Regaining her composure, she said, “I was so happy to hear she was all right. I don’t understand where I was for so long, or how I got there. Maybe I was crazy? Sometimes I wonder if it’s craziness to deal with real life—day after day—or if it’s crazy to want to live in the good times”—she smiled through her tears—“I want the two of you to know that there were good times! The man I married—the second time”—she added. “We had something I’ll never forget. Emily and the doctors may think I should forget and move on, but I’ll never forget. The thing is—I’m ready to move on.”
Meredith interjected, “Claire, oh my God, if I thought that was what you thought—I’m so sorry.”
Courtney squeezed Claire’s hand. “Honey, Tony isn’t dead! You didn’t shoot him. You shot Catherine!”
Happiness erupted throughout her entire being, only to be immediately replaced by a heaviness that filled Claire’s chest—she fought the thoughts and memories. Suddenly, the numbers were back—counting dominated her thoughts—three, four, five, six—Pushing everything away, stopping the lineation of numbers, she asked, “If he’s alive, why hasn’t he been here? Doesn’t he want to see me? Is it Emily or is it him?”
Courtney reached out and grasped Claire’s shoulders. “No! He wants to see you. Claire, he’s in prison. He can’t get here.” Giving her a reassuring hug, Courtney softened her voice and added, “I saw him recently, he wants to see you very much—I promise.”
Prison—Claire tried desperately to recall their conversations. She pushed forward, “Why? I thought the FBI was going to make him a deal...is it because of Simon—because Tony hired someone to sabotage his plane?”
This was all new territory for Meredith—she couldn’t answer Claire’s questions if she wanted; however, Courtney could. She knew what Claire needed to learn.
“No!” Courtney looked to Meredith. “I don’t know what to do. Can she handle this?”
Claire’s eyes sharpened, the days of treating her with kid-gloves were over, she replied, “Hello, I’m right here. Yes, I can handle this—I need to know. I need to know what happened.”
Courtney shrugged. “Tony was upset that Simon approached you in Chicago.”
Claire nodded.
“He was so upset that he contacted someone to arrange for an airplane malfunction.”
None of this was news. “He told me. That’s illegal.”
“It is.” Courtney continued, “However, that wasn’t how Simon died. Tony’s connection, the man who was supposed to arrange the malfunction, took his money, but he didn’t complete Tony’s request.”
Claire tried to reason. “But Simon’s plane crashed...”
“Simon’s plane crashed because Simon fell asleep. His body was so badly burned they had very little evidence. It was your friend Harry. He was the one who put it all together. Ask yourself, who benefited from Simon’s death?”
Claire contemplated and finally answered, “I don’t know—all I can think of is Amber, but she—”
Courtney interrupted, “Yes! The way I understand it, she was upset. Things had been rocky in their relationship and Simon was obsessed with you. He’d gone to see you on multiple occasions. Apparently, Amber wasn’t happy. She knew he’d planned to leave a great deal of money to her, and she hoped she could convince the board of directors to follow through on Simon’s lead and allow her to run the company—he also left her the majority of the stock in SiJo, so she arranged for an overdose of antihistamines prior to his flight. Actually, the amount she arranged for him to ingest wasn’t too much for most people, but apparently, Simon had sensitivity to that kind of medication. It caused him to fall asleep while flying the plane.”
Claire tried to follow. “Amber? No, that can’t be true.”
“It is,” Courtney replied. “When you contacted her from prison and told her your theories, she decided it was a great way to deflect any suspicion away from her. She told her brother, Harry—who happened to be Agent Harrison Baldwin—and the FBI became involved. There were lingering concerns about your grandfather’s death and some other cases which led to Anton Rawls. When Amber talked to the FBI, they saw it as the perfect storm. By utilizing Harry—having him get to know you, they assumed they’d learn more about Tony.”
Claire shut her eyes and tried to concentrate. Finally, she asked, “So, Tony didn’t kill Simon? Amber did?”