“She did find out,” said Heather. “He finally came clean and Ms. García-Harmen was all ready to move on.”

“Why did she stay?” said Zoe.

Daryl glanced around the expansive living room and spread his arms. “For this place,” said Daryl. “Conner brought Gabriela here once when you were away at a high-school reunion weekend and when she saw this apartment, that changed everything. From that day on, she was all in. You may think of this place as home, Zoe, but it’s worth a lot of money— millions and millions.

“I know but…” said Zoe.

“When you saw the text about the murder, you—and we—assumed they were talking about killing a man, her husband, but the actual intended victim was always you. All of us got that wrong. Greg Harmen was never the target. She wanted Conner to get rid of you so the two of them could take possession of this apartment.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Zoe.

“Because the apartment belonged to you before you got married, if you and Conner divorced, he’d have no claim to it. That didn’t sit well with Gabi. She wanted your apartment, lock, stock and barrel. He wanted her and was willing to do whatever she asked.”

“She’s like that black widow spider that eats their mates,” said Sean.

“We believe Gabi was the one who cooked up the whole idea and pushed your husband to do it. Regardless, he went along with it and arranged the whole thing. When you killed the man he hired to murder you, Conner had to take matters into his own hands or risk losing Gabriela. He wasn’t willing to give her up so he spiked your drink and tried to make it look like a suicide. He made sure that both he and Gabriela had no communication and solid alibis for their whereabouts that day in case it ever came back to bite them. From our reports, it seems that Gabriela flirted with every shopkeeper in Manhattan that afternoon. Once you were out of the picture, they planned to marry and eventually, we think she would have gotten rid of Conner for someone with a bigger bank account. By then, she’d be the owner of your apartment on Central Park West.”

“Why did Gabriela sit out there across the street?” said Sean looking out the window at the park bench. “Wasn’t that a little risky sitting right near your murder victim’s home?”