same thing, but they are related." Rennie folded his hands. "He wanted accountability, not for himself — he knew he was dying — but for the others who had been involved. And for Rowan. He needed to know what actually happened to her." "Then we find out," Yuna said. "All of it."