“I don’t know.”
He wrote the name.
Kristina was questioned next.
I could not hear everything.
But I heard enough.
“I would never hurt Nora.”
“She is like a daughter.”
“The snake probably entered through the property.”
“I only changed the sheets.”
“I don’t know anything about a bag.”
Then.
“Twenty-five million?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
She denied knowing about the policy.
That was mistake number one.
The officer asked whether she had touched the insurance documents.
She denied it.
Mistake number two.
Because the folder was still downstairs.
And her fingerprints would almost certainly be there.
Then came mistake number three.
She said she had spent the entire afternoon at a hair appointment.
The salon receipt would prove otherwise.
I knew because she came home at noon.
She had been upstairs at three.
The police did not arrest her that night.
Not yet.
There was suspicion.
Evidence.
Contradictions.
But more investigation was needed.
They told Kristina to stay elsewhere.
Edgar protested.
“She’s seventy-one.”
“She can stay at a hotel.”
The officer answered.
“I’m not ordering anyone out permanently.”
“But given the allegation, separation is appropriate.”
Kristina looked at Edgar.
“Son.”
He looked devastated.
Then he looked at me.
For the first time, I saw the marriage shift.
He had to choose.
He whispered.
“Mom, stay with Samantha tonight.”
Samantha was his cousin.
Kristina’s face hardened.
“You believe her?”
Edgar rubbed his forehead.
“I believe there was a snake in my bed.”
“She’s lying about me.”
