The Impossible Fortune
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 53
Overview
Elizabeth and Bogdan confront Jamie Usher about Holly Lewis’s final phone call, hoping he will explain the link between Holly’s murder and the missing Bitcoin fortune. Jamie admits to petty financial crime but convincingly denies knowing Holly or planting a bomb, which pushes Elizabeth away from him as a likely killer. After briefly considering Jill Usher as the real connection, Elizabeth has a sudden breakthrough: Holly’s last call may have been a coded message rather than an attempt to reach Jamie.
Summary
After receiving news connected to the investigation, Elizabeth decides to question Jamie Usher at her flat and asks Bogdan to join her in case Jamie proves dangerous. Elizabeth believes many existing suspects do not fit, and she hopes that understanding why Holly Lewis called Jamie’s number shortly before dying will unlock both the murder and the missing money.
When Jamie arrives, Elizabeth and Bogdan pressure him immediately. Jamie notices that Elizabeth is not really a family-history researcher and says the police have already visited his house. Under questioning, Jamie admits to mortgage fraud and other minor cons, explaining that this is why he assumed the police were after him, but he seems genuinely shocked when Elizabeth accuses him of being linked to Holly Lewis and the car bomb.
Elizabeth and Bogdan intensify the intimidation, and Jamie continues to deny ever knowing Holly or speaking to her. Elizabeth shows him the number Holly called on the night she died, and Jamie confirms that it is his number. Even so, his panic and confusion persuade Elizabeth that he is not lying: Jamie is a criminal, but not the sort involved in murder or bomb-making.
Elizabeth then shifts her attention to Jamie’s wife, Jill. She asks whether Jill might have secrets of her own, why they moved to Manchester, and whether Jill ever mentioned Holly Lewis, but Jamie insists Jill has no criminal history and would have no connection to Holly. Bogdan casually suggests that Holly may simply have dialed a wrong number.
That suggestion triggers Elizabeth’s breakthrough. Instead of accepting the call as a mistake or a direct attempt to reach Jamie, Elizabeth suddenly realizes that Holly’s final call may itself have been meaningful as a code, and she concludes that she now understands Holly’s code.
Who Appears
- ElizabethLeads the interrogation of Jamie and realizes Holly’s final phone call may be coded.
- Jamie UsherSmall-time fraudster questioned about Holly’s last call; denies knowing her or any role in murder.
- BogdanBacks Elizabeth as the threatening presence, then sparks her breakthrough with a wrong-number suggestion.
- Holly LewisMurder victim whose final call to Jamie’s number becomes the chapter’s central mystery.
- Jill UsherJamie’s wife briefly emerges as a possible hidden link to Holly and the wider case.
- JoyceElizabeth’s investigative partner, mentioned as waiting on developments from the interview.