4:02AM.

The first thing Yeri said when they stepped through the door was, ‘Jesus. What the happened to you?’

‘Had a little accident,’ Sooyoung said, face full of drying mud.

‘Yeah, no . You look like you’re made out of ing chocolate. What, uh…what happened?’

‘Wrapped my Ferrari around a tree. You know, the usual stuff.’

‘Damn. Hope you had insurance. Although I’m not sure it’ll matter much in jail.’

‘Prison.’

‘What?’

‘Wait,’ Wheein said. ‘If you totalled your car, how did the three of you get back?’

‘I sat in Irene’s lap.’

‘Really?’ Seulgi said, her tone unreadable. All Irene could do is shrug.

‘What are you upset about now?’ Yeri said.

‘I’m not upset.’

‘Yeah? You sound it.’

‘I’m not upset.’

‘Are you jealous?’

‘No,’ Seulgi said. ‘Why would I be jealous? I was just asking for clarification. I’m not jealous or anything. Why would I be jealous?’

‘God, lighten up. She just sat on Irene’s lap. It’s not like Irene her or anything.’

‘Jesus Christ,’ Wheein said.

‘What?’

‘Can you not say like that, please? Some thoughts are better left as just thoughts.’

Yeri shrugged.

‘What are we up to?’ Sooyoung asked.

‘Snakes and ladders,’ Jennie said. ‘And we found some wine in Mr Kim’s office upstairs. Do you want some?’

‘Sure.’

‘No,’ Jisoo said. ‘We can’t give wine to prisoners. And she might poison it anyway.’

‘Prisoners? I’m a prisoner now?’

‘You’re— I don’t know. Whatever you are. Isn’t that right?’

Irene shrugged.

‘Boss,’ said Wendy, ‘do you want something to drink?’

‘No, I’m good, thanks.’

Irene checked her phone. It had just gone four in the morning and the fatigue was beginning to set in. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Now we wait.’

‘Wait for what?’ Rosie asked.

‘Wait for it to stop raining outside.’

‘And then what?’

‘Then—’ she paused, acutely aware that she didn’t quite know why they were waiting until it stopped raining at all. It was just something she’d said. So with all the honesty she could muster she answered: ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know.’

‘Well,’ Yeri said, ‘at least you’re honest.’

‘Look,’ said Lisa, ‘the way I see it, with no phone lines or anything, the only way we’re going to get anyone to come up here without praying for a 4G miracle is if one of us drives down to Seoul or wherever the the nearest police station is and brings them up here themselves.’

‘Well…yeah. Didn’t we discuss this, like, six hours ago? Come to think of it, what time is it?’

‘Time for you to shut the up.’

‘Wow. Rude.’

‘You should go,’ Wheein said.

Lisa turned to her. She was still sat in the same position on the sofa, still with a glass of whiskey in hand. On the table in front of her were two empty bottles of whiskey and another about three quarters full right next to the snakes and ladders board.

‘How are you not dead?’ Lisa said.

‘What? Oh, the whiskey? Honestly, it’s a mystery to me. Has been for a couple years now. My insides must look like a sponge. Like one of those gross old sponges that you use to mop up grease. The ones that never quite get clean again. Except in this instance it’s not grease – it’s Jack Daniels. I tried to wean myself off of it a while back but I just couldn’t be bothered. Too much effort for too little reward. That plus the fact that I’m afraid if I ever stop fully the cumulative hangover will literally kill me. It’s like I’m using alcohol to counter the alcohol, to stop myself getting a hangover at all. And so far, to be honest, it’s kinda working. And it’s not bad for taste. I’m thinking about getting a Jack Daniels water fountain installed in my house, so I can have it on tap whenever I want.’

‘Right.’

‘Anyway, you should go.’

‘What?’

Wheein made a vague motion towards the front doors with her whiskey glass. ‘You’re already up, you’ve got your keys, you’ve just been for a little drive anyway.’

‘My car is ing ruined.’

