Page 51 of The Perfect Crime

“When did Kara pass away?”she asked.

“Five years ago.”

Jessie tried to hide the shock she felt.If his wife had died five years ago, why was he only going on this spree of poisonings now?She framed the question as delicately as she could.

“You managed to deal with the pain of her loss for a long time,” she noted carefully.“What changed?”

The man sighed deeply and stood up, turning away from her and looking out the window.In that moment, Jessie decided that she needed a backup plan that didn’t involve talking down a man who was slowly killing her husband.

So, with her free hand, she grabbed the nearby shard of broken glass plate lying on the floor.It was small enough to hide in her palm but was also—she hoped—thick enough to do what she intended.She turned her body slightly to hide what she was doing, and with her eyes still on the man, began cutting at the zip tie with the piece of glass.

She stopped briefly when he spoke again, waiting to see if he’d turn around.He didn’t.

“I went to my little brother’s wedding this weekend,” he explained.“It was on Saturday.They held it at a lovely resort in the mountains just outside Boulder, Colorado.I was, at his insistence, his best man.I had to stand next to him as he exchanged vows.I had to give a toast at the reception.I had to fake being happy for them.”

He started to turn around.Jessie stopped cutting at the zip tie.

“I’m really sorry,” she said quietly.

“And they didn’t make it easy for me,” he continued, walking back over and sitting down again.“They made no accommodation for my situation.My brother never asked if I was comfortable playing such a big role in everything.His new wife even pointed out one of the bridesmaids and said I should ‘hit that,’ as if I was that kind of guy.She seemed to think she was being supportive and helpful, but the callousness was hard to bear.They just didn’t seem to care, or even notice, that I was still in pain.They didn’t feel what I felt.They didn’t understand.And when I realized that, something inside me snapped.”

He put his head in his hands again.Jessie used the opportunity to cut into the zip tie a little more.She felt it give slightly and allowed herself a quick glance.The thing was sliced halfway, still not enough to break free.

“What did you do?”she asked, more to prevent silence than because she was curious.She already knew the answer to that question.

“I wanted to kill both of them that night,” he said.“But of course, I didn’t.I went back to my room and stewed.It ate at me all night and the next morning at the goodbye brunch, where they were all over each other.And then, on the flight back here that day, I had a moment of perfect clarity.”

He looked up at her.

“What?”she asked.

"I work as a clinical scientist for a major pharma company," he told her."Late last year we ended a drug trial early because we discovered that when the medication was combined with a specific compound found in certain foods and drinks, the interaction caused a milder version of what your husband is experiencing now.It wasn't deadly, but it was poisonous enough to cause illness.It was simply too dangerous to pursue.But I still had all the research.So when I got home, I went into the lab and intentionally combined the medication with the compound in a concentrated liquid.And then, that night, I went to dinner.That's where I saw James and Sarah Whitaker."

“And that’s where you poisoned him?”she asked, trying not to dwell on how close they’d been to the answer when pursuing Eric Sawyer.They’d had the right general profession, just the wrong person.

The man nodded.

"They were flaunting themselves," he said defensively."So when he went to the bathroom and she started checking her phone, I walked by their table.I pretended to trip and bumped into it.As I steadied myself, I used a dropper to inject the liquid into his drink.She didn't even notice.It was even easier the next afternoon at the movie theater in the dark.Those folks were being unbelievably handsy."

“What does that mean?”Jessie asked.“Like they were going at it right there in the theater?”

“No,” he said, looking at her with complete sincerity.“They were holding hands.”

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Jessie’s heart dropped into her stomach as she realized just how far gone the man was.

He had killed a woman and made her husband watch because the couple was holding hands at a movie.Before she could even think of an appropriate response, he continued.

“And then I saw you on TV,” he said, matter-of-factly, as if picking her was the most natural thing in the world.“And now we’re here.”

Jessie thought back to the press conference.She vaguely remembered Ryan giving her hand a supportive squeeze as she stepped away from the podium.Had that been enough to set him off?It must have been.

The man glanced away from her and over at Ryan, who had stopped his quiet, pained inhalations.

“Let’s check on your man, shall we?”he said.“I don’t want you to miss the big finale because we’re being so chatty.”

He knelt down and bent over Ryan, checking his pulse.The moment Jessie felt sure it was safe, she resumed cutting, this time with more force than before.She knew the extra movement might draw the man's attention, but she was running out of time.The man was just rolling Ryan onto his back when she felt the plastic break.His wrist came loose from the tie.She was free.

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