Janine shook her head firmly. ‘Prenup or not, we would have come to a financial arrangement. I wasn’t trying to starve him, Lieutenant. I bought him a new Hummer when he lost his truck on the ice. We both wanted an amicable end.’

‘You’re saying Jay was willing to grant you a divorce. Despite what Clyde told me.’

‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,’ Janine insisted. ‘He consulted a divorce attorney. A woman named Tamara Fellowes.’

‘We know about his call to Ms. Fellowes. She wouldn’t tell us what she and Jay discussed, which I’m sure you know.’

‘Well, I’m telling you myself. Jay wanted to talk about divorce.’

‘Ms. Fellowes practices with the Stanhope law firm. They’re suing you, aren’t they, over the death of one of your patients? Ira Rose.’

‘Yes, that’s true. So?’

‘It’s an interesting coincidence,’ Stride said.

‘Not really. Jay and Tamara were college classmates.’

‘What’s the status of Mrs. Rose’s lawsuit against you?’ Stride asked.

Janine shrugged. ‘I have no idea. I have my own attorneys who handle those things. I felt awful about what happened to Ira Rose. Unfortunately, cardiac surgery is inherently risky. It’s become so commonplace that patients don’t always think through the seriousness of it. Much as I would like to guarantee a positive outcome every time, I’m just a human being, not a god. I don’t resent Esther for suing. It comes with the territory. Lawsuits are an unfortunate reality of the medical profession these days. My insurer will settle, and all of our health premiums will go up. That’s life without tort reform.’

Stride stared at this woman and tried to understand her. She was smart. Calm. Beautiful. Sexual. She had an answer for everything. That was what bothered him. Murder was messy, and yet she could explain away all of the questions as if they didn’t matter at all.

He didn’t believe her. Not for a minute.

‘Let’s talk about guns,’ Stride said.

‘Excuse me?’ She didn’t expect him to say that. Archie Gale leaned forward, looking concerned.

‘Guns,’ Stride said. ‘You said Jay didn’t own a gun.’

‘That’s right.’

He dug in a folder and pulled out a copy of the photograph that Clyde Ferris had given him. ‘Except here’s a photograph of Jay with a gun, Dr. Snow. The photo was taken just a few months ago.’

The color evaporated from Janine’s beautiful face.

‘Jay must have lied,’ she murmured. Her expression turned severe. ‘He didn’t get rid of the gun when I asked him to. Or he bought another without telling me. I didn’t know he had it.’

‘The bullet we pulled out of your husband’s head is consistent with the ammunition used in the revolver Jay is carrying.’

‘I don’t know anything about that,’ she said.