‘It’s just some mud,’ Irene said.

‘Oh, don’t you start. Don’t you even dare.’

‘I propose a vote,’ Wheein said. ‘All those in favour of—’

‘Alright,’ Lisa said. ‘Alright, . I’ll go.’

‘Are you sure?’ Irene asked.

‘What’s the alternative? Be stuck in here with all of you for another few hours? If that’s the only alternative then honestly, Sooyoung, just kill me as well.’

Sooyoung said nothing.

‘I’ll go.’

‘Be back soon.’

‘Why, you gonna miss me or something?’

‘No,’ Irene said bluntly.

‘I’ll be back in an hour or two. Maybe a little longer depending on the weather. Please – please – don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone. I can’t be bothered with any more dumb . Not after the way today’s gone.’

‘We won’t.’

‘Alright. I’ll be back soon.’

‘Drive safe,’ Wendy said when she was by the door. Lisa ignored her and left. They listened for the engine. The headlights cut across the front windows in a wide arc and vanished again and the engine slowly dissipated and then she was fully gone.

‘Well,’ Yeri said, ‘what’s to say we start this snakes and ladders game again?’

‘No,’ Wheein said.

‘No,’ said Jennie.

‘Sorry, but no,’ said Jisoo.

Rosie put up a hand in apology. ‘No,’ she said.

‘It’s a no from me too,’ Wendy said.

Yeri looked genuinely offended. ‘Irene?’ she said. ‘Seulgi?’

They both shook their heads.

‘Well, suit yourselves. I’ll just be here, playing by myself, you know? All alone.’

‘Good,’ said Irene. ‘At least you can keep an eye on Sooyoung for us.’

‘Nah, sorry, that’s not happening. She’s your responsibility.’

‘No, she’s not.’

‘Why not?’

‘I can’t be bothered.’

‘Isn’t it your job?’

‘No,’ Irene said. ‘Nobody hired me. I’m just here as a guest.’

‘Are you sure?’ Wheein said.

‘Am I sure what?’

She sat straight on one of the couches and poured herself another small quarter of brown whiskey and sat back again with the glass in one hand. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I’ve been thinking about this all night – as I’m sure you have, actually – and I’ve come to the conclusion that, well, this all seems a little too convenient, don’t you think? In fact, I’ve got a different hypothesis. I think Mr Kim knew he was going to die, so he purposely invited all of us along to speed up the process a lot.’

‘Jesus,’ Seulgi said, ‘that’s dark.’

‘Well, maybe I’m wrong. I dunno. Irene, am I wrong?’

‘I don’t know either,’ Irene said. ‘I thought the same thing. Maybe he did. Maybe his health problems were worse than he was letting on and he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory or something.’

‘Not much glory in it, is there?’

‘I guess not. But at least he got to see Sooyoung go down in the process.’

‘Well…’

‘Metaphorically got to see it, of course. Not actually. But if he did plan it, then fair play. It’s a pretty good plan.’

Wheein was quiet a moment. She seemed to weight this up in her head. Then she shook the glass and drunk and said, ‘You have a point there. Very good point.’

‘Yes I do. And with that, I’ll take my leave.’

‘Leave?’ Yeri said. ‘What about Sooyoung? You’re gonna have— wait. Wait, where are you going now?’

‘To find something to drink,’ Irene said. ‘Something stronger than wine, and preferably with some vodka in it.’

She made straight for Mr Kim’s lounge. In truth there was no chance she was going to drink anything but her head hurt and she needed to sit down and so she pulled one of the padded armchairs up under the far window and sat with her eyes closed listening to the rain batter down behind her in wayward metronome. A storm that would never end. She felt quite sick, for some reason. She was on the verge of sleep when a cough made her open her eyes and rub them twice and yawn.

‘Did I interrupt you?’ Seulgi said softly.

‘No. Sorry.’

Seulgi smiled and she smiled back.

‘Man,’ Seulgi said, ‘what a day.’

‘Yeah, you can say that again.’

