10:22 PM.

The first thing they did back in the main hall was draw up another vote. Lisa stood at the head of the sofas and waved the carving knife around and pointed it at Wheein and said, ‘Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. All in favour of locking Wheein in a closet somewhere until we can get a phone signal or until one of us drives down to Seoul, raise your hand.’

Only Rosie and Yeri raised their hands.

‘Okay. So, two.’

‘Oh, no,’ Yeri said. ‘Not me. So just one, actually. No, I was putting my hand up to ask a question.’

‘Go on.’

‘Yeah, thanks. Here’s my query – what if she climbs out the window and escapes? These two somehow managed it and it seems like it wasn’t really that difficult at all. And – no offence, Irene – but they don’t exactly seem like Olympiad athletes. Or ultramarathon climbers. Or whatever the they’re called.’

‘Why did you say no offence to Irene and not to me?’ Seulgi asked.

‘Oh, because I don’t really care if I offend you or not. Sorry.’

‘You are such—’

‘A student, yeah yeah, I know. Back to more pressing concerns – my question still stands.’

‘We’ll just put her in a room with no windows,’ Lisa said.

‘Every room in this house has windows.’

‘Then we’ll put something over the ing window then. Jesus, it’s not that hard. Why do you have to argue about everything all the time?’

‘I wasn’t arguing. I was merely asking a question and looking for an answer.’

‘Well, we’ll just do that. Happy now?’

‘Sure.’

‘Okay, let’s try this again – everyone in favour of locking Wheein in a room and isolating her from the rest of us, raise your hand.’

Nobody did so.

‘Nobody? Really?’

‘What about you?’ Sooyoung said.

‘What does it matter what I think now? Nobody else seems to want to do it, for some stupid reason.’

‘What’s the point?’ Seulgi said. ‘No offence or anything, but do we really need to do that? Why can’t we just keep her here in the main room, under our supervision? That way we’ll know if she tries to make a run for it or anything.’

Yeri sat forward and uncrossed her legs. ‘Simple,’ she said. ‘It’s because Captain Save The Day over here wants to play bosswoman and act like she owns the place. Probably practicing for when she takes over Hyundai, which she’ll be able to do quite easily now, I expect, what without my granduncle’s interference and all.’

Lisa turned to her. The glare in her eyes could soften stone.

‘What? I was just saying what was on everybody’s mind. It seems awfully fishy that after being completely silent and frankly rather boring for most of the evening you’re suddenly taking charge, ordering people about, swinging a knife around like Jason, going along with what Irene has been saying after locking her in a boiler room, isolating people away from each other so they can’t talk or discuss things. Almost as if you’re trying to create a divide…a divide that you can control. Am I wrong?’

‘Listen—’

‘Who’s Jason?’ Jennie said.

‘The killer,’ said Seulgi. ‘From that movie. What was it called?’

‘Nightmare on Elm Street?’ Jisoo said.

‘No, not that one. That was the other guy, with the burnt face. Freddy Krueger, I think?’

‘Freddy Versus Jason?’

‘Well…no, not really. I mean, he was in that, yeah, because he’s Jason. But what was his movie called?’

‘Friday the 13th,’ Sooyoung said.

‘Yeah, that’s it! Friday the 13th. He’s from that.’

‘Not the Jason I was referring to,’ Yeri said.

‘What?’

‘Not that Jason.’

‘Well that’s the only Jason I can think of that would be swinging a knife around, no?’

‘Uh…no. C’mon. I mean…c’mon guys, really? Jason, son of Aeson of Iolcos, husband of Medea…leader of the Argonauts? On his legendary journey to find the Golden Fleece, as documented in the epic poem Argonautica, by Hellenistic poet Apollonius Rhodius? No? Really? Nothing?’

Nobody replied.

‘God, read a ing book for once in your lives, please. It’s like being stuck in a house with illiterate children or something. You’re especially bad for it, Wendy, considering you’re a writer and all. You should know this stuff. Although, having skimmed over The Man With The Iron Arms, on second thoughts, maybe not. Maybe it’s better you leave the classics alone for the time being. Don’t want you getting any more crazy ideas. Don’t butcher an all-time great.’

