“We don’t think Shawna was behind it. Not exclusively.”

Allison frowns. “Why do you think that?”

“Have you met Shawna?”

“She was acting, obviously.”

“No one’s that good of an actress.”

Allison lifts her chin. “You don’t know anything about it.”

“Oh? Please tell me.”

“What are you implying?”

“That maybe there’s more than one good actress on this trip.”

Allison stares at me for a moment, and then she throws her head back and laughs. “Oh my God, Eleanor. You know you’re bad at this, don’t you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are, though. You thinkI’mbehind all of this? How could that possibly be true?”

“I haven’t worked it out yet, but you have a motive, you have the means, and you had the opportunity.”

“A motive to kill Emma and Fred?”

“No, Connor.”

“I see. And I was in cahoots with Tyler to do this? I only met him a few weeks ago. And why would Tyler want to kill Connor?”

“Tyler was a red herring. Shawna had a cloned phone for him. He wasn’t the one texting with José.Shewas.”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“Easy to say.”

“Please. Is that all you have?”

I’m starting to get that desperate feeling when I know I’m right, but I can’t explain why. “You’re the one who did it in the script.”

“Excuse me?”

“Like I said yesterday at the ropes course...The big twist. It was all a long con between Connor and Allison. They identified Cecilia as an heiress and targeted her to get her money. And they get away with it. Cecilia doesn’t even find a way to get back at them.”

I know, right? It’s stupid.And it’s notwhat happened inWhen in Rome, the book. But that’s the movie we’ve been filming. At least I think it is. There have been so many changes along the way it’s hard to keep track.

I may have...lost the plot.

And yes, Ihavebeen saving that one in my drafts folder for a while.

You know me that well by now, right?

“That’s not how the movie ends.”

“What?”

“You were there, Eleanor. Remember Shutters? Connor and Cecilia and their happy ending?”