‘Man, what a day.’

‘How are you?’

‘A bit tired. A bit, you know…I mean, what the ? Seriously.’

‘Yeah.’

‘I just— I mean…yeah.’

‘That sort of day.’

‘Mind if I have a seat?’

‘Be my guest.’

Seulgi smiled again. She grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it up beside Irene. For a long time they were silent. They could hear Yeri and Wheein arguing downstairs. Then Jennie and even Rosie. It seemed all they ever did was argue. Then Seulgi said, ‘It seems all they ever do is—’

‘Argue. Yeah. Was going to say the same thing.’

‘They sound like us. Back then, I mean.’

‘We weren’t that bad. Were we?’

Seulgi was quiet.

‘I’m sorry,’ Irene said gently.

‘Sorry for what? Arguing?’

‘For everything. Again.’

‘Is now the time we talk?’

‘I guess so.’

‘Well,’ Seulgi said, ‘I don’t really have anything else to say. I said it all earlier.’

‘Me too, honestly.’

‘Irene.’

‘Yeah?’

‘I love you.’

Irene turned to her. The smile on Seulgi’s face was contagious. Instead of replying she leant over and kissed her and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

‘I could get used to this again,’ Seulgi said.

‘Me too. Minus the whole murder thing.’

‘Yeah. Minus that. How long do you think Lisa will be?’

‘I don’t know. A couple hours, I guess, like she estimated. You should get some sleep.’

‘Oh please,’ Seulgi said. ‘I’m not even tired.’

It was almost five in the morning and still dark when she nudged Seulgi’s sleeping head off her shoulder and her hair gently and left the room without a word. For some reason sleep didn’t want to come to her at all. She stopped short of the doorway and took one look at Seulgi there on the chair by the window and then with a smile on her face she turned and went on out.

Rosie and Yeri and Sooyoung were all sat downstairs in the main hall sat around the table again. Yeri had somehow managed to wrangle them up for another prolonged game of snakes and ladders. For a while Irene just stood there watching them from the balcony. None of the others seemed to be anywhere in sight. She went down and joined them and none of the three of them seemed to care that she was there at all. They just kept playing. The mud was still on Sooyoung’s face and it had dried around in a sort of mummified plaster that was oddly hilarious.

‘You’ve got mud on you,’ Irene said.

‘Really? Never noticed.’

‘You wanna play?’ Yeri said.

‘Sure,’ said Irene.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. Why? What’s wrong with that?’

‘Nothing. It’s just when I asked you earlier you said no. I figured you were gonna be boring all night long. Well, all morning, technically.’

Irene sat beside Yeri on the middle sofa and took one of the pieces from beside the board and set it on the START square. ‘So,’ she said, ‘what have you been talking about? Anything interesting?’

‘Not really. Well, it depends entirely on your definition of interesting, I suppose. But nothing I’d expect you to find interesting.’

‘What about Sooyoung here?’

‘What about her?’

‘Has she been saying anything.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like anything.’

‘Not really. What do you expect her to do, tell you her social security number or something? She tried running away, Irene. That’s, like…proof number one for being guilty as . No?’

‘I wasn’t arguing otherwise.’

‘Really?’

Irene shrugged.

‘I am here, you know,’ said Sooyoung. ‘I can hear you.’

‘I know.’

‘Well. It’s your move.’

Irene was silent for a long time. Then she said, ‘Why did you do it?’

‘What? Do what? Kill him?’

‘No. Poison the stew. That’s what’s been bugging me all night. Why did you poison the stew?’

Sooyoung leant forward and grabbed the dice and cupped them in her hand idly. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I would’ve thought the answer to that was pretty straightforward, honestly.’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘Do I?’

‘How did you know Mr Jae was going to eat the stew and nobody else? Why didn’t you poison the canapes instead?’

‘He said something earlier about wanting to taste the stew or something. Before you arrived. Dunno how I remembered it for, like, seven hours, but I did.’

Irene was silent again. Then: ‘That’s it?’

