Garibaldi Media was Frank’s company but, with things as they were, he was forced to move onto other ventures. He has since worked on at least one big-name documentary of which you have likely heard – and is currently hard at work on another. I have shielded his name – and changed the name of his company – solely to protect his professional reputation. Many in the film-making industry know who he is – but he is a private man and deserves to be left alone.
As a project, Frank’s movie was dead – however, he gave me a hard drive filled with terabytes of unedited, raw video. He told me I could do with it whatever I wanted. Everyone involved had signed disclaimers, so there were, and are, no privacy or legal issues to be considered.
I thought about turning this story into some sort of fiction novel, perhaps like my others. I could have written it first-person from Emma’s point-of-view, or perhaps third with a bit of Julius involved. The problem was, every time I sat down, nothing came out. These characters had such unique voices that I realised there was no point in trying to ape them.
Over the course of many, many months, I watched and re-watched every second of footage and transcribed everything. I managed to work those interviews into something approximating a chronological order. What’s left, I believe, is as accurate a story as is likely to be told of what happened on Galanikos.
I have a confession to make here: I have never visited the island and, with the exception of Paul, I haven’t met anyone who gave an interview for this story. My only meeting with Paul was when I was visiting the UK. He was on a night out with Frank and some of the other Garibaldi Media team, on which I tagged along. We might have exchanged a few words, but, honestly, I don’t remember him.
If you feel like you know the island of Galanikos, or even that you know the people involved, it is solely because of the wit and verbal dexterity of everyone who was interviewed. I thank them for that.
After I finished writing everything you’ve read, I sent it off to my editor in London. My phone rang approximately nine hours later, at 2.35 in the morning. I was asleep and grabbed my phone from the side table. Through groggy eyes, I didn’t take in a name on the screen, I simply answered – expecting bad news. Instead, it was my editor.
‘What do you think happened?’
It might have been early in the morning, but I understand that desperation to know. I want to know.
It’s not only a question of who did what, but whether anything was done at all. Did Geoff fall, or was he pushed? And, if he was pushed, then by whom? Did Emma attempt to poison her father, or was it Julius? Or was it an honest mistake? Did Emma invent the story of the hidden money, or was it a genuine truth that ripped apart all those years of childhood memories?
In short, it is about faith.
Do you believe Julius, or do you believe Emma?
The main fact I can give you is that the police investigation was closed with no charges made. In the eyes of the law, Geoffrey McGinley fell unaided from that cliff, in the same way Alan Lee had nine years before.
It was an accident.
In addition, I have uncovered no proof that the Bank of Galanikos exists, but then, as leaks like the Panama Papers showed, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
What is clear is that, with a handful of exceptions, more or less everyone interviewed for this project has told lies.
The biggest exception is Rosa the maid. Her account can corroborate either of Julius or Emma’s versions of events, depending on who you believe in the first place.
And that, I suppose is the biggest problem. There is no version of this story that involves absolutes. Nobody who is blameless.
I’ve often wondered what this story actually is. Is it a true crime tale, or is it an examination of family, jealousy and grief? Maybe it’s all of those things? Or maybe, after everything, it is a simple tale of someone who pushed their father off a cliff and got away with it.
I want to give almost the last word to Tina, who owns the vintage clothes shop where Emma once worked. She doesn’t feature a lot in this story – but her testimony is, I think, incredibly powerful.
As I was coming towards the end of this project, I emailed Tina to ask if she might like to add anything to the initial interview she gave. Everything she spoke in the first instance was said before Emma eloped – and it felt like she, perhaps more than anyone, had an unfinished story.
I sent Tina the transcript of what she’d said before and, with her permission, this is her emailed reply:
Tina: The line that stands out to me is: ‘She’s the best person I know, but she has a really good way of hiding it.’
I remember saying that about Emma and wondering if it was too harsh. At the time, I assumed there was going to be a documentary and, if it made the cut, Emma would see that. I didn’t want to upset her – but I also didn’t want to be dishonest.
I think everything that’s happened since those interviews probably back up what I said. Emma’s exactly the sort of person I would imagine eloping. I can see her being seduced by love – and then running away to chase it.
