Two hours later, Woods and Beau sat on the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn.
‘You tell him?’
Woods looked at Beau. ‘Did I tell him about the letter? Yeah.’
‘Not about the letter. About the report.’
Woods leant back on the white wicker chair. Adjusted the cushion behind his back. ‘Why would I do that? I thought we decided it was best not to say anything.’
Beau nodded his head. ‘I know. But I can’t help thinking…’
‘What? Don’t go soft on me, Beau. We’re doing the right thing. You need to forget about it. The only reason we know ourselves is because I got Teddy to get the accident reports, when I knew Granger was about to apply for Ellie’s death certificate. I just didn’t know what was in there. I was only making sure nothing could be dug up or said about Jackson in the documents when the authorities read them. Like I say, forget about it.’
‘Does Granger know what was in there?’
Woods stretched his arms in front of him. ‘No, I made sure that part of the document was pulled.’
‘Jesus, John.’
Woods snapped. ‘Beau, give me a break. It’s an old report. It doesn’t change a thing.’
‘Apart from confirming what Tom’s been saying all along.’
‘Like I say, it doesn’t make a difference. The accident happened. Period. The only thing different is that the helicopter pilot contradicted the original officer’s statement. It means nothing.’
‘No, John. It means everything. It means Tom was right all along. There were three skiffs. Not two. Three, John.’
Woods swivelled round in his chair to stare at Beau face on. ‘How many more times? What difference does it make how many there were? Three, four, five, who cares?’
‘Cooper cares, John. He thinks he’s going crazy. It’s torturing him.’
‘You’re wrong. What’s driving him crazy is all that crap he takes.’
‘You don’t believe that,’ said Beau. ‘These past seven years he’s been desperate for someone to believe him. Maybe it’d help him to find some kind of peace.’
‘Help him? It would make him worse. You’ve seen what he’s been like since the death certificate was granted. It’s shaken him. Can you imagine what this would do to him? It’d send him over the edge, because he’d think he was right. And if he thinks he’s right about the number of damn boats, he’s going to think he’s right about everything.’
‘You sure?’
‘Oh come on, Beau. Don’t even go there with me. It was tragic, but Ellie died that day. And that’s all there is to it. He doesn’t need to know. It’s the best thing for him.’
‘What happened to the truth, John?’
‘The truth? Sometimes the truth isn’t all it’s cut out to be.’