‘What?’

‘Are you serious? You heard that he wanted to taste the soup and that’s why poisoned it? What if someone else tasted it?’

‘Did anyone taste it?’

‘That’s not—’

‘Did anyone else taste it?’

Irene sighed. ‘No.’

‘No. Exactly.’

‘Not for lack of trying,’ Yeri said. ‘Looked like some good stew, too. Shame to go to waste. By the way, are we gonna do anything about him?’

She pointed at Mr Jae’s body, just off to the side of the sofas. The stew was still there on the floor beside him.

‘Like what?’ Irene said.

‘Oh, like, I dunno…move the guy? I mean, I can smell him from here. And it’s not a good smell, I’ll tell you that.’

‘Do you want to volunteer?’

‘Not particularly, no.’

‘Well then,’ Irene said, and stood.

‘Where are you going?’

‘To explore.’

‘You’re not going to break some more of my granduncle’s pottery, are you?’

Irene ignored her and left them there. On the way up the stairs Wheein passed without even looking at her, as if she were not there at all. First Irene back to the lounge. Seulgi was still there, still asleep, mouth wide open on the chair by the far window. Irene watched her for a while. The smile that crept onto her face was one she never even realised was there. When she left to go upstairs Seulgi was still soundly asleep.

She checked the bedroom again. As if something might have appeared out of some form of sorcery in the past few hours since she’d last checked it but it had not. It was just the same bedroom, same furniture. Nothing of not. In the collection room next door she took great care not to knock anything else over. The pottery they’d smashed all over the floor lay there in a porcelain rubble by the door and when she saw it she winced.

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled to no one. Then she just stood there looking around the room. Something felt off that she couldn’t quite place. There were broaches and necklaces and small coins and a few vases all along the shelf against the wall on the left of the room and Irene’s eyes fell to studying them each in turn.

‘I’m missing something,’ she said. She half expected Wendy or even Seulgi to surprise her again but they did not. She studied the shelves on the left. On the one closest to the door there was a small space where there should have been perhaps a small vase or jug but instead was only a folded creamcoloured piece of paper. It looked like a letter of some description. Irene swiped it from the shelf and unfolded it and held it up in the narrow light. The pen had been written on in immaculate handwriting. It was a message about half a page long that read:

Dear Irene,

If you are reading this letter, first of all I would like to say congratulations for making it this far. You’re every bit the detective I thought you were. Seems I was right to place my trust in you. I don’t know how long it will be before you read this, if you read it at all, but know that if you get to it, it will almost surely mean that I am dead, or about to die, killed by somebody I have invited here tonight for this meal. I don’t know who that is – I’m sure it could be almost any of them, and Lord knows they’d have reason to do it – but know that this is always what I wanted. Ever since I can remember I’ve been fascinated with mysteries, with the little intricate details, with figuring things out, pointing fingers, shifting the blame, things like that. I suppose, in a sense, I’ve always wished for my life to pan out this way.

Don’t be alarmed – this isn’t as crazy as it may seem. I’ve known for a long time that I have many enemies and I’ve always been at peace with that. I’ve done a lot of things people may not like me for, and that’s fine. I’m seventy years old. I’ve done a lot of living. I’ve got clots in my legs, a swelling in my brain, a morphine addiction, a hundred other health niggles and worries, etcetera etcetera. I think you know the rest. If I know you well enough, I’d be willing to be you found this letter because, well, something doesn’t quite sit right with you. You’ve got this urge to explore, to find things, to make sense of things that feel out of place. Coincidences can’t just coincidences to you. People can never be exactly as they seem. Everything has another layer to it. Really, we’re all onions.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. I deem this my greatest achievement, unless by some minor miracle I am still alive and my judgement of everybody I have invited along today – yourself and Seulgi notwithstanding – is entirely incorrect. But I don’t think it will be. Will it?

Peace out, bro.

P.S. Tell Yeri she’s the best grandniece ever.

Love, Kim Hongmin.