The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer: A gripping new thriller with a killer twist by Joël Dicker (ebook reader play store .txt) 📕

“I know, Kirk. But you have to accept that it’s over between us.”

“What does Alan Brown have that I don’t?”

“Everything.”

He sat down again.

“Kirk, it’s the opening of the festival, shouldn’t you be at the station? You must be snowed under with work.”

“I didn’t dare say anything, Charlotte, but things are going badly at work. Very badly, in fact. It’s now that I need moral support. You can’t leave me now.”

“It’s over, Kirk. Once and for all.”

“Charlotte, nothing’s going right in my life anymore. I need your help.”

“Help with what?”

“Mayor Gordon has what is literally the only script of my play and he’s refusing to let me have it back. Please help me get it back.”

“What do you mean, he has your play? Why on earth don’t you have a copy?”

“Well, about two weeks ago there was a little misunderstanding with the guys at the station. In someone’s idea of a prank they turned my office upside down and destroyed all my scripts. I had everything there, Charlotte. Everything I had of ‘The Darkest Night’has disappeared. The only copy left is the one that’s in Gordon’s possession. If he doesn’t give it back, well, I can’t answer for my actions!”

Charlotte looked at the man standing before her, this unhappy man she had once loved. She knew how hard he had worked on the play.

“Kirk,” she said, “if I get the script back from Gordon, do you promise you’ll leave Alan and me alone?”

“Oh, Charlotte, you have my word!”

“Where does Mayor Gordon live? I’ll go there tomorrow.”

“On Penfield Crescent. But you have to go today.”

“Kirk, that’s just not possible, we’re rehearsing until at least 6.30.”

“Charlotte, I beg you. I’m having a drink with a Broadway producer this evening. With a little luck I can persuade him to read my play. But not if you don’t get that copy! I’ll come to see you during intermission to collect it. Promise me you’ll go to see Gordon today.”

Charlotte sighed. She felt genuinely sorry for him.

“I promise, Kirk. Come backstage during intermission. I’ll have your play.”

* * *

In the interrogation room, Derek interrupted Charlotte’s account. “Why didn’t you tell us at the time that it was you in the van?”

“Because you only latched on to Tennenbaum after the festival, and I didn’t hear about it immediately. I’d gone back to Albany, then did an internship for several months with a vet in Pittsburgh. I didn’t get back to Orphea until six months later, to settle down with Alan, and it was only then that I heard about what had happened. In any case, you had tracked down Tennenbaum. He was the murderer, wasn’t he?”

No-one answered.

“What about Hayward?” I said. “Didn’t he talk to you about it?”

“No. After the festival, I didn’t hear from him. When I moved to Orphea in January 1995, I was told he had left very abruptly and nobody ever found out why.”

“I think he left because he thought you were guilty of the murders, Charlotte.”

“What?” she said. “He thought I’d seen the mayor, the mayor had refused to give me the play, and I’d killed all those people out of revenge? That would be insane.”

“I can’t be as certain as that,” I said, “but what do I know is that you were seen leaving the theater driving Tennenbaum’s van, just before the murders. The same witness has told us that he learned that Tennenbaum had been the chief suspect because of that very van. He went to see Chief Hayward to talk to him about it. That was in October 1994. My belief is that Hayward was so upset that he preferred to resign and leave Orphea.”

So Charlotte Brown was out of the frame. After leaving the station, she went with Mayor Brown immediately to the Grand Theater. We found that out thanks to Michael Bird, who was there and reported the scene to us.

As soon as Charlotte entered the auditorium, Hayward cried out cheerfully:

“Charlotte is here early! This day can’t get any better.”

Charlotte advanced down the aisle in silence.

“Is everything alright, Charlotte?” Hayward said. “You look strange.”

She looked him up and down for a long time, then said, “Did you run away from Orphea because of me, Kirk?”

He did not reply. She went on:

“You found out it was me driving Tennenbaum’s van. Did you think I’d killed four people?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think, Charlotte, the only thing that matters is what I know. As I promised your husband, on opening night, you’ll discover everything.”

“Kirk, a woman is dead. And the person who killed her is probably the same person who killed the Gordon family. We can’t wait for July 26, you have to tell us everything now.”

“On opening night, you’ll discover,” Hayward repeated.

“But that’s insane, Kirk! Why are you behaving like this? People have died, don’t you understand?”

There was a long silence. All eyes were on Hayward and Charlotte.

“So next Saturday,” Charlotte said, exasperated and on the verge of tears, “the police will have to wait quietly for the end of the show before you deign to reveal what you know?”

Hayward looked at her in surprise. “The end of the show? No. It will be more toward the middle.”

“The middle? Kirk, what are you talking about?” She seemed lost. Hayward, grim-faced, declared:

“I said you’ll discover everything on opening night, Charlotte. That means the answer is in the play. ‘The Darkest Night’contains the solution to the case.”

DEREK SCOTT

Early September 1994. It was one month since the Gordon murders, and Jesse and I were in no doubt about Tennenbaum’s guilt. The case was almost wrapped up.

Tennenbaum had killed Mayor Gordon because the mayor had been putting pressure on him because of his urgent need to get on with the work on Café Athena. The sums of money exchanged corresponded to the withdrawals and payments in their several accounts, a witness stated he had deserted his post at the Grand Theater at the very time the murders had taken place, and his van had