Page 165 of To Die For

“You can’t prove anything I just told you.”

“We already have. You were just the cherry on top. And now you’ll need to come with me. There’s transport waiting to take you out of here and then to a federal facility.”

This seemed to strike Trumbull especially hard. “What sort of deal?”

“You testify, you go into WITSEC, no prison time. Otherwise, you’ll never see the sun rise or set again.”

She considered this. “I can’t stay here. And I’ll need to get some clothes.”

He followed her to her bedroom. “I’ll just be a minute,” she said as she pulled out some clothes. She reached inside the pocket of one and quickly clapped a hand to her mouth. Devine was a split second too late to stop her. She swallowed and looked triumphantly at him. “My own concoction. Even more lethal and fast acting thancyanide.”

She started convulsing, her breathing erratic, her pupils flipping out of sight. Trumbull dropped to the floor and started gyrating on the carpet, while Devine could only watch helplessly. Then she stopped moving.

And seconds later she stopped breathing.

Her pupils had rotated back into place. But they now stared unseeing up at him.

Devine looked over his shoulder. “Did you get it?”

Pru Jackson came out of the darkness holding her phone. “Eleven minutes and five seconds of crystal clear video. I didnotfilm you threatening her with the gun or her offing herself,” she added.

“Good call.”

CHAPTER

76

DEVINE CARRIED TRUMBULL TO HERbed where Jackson undressed her and put the dead woman under the covers. Devine had found in a cabinet the bullet he’d fired and dug it out and then smoothed over the damaged wood. Their hope was that whoever discovered her would conclude that Trumbull had died of natural causes.

After finishing with Jackson, Devine drove back to the trailer in Kittitas County and found Odom, Shore, and Rose eating a late-night dinner.

“Glad your butt got back here alive,” whispered Shore.

“Yeah.”

After the meal, Devine led Odom into the living room and showed her the boxes with her parents’ remains.

“I know this is so hard, Betsy,” he said as she ran her fingers along the tops of the boxes. “But I thought you’d want to have them.”

“Thanks, I… I do.”

He took a breath and said, “I found out what happened to your parents.”

“You know who killed them?” she said, her features strained.

“The waitress at the restaurant where you ate?”

“The old lady who smelled like smoke?”

“She used to be a doctor and a chemistry professor. She got caught up with some very bad people.”

Floppy tears gathered in the girl’s eyes, “How… how did it happen?”

In answer, Devine took out something from his pocket and held it up. “Look familiar?”

It was a pack of bacterial wipes.

Odom gaped. “Oh my gosh, the waitress brought us each one of those. She said they were asking everyone to use them because the town had had an outbreak of the flu. I… forgot. I’m sorry.”

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