you think? Like, what do you think of Philippe?”
He gave me that grin that makes me want to smack him sometimes. “What do I think of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?”
I punched his arm. “He can’t help any of that. So don’t hold it against him.”
Simon ate a few more cheese-covered, gravy-soaked fries before continuing. “Here are the things that police are going to stick on. First, the misdelivered ransom demand seems like a ploy, like Philippe moved the letter to a neighbor’s mailbox so he could miss the deadline and not notify the police right away.”
He held his hand up as I opened my mouth to speak. “It could be real. When John Paul Getty was kidnapped, one of the ransom demands was delayed for weeks because of a mail strike.” He went on, ticking off points on his fingers. “Second, why keep Paul so long? Kidnappers who are in it for money either usually kill the victim right away or release them when they get the ransom. The psychos or pedophiles keep the kids forever, or until they get too old. These guys asked for multiple ransoms, but then kept Paul more than a month longer before deciding to get rid of him.
“Third, cops are well aware husbands take extreme measures to get rid of wives. Scott Peterson, Perry March from Nashville, and so on.” He paused a moment. “There is a brother, and I’m sure the police are taking a good look at him as well.”
I was startled. “A brother?”
Simon nodded. “Philippe told me last night—his wife had a brother she was close to, who still works for Philippe.”
Paul had an uncle, living here? Working in the office I’d visited? I didn’t know which surprised me more: that this uncle hadn’t rushed to see his long-lost nephew or that Philippe hadn’t mentioned him.
We sat in silence for a few moments before Simon continued. “Philippe seems a little guarded when he talks about the kidnapping. Maybe he’s just tired of talking about it, and maybe he’s well aware he’s a prime suspect. But my sense is he’s holding something back. Maybe he has an idea who was behind the whole thing. Maybe his lawyer has told him to be careful what he says. Maybe he just feels bad that he assumed Paul was dead.”
He drew a deep breath. “Or maybe he instigated the whole thing, without meaning to. When he was angry or upset or drunk he could have said to the wrong person that he wanted to get rid of his wife—and someone carried through. Or he hired someone to snatch her to scare her, and they killed her and blackmailed him. It’s happened more than once.”
“But Paul—”
“Maybe Paul wasn’t supposed to be part of it. Maybe they weren’t supposed to take him, but they screwed up, or turned on Philippe. The thing is, bad guys are very unreliable, and very, very greedy.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“In a way it doesn’t matter, Troy,” he said gently. “Paul is home, with his father. He can build a new life. Maybe that’s what’s important.”
I looked at him in disbelief. “But … but Madeleine?”
“But someone killed her and someone has to pay for it?” Simon’s voice was calm. “Lots of murders are never solved, Troy. Lots of people get away with it, especially when no body is found. Maybe the kidnappers will be caught; maybe they won’t. Maybe Philippe will be cleared; maybe he won’t. This may be as good as it gets, and he may have to live with that.”
The words he didn’t say rang in my head: But can you live with it? We sat in silence.
“It’s a tough situation, kiddo,” he said at last. “I know you have to see it through. Just be careful, very careful.” He put his arm around my shoulders and rumpled my hair. “Keep me posted, and keep safe.”
We drove in silence to the airport. I gave him a quick hard hug at the curb, and then he was gone.
I’d expected Simon to give me an idea of what to do—or at least put things in black and white and reassure me that the bad guys would be caught. Instead, he seemed to be telling me this was one big gray mess with no clear answers, and I was on my own.
I didn’t believe Philippe would have done anything to harm Paul. But could he have planned a fake kidnapping, plotted to have his son’s mother killed?