The corners of his mouth turned down, and he shook his head as he held the box out for them to see. Inside was a black smartphone. Nestled beside it was a plastic baggie—containing a gleaming diamond bracelet.

Blaire heard a sharp intake of breath. “Dear God, it’s my mother’s bracelet,” Kate said, just before she hit the floor.

27

Kate felt a dull pounding in her head and opened her eyes to see Blaire hovering over her. “What happened?”

“You fainted.”

It took a moment before everything came rushing back. Simon. The phone. Her mother’s bracelet. She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness made her fall back against the pillow and close her eyes.

“Dr. English?” Detective Anderson’s deep voice jarred her. She opened her eyes and pushed herself to a sitting position. She felt as though she were seeing and hearing everything in slow motion.

“Here you go.” Blaire held out a bottle of water. “This might help.”

Kate took a small sip and then handed the bottle back to Blaire. She felt like she was going to throw up. Even though she’d wondered about Simon—his fidelity and his guilt regarding the threats and her mother—she was still utterly shocked when confronted with the hard evidence. How could she have lived with him all those years, and not known he was capable of murder and psychological warfare? She couldn’t grasp it.

She needed answers, something to make sense of this. What kind of a monster kills his mother-in-law and plots against the mother of his child? If he’d wanted out that badly, she’d have given him a divorce. She’d have been generous with the settlement, despite the prenup. Another thought occurred to her, and she felt seized by panic. What if one of the security people had been helping him? She could still be in danger.

She looked up at Blaire. “Get rid of the security team. Simon hired them—I don’t feel safe with them around.”

“I don’t think you want to be without protection until he’s been arrested,” Blaire said. “There’s a firm we use for crowd control at events when we tour. Do you want me to call them?”

Kate nodded, then ran her hands through her hair, her eyes closed.

“Dr. English?” Detective Anderson called to her.

Kate and Blaire looked up at the same time.

“We’ve found something else.” He cleared his throat. “Rat poison.”

Kate doubled over, the wind knocked out of her. Every new revelation felt like a fresh assault. He’d planned to poison her. She remembered the funny-tasting coffee and wondered if he’d already started.

Blaire went to Kate, putting an arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Kate. I’m so sorry.”

Kate slumped back onto the chair.

Detective Anderson tapped the smartphone. “All the texts and the emails came from this phone.”