I miss my friend.
We talked more or less every day and then, all of a sudden, I haven’t heard from her in over a year. I’ve replayed the conversations we had and wondered if it’s something I said, or did. Maybe it is?
I suppose I’d like to think that Emma found a way to escape everything from her past and make a new start. She was never going to get past everything that happened to her if she remained around all the people she knew from before.
If I’m collateral damage because she had to save herself, then I can live with that. I always said that Emma saved herself.
I don’t wish Emma any ill will, in fact I wish her the opposite. I hope she’s happy. She deserves it and, if anything comes from your book, I hope it’s a true reflection of who she is.
There’s a natural human desire for closure and definite answers – but the truth is that life isn’t like that. Even in a case that goes all the way to court, much of what goes in front of a jury is one person’s word versus another’s. We can all play detective and ask what we might have done differently, or think of the questions we’d have wanted asking. We can look at all the evidence – and then decide who we believe.
Except, even when we do that, the person sitting to our side might well come to a completely different conclusion, despite the identical evidence.
I have my own, conflicting, ideas about what happened on the island, but my version is no more valid than yours. You now know as much as me – and I’m more than happy for you to tell me your theories.
If you liked this book, then please tell your friends and your family. Leave a review somewhere that another reader might see it. Post about it on your social network of choice.
The only way the After the Accident footage is ever likely to see the light of day will be if enough people say they want to see the movie. Although it’s not her real name, Emma McGinley is an extraordinary person – and, one day, I hope you all get to see that for yourself.
I wrote above that I wasn’t sure whether this book is a true crime tale, or an examination of family, jealousy and grief. It still could be any, or all, of those things but maybe, just maybe, it’s a story of love.
I will now give the final word to Emma. When Paul sent that email from his work account, Emma replied. Her response is included below.
Thanks for reading,
- Kerry Wilkinson
The Final Word
From: Emma McGinley
To: Paul Bosley
Subject: re: J ints
P!
I love you.
X
E!
If you were addicted to the twists and turns of After the Accident, you’ll be completely hooked on The Girl Who Came Back by Kerry Wilkinson. Thirteen years ago Olivia Adams went missing. Now she’s back… or is she?
Get it here!
The Girl Who Came Back
Thirteen years ago Olivia Adams went missing.
Now she’s back… or is she?
When six-year-old Olivia Adams disappeared from her back garden, the small community of Stoneridge was thrown into turmoil. How could a child vanish in the middle of a cosy English village?
Thirteen years on and Olivia is back. Her mother is convinced it’s her but not everyone is sure. If this is the missing girl, then where has she been - and what happened to her on that sunny afternoon?
If she's an imposter, then who would be bold enough to try to fool a child’s own mother – and why?
Then there are those who would rather Olivia stayed missing. The past is the past and some secrets must remain buried.
An absorbing and gripping psychological thriller that will have you holding your breath until the final page.
Get it here!
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Books by Kerry Wilkinson
Standalone novels
After the Accident
Close to You
A Face in the Crowd
The Wife’s Secret
The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker
Last Night
The Girl Who Came Back
Two Sisters
Ten Birthdays
The Jessica Daniel series
The Killer Inside (also published as Locked In)
Vigilante
The Woman in Black
Think of the Children
Playing with Fire
The Missing Dead (also published as Thicker than Water)
Behind Closed Doors
Crossing the Line
Scarred for Life
For Richer, For Poorer
Nothing But Trouble
Eye for an Eye
Silent Suspect
The Unlucky Ones
A Cry in the Night
Short Stories
January
February
March
April
The Andrew Hunter series
Something Wicked
Something Hidden
Something Buried
Silver Blackthorn
Reckoning
Renegade
Resurgence
Other
Down Among the Dead Men
No Place Like Home
Watched
Available in Audio
Close to You (Available in the UK and the US)
A Face in the Crowd (Available in the UK and the US)
The Wife’s Secret (Available in the UK and the US)
The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker (Available in the UK and the US)
Last Night (Available in the UK and the US)
The Girl Who Came Back (Available in the UK and the US)
Two Sisters (Available in the UK and the US)
The Killer Inside
Detective Jessica Daniel Book 1
You can lock your doors…but what if the killer is already inside?