‘Why would he be swinging a knife around?’

‘A sword, Seulgi. A sword. Because, y’know…he was a Greek warrior, and he had a sword, a sword that he used.’

‘How was I supposed to know that?’

‘Inference clues, Einstein. Not that hard to pick up the context, is it? Actually, don’t answer that question – it seems it is.’

‘Look, just because—’

Lisa sighed loud enough for everybody in the room to hear. ‘Can we please – please – get back on track?’ she said. ‘Yes? Okay? Good. Now, as we were discussing…Wheein here. To lock her away, or to not lock her away.’

‘Very Shakespearean of you,’ Yeri said.

‘Actually, we already voted,’ said Sooyoung.

‘Yeah. Had a little committee meeting, brought everyone out, had tea and biscuits, the whole shebang. Was nice. You were invited, too. Yeah, turns out in the end we decided, unanimously I might add, to let her stay here with us. Sorry.’

‘Alright,’ Lisa said, ‘you know what? I’ve had just about enough of .’

‘Ooh, what are you gonna do? Stab me too?’

‘Too?’

‘Well, you stabbed my granduncle to death, didn’t you?’

‘That’s ridiculous.’

‘Just a theory.’

‘Oh, so you’re putting the blame on me now? Did you not listen to anything Irene said? The explanation she gave. The murderer is sitting right here in front of us and you’re pointing fingers at me? At me! Unbelievable. I can’t win with you people.’

‘You people. What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Nothing. You know it’s— Jesus, whatever.’

Nobody said anything. They listened to the rain beating down and such was the sound of it that it seemed as if the storm would never clear and they would be sat there for as long as they had food and water, waiting for a signal that would never come. And it was Sooyoung that brought this up first.

‘So,’ she said, ‘how long are we going to wait for this storm to clear? And when it does clear, are we going to get a signal? Is that how it works?’

‘I don’t know,’ Lisa said. ‘Mr Jang?’

Mr Jang shook his head gravely. As if he was about to deliver some unbearable news to the rest of them. The look on his face almost made Seulgi laugh. ‘Afraid not,’ he said. ‘It’s not to do with weather interference or with a transistor station being knocked out nearby or anything. It’s to do with the actual phone lines here at the house. Someone’s cut em. They won’t be coming back, I don’t think.’

‘Great. So, what do we do, then?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Well,’ Jennie said, ‘we could always drive down to Seoul. I mean, there’s, what…three, four cars outside? Five?’

‘Quite nice cars, too,’ said Wendy. ‘Whose is that Honda?’

‘Nissan,’ said Lisa.

‘What?’

‘It’s a Nissan.’

‘Oh. Well, still. Is it yours?’

‘Yeah. Why? What are you thinking?’

‘Well, maybe she has a point. I think she does have a point. There’s a bunch of cars of outside, right? We could drive them all down to Seoul and, uh…you know. Take Wheein to the police station.’

‘Just like that?’

‘Sure.’

‘Yay,’ said Yeri, ‘a road trip. Just what I wanted when I woke up this morning.’

‘Well do you have any better ideas?’

‘Many. Most ideas I can think of would be better than that, actually?

‘Like what?’

Yeri was silent.

‘Exactly. So stop being snarky.’

‘Alright,’ Lisa said. She levelled the knife at Wheein again. ‘We wait until morning, until the storm’s cleared, because I don’t think it’s safe to drive at night like this, and then we head down to Seoul and do what Jennie said.’

‘Just like that?’ Seulgi asked. ‘Like a carpool?’

‘Yes.’

‘A murderer’s carpool.’

‘Well we’ll have eyes on Wheein, of course.’

‘Okay, so who’s gonna volunteer to be in a car with her?’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Wheein said, ‘you’re acting like I’m Ted Bundy or something. I didn’t even kill anyone.’

‘Uh huh.’

