In the kitchen, Molly rummaged through drawers looking for a knife that would do the best job. After killing Val, she would put Gwen’s fingerprints all over it. Some of Val’s blood would be placed on Gwen too so that Gwen would be the obvious suspect. The majority of the evidence will incriminate her. She’ll never be able to prove that she didn’t do it. She can plead until she’s blue in the face that she’s innocent. Molly laughed when she thought, Gwen can write to Colin in jail and the two of them can bitch over being set up.

Molly was ready to return upstairs, but a knock at the back door made her jump. She turned her head towards the sound but remained still, hoping the person would just go away.

The person knocked again and then yelled, “Molly. I know you’re in there. Let me in.”

She recognized the voice but was really surprised to hear it. How could he have known to find her here? She wasn’t prepared for this. The man knocked for a third time, louder.

Before the neighbors could hear the commotion, Molly placed the knife on the counter next to her chloroformed rag and opened the door. She didn’t say anything when she saw Howie standing in the open doorway. He walked in and shut the door behind him.

“It’s good to see you, Julia,” Howie said. “I’d have thought you would have been long gone by now.”

“I’m doing what I always have to do, Howie. Fix problems.”

“You told me we were going to let Val live.”

“Don’t be a fool. We can’t let her live. She knows too much.”

“Not about me.”

“Since when was this ever about you? I think it’s almost sad how you care about her.”

“So what if I care about her.”

“What did you think? The two of you were going to ride off into the sunset together? God, that’s pathetic.”

Molly eyed the knife sitting on the counter. She wasn’t sure what Howie had in mind with this visit. The more he talked the angrier she became. He was wasting time. Val was only going to be incapacitated for so long.

“I can’t let you do it. You’re not going to kill her.”

Molly hissed, “What a complete idiot you are. This is my game and I make the rules. Your stupidity isn’t only dangerous to you, it’s dangerous to me too.”

“Don’t call me stupid! You would’ve never been able to carry this off without me. I’m the one who got you the job at the medical examiner’s office and I’m the one who helped you do the job. You never could have done it without me!”