We Solve Murders
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 98
Overview
Bonnie, Felicity, and Tony open the bag left with Bonnie and discover more than a million pounds in cash tied to Mickey Moody. Instead of turning it in, Felicity persuades Bonnie to use the money as hidden backing for a real career, arguing that it can compensate for the danger and unfairness Bonnie has endured. Felicity also tries to make moral amends by pledging her own commission to the families of victims connected to the laundering scheme.
Summary
After returning from Heathrow to her mother’s house and saying the job had been cancelled, Bonnie meets Felicity and Tony in Felicity’s office three days later. They have cut open the holdall with bolt cutters and spread the contents on Felicity’s desk: just over a million pounds in cash.
Bonnie immediately argues that the money should be reported to the police because it is connected to crime and does not belong to her. Felicity and Tony push back, stressing that the bag was delivered to Bonnie, that its owner is Mickey Moody, and that Mickey Moody is now under arrest for murder. They frame keeping the money as a practical response to the danger Bonnie has already been put through and insist Mickey Moody is unlikely to come looking for it.
When Bonnie says she does not want stolen money and only wants to work, Felicity turns the discussion into a plan for Bonnie’s future. Felicity offers to become Bonnie’s agent, help build Bonnie’s career, and quietly funnel the money through her accounts so Bonnie can live on it as if she were earning slightly above the normal rate. Bonnie still feels the arrangement is morally wrong, but Felicity argues that the entertainment industry routinely favors people with private financial backing, and that this money could give Bonnie the same chance to persevere.
Felicity also explains how she will make restitution: she will take a ten percent commission, then give every penny of that commission to the families of Andrew Fairbanks, Bella Sanchez, and Mark Gooch. Admitting that her earlier willful blindness helped enable the scheme, Felicity treats this as a way to accept responsibility. By the end, Bonnie reluctantly agrees to the plan, thanks Felicity and Tony, and the three settle into a hopeful, slightly uneasy understanding about turning bloodstained money into Bonnie’s opportunity.
Who Appears
- BonnieReluctantly debates keeping Mickey Moody’s cash and agrees to use it to fund her future career.
- FelicityUrges Bonnie to keep the money, offers to become her agent, and promises her commission to victims’ families.
- TonySupports Felicity’s argument, helps open the holdall, and reassures Bonnie about keeping the cash.