‘I— you know what? What’s the point? I’ve spent the last half an hour trying to convince you morons that it wasn’t me, that I didn’t do it, that none of this – and I mean none of it – had anything to do with me at all. And none of you would listen. So, what’s the point? You want to take me to the police? Sure, go ahead. But once they do an actual investigation and not some circus freakshow like this wannabe Sherlock Holmes over here, you’ll all see how wrong you are. Just wait until my name’s cleared.’

‘The documents are right here,’ Wendy said. ‘Irene took us through them. Didn’t you, boss?’

Irene was quiet. She had her arms folded and she stood off to the side and the last time she’d spoken at any length was when they’d found the vial of naloxone in Wheein’s top drawer. She studied them all carefully. Wheein with her neatly arranged drinks on the table, Sooyoung half asleep, Yeri picking at her nails. Lisa with the knife. Mr Jang seemingly without a care in the world. The maids all tetchy and nervouslooking. And Seulgi – eyes always back to Seulgi, always stealing a glance.

‘Well,’ Wendy said, ‘she did. You went back on your word to Mr Jae.’

‘So?’ Wheein said. ‘Was it illegal?’

‘You’re an .’

‘That’s not what I asked.’

‘You betrayed a business partner who trusted you in confidence.’

‘Jesus, I can’t win, can I? Let me ask you again, word for word: was it illegal?’

‘No,’ Wendy said quietly.

‘No. Exactly. Am I an for rescinding my support and backing out on Mr Jae? That’s up for debate.’

‘A very short debate,’ Seulgi said.

‘Business is business. I expect you wouldn’t know much about that, with your artwork and your…what else is it you do again?’

Seulgi was silent.

‘Retail, right? Yeah. I thought so. Tell me, Seulgi – do you do much nationwide business when you’re stacking tins on shelves at the grocery store? Do you speak to many high-profile CEOs and bankers and investors when you’re on your lunch break? No? Well, let me enlighten you. This isn’t tin stacking, this is serious. Lots of money being handled, lots of investments, lots of powerful people with a lot on the line. A lot to lose if things go wrong. So, yeah, I went back on my word, but does that make me a bad person? No. That’s just business. Mr Jae understood that.’

‘Did he really, though? Or did he freak out once he got wind of what you were doing and threaten to tell everyone that you stabbed Mr Kim? And so you killed him for it?’

‘None of that happened. Literally none of it. But I’m not going to convince any of you, am I, so what’s the point even trying?’

‘Well,’ Yeri said, ‘not to be obvious or anything, but you’re looking at life in prison for a double homicide. So…best get to defending yourself.’

‘Forget it.’

‘Great. Lovely start.’

‘This is stupid,’ Sooyoung said. ‘All any of you do is argue and argue some more.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘To the bathroom.’

Before Lisa had time to stop her she was already gone and then so were Rosie and Jisoo and soon even Jennie and Mr Jang had disappeared somewhere into the house. She stood about, knife still in hand, looking at those that remained. Irene was still silent.

‘Great work,’ Yeri said.

‘Keep an eye on her.’

‘What? Where are you going?’

‘To find something to drink in the lounge upstairs. God knows I need it.’

‘Great. Brilliant job. So not only can this one here not keep everyone in place, but now you just decide to disappear yourself. Glad to know I’m surrounded on all sides by experts.’

Lisa was already gone. Yeri took one look at Wheein on the other sofa and laughed and sat back and closed her eyes. Irene watched them. She could hear the rain outside and faintly a faucet running and Lisa’s steps on the stairs and somebody coughing in the kitchen.

‘Boss,’ Wendy said, almost a whisper.

‘Yeah?’

‘What are you thinking?’

‘Not a lot.’

‘Do you want to…you know. Do anything.’

‘Do whatever you like. I need to think for a bit.’

‘Okay. Whatever you say. I’ll be upstairs as well. See if I can find anything out.’

‘Sure,’ Irene said. When Wendy was gone she folded her arms and sighed. Wheein eyed her like she wasn’t quite sure Irene properly existed, like some faint ephemera from a dream.