When the body of a woman is found in a locked house, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is called in to investigate a seemingly impossible murder. Without a key, how did the killer get in or out?
Jessica is under intense pressure to solve the case fast, but as she and her team chase down flimsy leads, she realizes this might just be the toughest case she has ever handled.
Then a second body is discovered bearing the same hallmarks as the first victim, and Jessica’s worst fears are confirmed: the hunt is for a serial killer, and only one thing is certain: they will strike again.
Can she get to him before the body count rises? And is she prepared to put her own life in terrible danger to catch the murderer?
An intense and compelling edge-of-your-seat thriller full of twists and turns. For fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Robert Bryndza. Discover Kerry Wilkinson’s crime series today.
Get it here.
A Face in the Crowd
Lucy gets the same bus every day.
She hopes to get a seat to herself, tries to avoid eye contact, and, if she’s really lucky, reads a chapter of her book.
But it’s a Friday – and the bus is always crammed at the end of the week. Personal space doesn’t exist. She keeps her elbows close and clings to a pole at every juddering stop.
When she gets off, something feels different.
An envelope stuffed with thousands of pounds is in her bag.
Is it the answer to her prayers, or the beginning of a nightmare?
Because, in the end, everything has a price.
A compulsive read that will have you absolutely hooked and reading late into the night.
Order it now.
The Wife’s Secret
Charley Willis was thirteen years old when her parents were killed in their family home and she was found hiding in a cupboard upstairs.
Fifteen years later, Charley is marrying Seth Chambers. It should be the happiest day of their lives, a chance for Charley to put her past behind her, but just hours after the ceremony, she is missing.
No one saw her leave. No one knows where she is.
One thing is for certain… Seth is about to discover he doesn’t really know the woman he just married. And his nightmare is only just beginning.
A totally gripping psychological thriller that will keep you reading until the very last jaw-dropping twist.
Get it here!
Last Night
It’s the early hours of the morning and Rose Denton wakes up behind the steering wheel of her car. She’s off the road, through a hedge and in a field.
There’s blood on the windscreen and bonnet – but it’s not hers and there’s no sign of anything or anyone she might have hit. The last thing she remembers is being in a hotel on a business trip but now she’s miles away.
Back home and her daughter’s boyfriend is missing. The last thing he did was argue with Rose over money. He left no note, no text, no clue as to his whereabouts.
The police have questions – and so does Rose’s family. But those are little compared to the ones she has for herself.
What happened last night? And, perhaps more importantly, does she really want to know the answer?
A totally addictive psychological thriller which will keep you turning the pages until the final dramatic twist.
Get it here.
Two Sisters
They told us he had been missing for nearly two days, that he probably drowned. They told us a lie.
Megan was ten years old when her older brother, Zac, went missing among the cliffs, caves and beaches that surround the small seaside town of Whitecliff.
A decade later and a car crash has claimed the lives of her parents.
Megan and her younger sister Chloe return to Whitecliff one summer for the first time since their brother’s disappearance. Megan says it’s to get her parents’ affairs in order. There are boxes to pack, junk to clear, a rundown cottage to sell. But that’s not the real reason.
Megan has come to confront her family’s past after receiving a postcard on the day of her parents’ funeral. It had a photograph of Whitecliff on the front and a single letter on the back.
‘Z’ is all it read.
Z for Zac.
A totally gripping psychological thriller that will have fans of Louise Jensen, Sue Fortin and The Silent Child absolutely hooked.
Get it here.
The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker
‘I will never forget the night I drowned…’
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor Parker wakes up cold and alone in the river that twists through her quiet village. She remembers a hand on her chest, another on her head, water in her throat, those final gasps for air…
Her brother’s girlfriend was drowned in the same river the
summer before, held under the water by an unknown killer.
After the Accident: A compelling and addictive psychological suspense novel Page 23