Page 48 of The Perfect Crime

Looking back now, it was a close call, almost too close.

It had been hard enough for Nathan Prescott to track them from the police station to the home of the man they’d been staking out all night.Nathan was constantly worried that they’d notice him.But he’d been careful to park several hundred yards behind them, making sure to stay hidden behind an SUV that blocked their view of him while allowing him to keep tabs on them.

He didn’t know if they were going to be there all night or eventually be replaced by other officers and go home.That was his hope.But neither had happened.

Instead, the man they were following pulled out of his driveway and sped off.They followed close behind, which meant that Nathan had to do the same thing.He’d had enough time to figure out who they were after.The man’s name was Daniel Forrester.He worked in the world of investments, something Nathan wasn’t super knowledgeable about.

He didn’t know for sure why they were following Forrester, but he could guess.He assumed they considered him a suspect in the poisoning cases.If that was true, then they werewayoff base.After all, the man responsible for these murders was right behind them.

It had been extra challenging to keep pace with them as they tore across the city after Forrester, but it was essential that he maintain track of them.Unlike the man they were trailing, the home address for Jessie Hunt and Ryan Hernandez was not publicly available information.If he lost sight of them, he was unlikely to find them again tonight.

That would be bad.Based on the research he’d done on both Hunt and Hernandez in the last few hours, there was a very real chance that despite the precautions he’d taken on his home visits, they might still discover his identity.Everything he’d read suggested that those two, especially Hunt, almost always got their killer.Once they realized that Forrester wasn’t their man, they’d turn their attention elsewhere.And Nathan wasn’t so arrogant as to believe that they wouldn’t eventually find him.

That’s why he had to act first.He had to get to them before they got to him.Deep down, he suspected that even if he removed them as a threat, other detectives they worked with would pick up where they left off.But by then, it would be too late.He’d have completed his mission.

Nathan did his best to drive within the speed limit as he changed lanes.Any sudden movement in their rearview mirror might catch the attention of the people he was hunting, at which point they could turn the tables on him.As he followed them, he wondered if he’d be able to make them understand.

They had to.From what he could tell, it hadn’t worked with the others.He thought that by having the survivor watch the show playing out in front of them, then at some point they would feel the truth, understand it.But mostly they’d just writhed around, trying to break free from their bonds, pleading for the life of their loved one.

But in today’s world, it didn’t work like that.Just because you wanted the person you loved to suddenly recover, to have the poison in their system magically disappear, that didn’t mean it would happen.

It was what he had hoped for, even prayed for, as his beloved Kara wasted away, a kind soul crushed under the callous boot of cancer.He'd been with her at the end when no amount of medication could ease her pain.He could have turned away or left her hospice room.She was delirious with agony and probably wouldn't have noticed.But he couldn't do that.

So he’d forced himself to watch the show, to feel the loss even before it occurred, to understand the magnitude of what was happening.And then she died.

He’d felt empty for a long time after that, going through the motions as he accepted people’s sympathies, trying to focus on his job as a pharmaceutical scientist as a way to distract him from the emptiness at home.And it had mostly worked.

As long as he kept busy, he was able to keep the gnawing pit in his chest under control.It was only when he was between projects or when people asked him to join them for social outings that it threatened to consume him.

He and Kara had been childhood sweethearts.They’d met in elementary school and started dating at fourteen.They were together until her death five years ago, when they were both 33.Nathan still regretted that they never made it to the 20thanniversary of their first date, sneaking in to seeAmerican Pieat the mall.

He didn’t really have a conception of himself apart from her.Ever since she’d gone, he felt like half a person, more shadow than man, just marking time.And he’d come to accept that this was what his life was now.He didn’t love it, but he’d learned to make his peace with it.That is, until last Saturday.

It was bizarre to think that barely 72 hours ago, he never could have conceived of killing someone.But now he was responsible for two deaths and would soon be culpable for another.Life was strange.

Nathan noticed that Detective Hernandez had started to slow down.He glanced around and realized that he was in a residential neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire part of town.He eased back on the accelerator as the car ahead of him turned onto a side street.Before making the same turn, he shut off his headlights.He didn’t want to announce his presence.

He’d gotten lucky earlier, and he didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks now.Back when the couple had pulled over to the side of the road and chased after Forrester on foot, Detective Hernandez had been in such a rush that he’d forgotten to lock his door.

So after Nathan parked a few spots behind them, he waited until they were far down the other street before getting out and walking over to the driver’s side door.He was prepared to jimmy it, using a technique he’d learned on his phone while they were staking out Forrester’s home.

But he tried the door handle just in case.Sure enough, it opened easily.Not wanting to push his luck, Nathan moved as quickly as he could, removing the top of Hernandez’s coffee cup, and squirting in the requisite amount of the mixture that he knew would get the job done.

Then he made a choice that could have upended everything.He decided to stick around.He wanted to see the detective take that first sip of coffee once he returned.Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.When the couple came back, he made sure that his hoodie covered his face and that he weaved slightly so that he looked like just another drunk vagrant among the many who populated this area.

But Hernandez had ordered that he leave the premises.Of course, he had no choice but to comply, so his back was turned when the man got in the car.As a result, he couldn’t properly time when the detective took his first sip.

He had waited until Ryan Hernandez’s car had reached the end of the block before turning around and rushing back to get in his own vehicle, which was parked two spots behind where the detective’s had been.Then he got in and started following them again.

But over the course of the drive here, he’d definitely seen him take a few sips, so he knew the process had started.

He pulled over to the side of the residential street as Hernandez eased his vehicle into their garage.Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was 9:54.He noted that it had been twenty-two minutes since the couple had gotten into the car and nineteen since Hernandez had taken what might or might not have been his first sip of the laced coffee.

Nathan smiled.The effects should start kicking in right about now.He got out of his car and began jogging in their direction.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

Jessie blinked, trying to get the blood out her eyes.

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