‘Hey,’ Seulgi said.

‘Hey.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah,’ said Irene. ‘Just a bit distracted.’

‘Distracted by what?’

‘Just…things.’

‘About us?’

‘What?’

Seulgi shrugged.

Irene turned to her and smiled softly and said, ‘I guess so. And some other stuff as well. There’s something I can’t quite shake off and it’s bugging me. Like this overwhelming feeling that’s something not quite right. Something’s a little wrong and I don’t know what.’

‘I know what you mean.’

‘Yeah?’

Seulgi nodded.

‘Sorry,’ Yeri said, ‘but if you two are gonna start making out again, can you at least take it out of the room? I don’t wanna see that. I need my beauty sleep.’

‘What’s to stop Wheein here from strangling you to death if you have a nap?’

‘For the last time,’ Wheein said, ‘I’m not a ing murderer. I didn’t kill anyone.’

Yeri shifted on the couch again. ‘You’ve got a point, Seulgi,’ she said.

‘Thanks,’ said Seulgi with a click of her teeth.

‘I was actually being serious for once, but I guess you’re incapable of taking compliments or something.’

‘When they come from you? Yeah, kinda.’

‘Nice. Bit of a blonde moment there.’

‘What?’ Irene said.

‘What what.’

‘What did you just say?’

‘Uh…’

‘About a blonde moment.’

‘Well…that was it, yeah. A bit of a blonde moment. Why? You offended or something? It’s just a figure of speech. Not gonna get all crybaby on me now, are you?’

Irene was silent. Something seemed to be turning in her head and Seulgi gave her the space to think, to formulate things. ‘Blonde moment,’ she muttered.

‘What?’

‘Blonde.’

‘Irene? Are you okay?’

‘Wheein’s got blonde hair.’

‘Yeah,’ Wheein said, ‘I do.’

‘And also…’

‘Also what?’

Irene didn’t reply. She had one hand on her chin and she snapped her fingers sudden enough to make Seulgi jump. ‘I knew I was missing something,’ she said. ‘Something obvious in front of my face all along. God, I’m so stupid. Unless I’m wrong, in which case I’ll still be stupid, but I don’t think I am. At least, not with this.’

‘What the are you talking about?’ Yeri said, to no reply. Irene was halfway to the stairs. She took them two at a time fast enough that Seulgi struggled to keep up and made straight for Mr Kim’s study without a word. Wendy was leant down near one of the shelves with a magnifying glass to one eye and when they entered she turned to them and grinned like an idiot. The enormity of her cyclopean eye behind the magnifying glass had Seulgi in a fit of laughter.

‘What?’ Wendy said. ‘Boss?’

‘Wendy, I— uh, where did you get that?’

‘What? Oh, this thing? Found it in one of the drawers in his office.’

‘You went through his office?’

Wendy nodded vigorously. ‘In case we missed anything,’ she said. ‘Thought I might as well.’

‘And?’

‘Nothing. Sorry. Well, apart from this thing, I suppose. Which is kinda useful if you’re searching for ants to burn.’

‘Are you searching for ants to burn?’

‘No.’

‘Well then.’

‘Sorry, boss. Are you okay?’

‘Something you said to me earlier has stuck with me all evening. Don’t ask me why, it just did. It’s my job to take in everything around me. I’ve got to always be on edge.’

‘Something I said?’

‘When you were talking about Mr Kim’s Qing pottery collection upstairs. You said you asked him about it and instead of replying he said something to you.’

‘Yeah.’

‘What did he say again?’

‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Why? Boss?’

‘Irene,’ said Seulgi. ‘Where are you going?’

‘I need to confirm something,’ she said. There was a manic wilderness to her that was rather infectious, like she was on the cusp of something truly great. She backed out of the room and down the hallway and then turned right and went all the way down and took the staircase up to the second floor. Wendy and Seulgi were right there behind her. When she pushed open the door of the collection room the Qing artefacts were all still scattered across the floor in pieces and she had to be careful not to step on any of it as she navigated the space between the doorway and the far side of the room.

‘Oh my god,’ Wendy said. ‘You really did break it all.’

‘Yeah. Sorry.’

‘Oh, don’t be sorry, boss. It’s not my room. Or my house. Or my pottery. What are you doing?’

She stood in front of the little jade box with the inscription in front of it and pointed at it.

‘What’s that?’

‘It’s a box,’ Irene said.

‘Well…yes. It is.’

‘I saw this earlier and there was something about it that stuck out to me. Like it was his crown jewel or something, just sat here like this, the only item with a description to it.’

‘What does it read?’

‘This box was hand-crafted by sculptors of the Wei dynasty in 208 CE and was used to keep the legendary Imperial Jade Seal of China, presented to Cao Cao, King of Wei, shortly after his coronation.’

‘Okay. Cool. But – and I’m sorry to say this boss – what does it mean? I mean, it looks cool and all. Right?’

‘Yeah,’ Seulgi agreed. ‘Very cool. Like one of those boxes you put cigars in, you know? The big Havana Cubans or whatever they’re called. Are they Havanan Cubans? Or are those two different types?’

‘Well, Havana is in Cuba.’

‘Is it?’

‘It’s the capital of Cuba. You didn’t know that?’

Seulgi shrugged.

‘I guess they’re the same. I dunno. Never given it much thought. Boss?’

Irene wasn’t listening. Slowly and with a great deal of care she leant over and unclasped the polished wooden lid of the box and flipped it open. The box was about six inches deep and not much wider and had a velvet padding lining the bottom. It smelt of old wood and a leathery perfume. Of acorns. She put a hand inside and pulled out a single folded letter and opened it and read the heading and almost laughed.

‘What?’ Wendy said. ‘Boss. What is it?’

‘I knew it. Don’t ask me how, but I just knew it. I knew Mr Kim wasn’t the type of person to act senile or whatever. He was too smart for that. Rosie said it herself – he loved to speak in riddles. Loved to play games.’

‘Oh yeah, she did say that, didn’t she?’

‘I thought it was just an off-handed comment, but I don’t think it is. I don’t think anything anyone says tonight can be ignored anymore. It’s funny, actually.’

‘What is?’

‘At first I thought everyone was being very careful not to incriminate themselves, but I think in doing so everyone is accidentally digging themselves into a deeper hole.’

‘Look,’ Seulgi said, ‘I love you and all, but are you gonna speak in ing rhyming poetry all night or are you gonna tell us what that letter is? And why you came up here? And why you found it in some old box.’

‘It’s not just any old box,’ Irene said with enthusiasm. ‘It’s—’

‘Wei something or other, yeah. You said. Look, sorry, but I’m not big on my classical Chinese history, okay? You know that.’

‘That thing he said to you earlier, Wendy – where there’s a will, there’s a way.’

‘Yeah,’ Wendy said.

‘Way. As in – Wei. As in Cao Cao, as in the Chinese dynasty. As in – where there’s a will, there’s a Wei. It was a riddle. Stupid, I know. I thought I was going crazy when I first thought of it.’

‘You mean—’

‘This is his will, yeah.’

‘He left his will in that old box?’ Seulgi said.

‘Yes he did.’

‘Why the would he do that?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe he wanted Yeri to find it or something. She did mention he was riddling her whenever he would invite her round. Maybe he was mentoring her. Or testing her. Maybe he was seeing if she could figure it out herself.’

‘Did he know he was going to die? Or did he just like putting in places people couldn’t find it and then giving them riddles? Wait, you said he liked riddles. And he gave a bunch of them to Yeri. So…you know what? Maybe he was senile. No offence to him, of course, god rest his soul, but surely you’d have to be pretty screwed in the head to have this as your idea of fun.’

‘I don’t know why he did it. Just that he did.’

‘Well, what does it say? The will, I mean.’

Irene read it over again. Just to be sure. The smile on her face was the face one might make as they strike gold. ‘I don’t think Wheein is the murderer,’ she said. ‘But I’ve got a good feeling I know who might be.’