Page 39 of Two Kinds of Stranger (Eddie Flynn #9)

‘We know,’ I said. ‘Now we have a story to tell the jury in your defense. Someone has been watching you, Elly. Our guess is someone saw your viral video – the one where you discovered James in bed with Harriet. They followed the story in the news. Your heartbreak. Your pain. They used that against you. This stranger knew that if anything happened to James or Harriet, then there’s no one on the planet with more motive to do them harm than you.

This stranger went through your entire life on social media and they saw this video of you going to the drug store.

This individual is very sick and very smart.

They knew Visine in high doses was poisonous.

Now they know if James and Harriet get tetrahydrozoline poisoning, you are the number-one suspect, and the DA can prove you had access to it.

The last part of the plan was to target you.

To give you the poison as well and make it look like you poisoned your husband and his mistress in a desperate act of revenge and then took your own life.

We think that was his play. Maybe, after you died in that apartment, he would have had access to your cell phone and social media.

He could’ve written a suicide note, posted it on your socials.

He kills three people, and the police already have a story ready-made for how it all happened.

The police wouldn’t look for anyone else if it’s a murder-suicide pact. ’

‘Oh my God, this man was so . . . so convincing. I felt sorry for him at first. And he was so charming. Jesus Christ, what am I going to do?’

‘You have to trust us,’ said Kate. ‘We have a plan. We’re going to find this man. We’re going to find Joe Novak, the man who helped you. We can put a living witness on the stand . . . ’

‘What about his apartment?’

Bloch said, ‘We checked with the building supervisor. This apartment was let out on Airbnb. The person paid with a credit card in a false name. They paid for a month and used fake credentials. There are no security cams in the building. We’ve tried to get hold of some of the neighbors.

We spoke to the four apartment owners on the third floor and none of them saw this man.

I’m trying to get in touch with the owner to see if he can let us take a look inside.

Our guess is this man cleaned up well before he left, but we’ll check it all the same. ’

‘Elly, this is a difficult question,’ I said, ‘and I don’t want to upset you, but I have to ask.

Anything we can do to try and trace this man is important.

It’s vital for your defense that we find him.

To do that we have to work on what we know, and then think backwards.

We know that James and Harriet were poisoned with large amounts of Visine drops.

From the medical examiner’s report there are no signs of any kind of violence having occurred.

Neither James, nor Harriet, have any bruising of any kind.

So they were not held and forced to drink this stuff.

Now I know this is an awful thing to have to imagine, but we need to know.

How do you suppose he might have gotten the poison into their system? ’

Elly wiped the tears from her face, folded her arms and thought about it.

‘I don’t know. I mean, my husband and my best friend had a whole secret life together that I knew nothing about. I just don’t know.’

‘The poison acts fast, according to what we’ve read about it,’ said Harry, and Elly nodded along.

‘Yeah, it took maybe a couple of minutes before I felt the full effect,’ said Elly.

‘And considering both James and Harriet were found in the apartment, we’re guessing that’s where they ingested the poison. When did you leave the apartment?’ he asked.

‘The same day I found them in bed. I hastily packed a bag, and I left, and I haven’t been back since. I stayed at a hotel.’

‘There were no signs of a break-in at the apartment,’ I said. ‘I take it you still have your key. You didn’t lose it?’

‘No, I have it.’

I looked at Harry and then Kate. We were no closer to finding out how the victims were poisoned.

‘Elly,’ I began, ‘we think the DA knows how they were poisoned. Tetrahydrozoline has to be ingested, so it had to be in something they ate or drank. They’re going to say there was no sign of a break-in.

That you had the only other key to the apartment.

And that you hated James and Harriet for betraying you, so you snuck into the apartment while they were out and dosed some food or drink with tetrahydrozoline.

We don’t yet know the vehicle for ingestion, but we’ll find out once we get further discovery.

That’s their case. That’s the case we have to beat. ’

Elly’s voice faltered. She hadn’t had time to process her husband’s betrayal never mind his murder.

‘I didn’t know Visine drops were poisonous.

To me they’re just eye drops. I didn’t hate James or Harriet.

I loved them. I just felt so hurt. I didn’t want them to suffer.

That’s why I deleted that video, the one where I found them together.

But by then it was too late. People had taken it and shared it.

That’s the thing about social media – it’s there forever.

Jesus, if I could just go back and change what happened .

. . I never wanted it to come to this. I didn’t want them to be abused online.

I didn’t want some maniac coming after them . . . ’

‘Did James have a TikkyTok account?’ asked Harry.

Strangely, Elly smiled at Harry. It was only a brief smile. A momentary respite from the pain and stress.

‘Yeah, but he took all of his accounts down after my video went viral. He was getting a lot of abuse from my followers. His whole life fell apart. He lost his job. Harriet too. They both deleted their accounts. Why do you ask?’

‘Because you put out a lot about your personal life on your social media. That’s how this killer was able to know so much about you. Did James post diary videos about his routine?’

‘No, he was more private,’ said Elly.

‘Okay, we’ve got work to do. We can build a defense. Elly, is there anything else you can tell us that you think might help?’ I asked.

She folded her arms, sank into her seat. Her eyes were far away. Thinking. Glistening with fresh tears.

‘No,’ she said, ‘I don’t think so.’

Her voice was small and flat, filled with fear and sorrow.

‘Thank you, Elly, this has been really—’

I didn’t finish my thought.

There was a crash behind us. The sound of a door slamming into a wall.

We all stood and looked toward the door to the office.

Denise was in reception, on her feet, her hands on her cheeks in shock.

Detective Bill Sacks had flung open my office door. He was flanked by two cops in uniform. He had a folder of papers under his arm and a nasty grin on his face.

I came out of the conference room, said, ‘Do you know where you are? What the hell is going on, Sacks?’

He took the folder from under his arm and handed me a bundle of pages, stapled together.

‘I’m here to do two things, Flynn. First, I’m serving your client with an ex parte order.’

‘What the hell are you—’

‘Next, I’m arresting her for murder.’

‘You’re what?’

The two cops in uniform strode past me. Elly was still in the conference room with my team. Harry and Bloch got up and stood in the doorway, blocking the cops.

‘Stand aside, please,’ said one of the cops.

‘Son, you’d better back away until we understand what’s happening here,’ said Harry.

‘We said stand aside , grampa,’ repeated the cop.

‘You put one hand on him, and I’ll hurt you,’ said Bloch.

Both cops took a step back. Bloch didn’t mean it as a threat. It was just a statement of fact. One of the officers grabbed the radio on his stab vest and squeezed.

‘Four-oh-two to dispatch, we need another unit at Flynn and Brooks to deal with a hostile . . . ’

‘ Dispatch to four-oh-two, identify the hostile ,’ came the reply from the radio.

‘It’s Bloch,’ said the cop.

‘ Four-oh-two from dispatch, DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT engage Bloch. Sending three additional units to your location asap. ’

‘Only three more units? That’s kind of insulting,’ said Bloch.

‘Wait! Everybody take a second,’ I said. ‘Sacks, tell me what the hell is happening here. I don’t want half a dozen cops bleeding on my floor.’

‘Two words, Flynn,’ said Sacks. ‘NYPD standard detective procedure. Your client poisoned her husband and best friend. When the suspect is charged with multiple homicide due to poisoning, we look at all similar causes of death from those in the suspect’s immediate family circle.

Standard procedure. We got a hit. Yesterday, we got a court order to exhume the body of Stewart Yorke.

He died of a cardiac arrest four years ago.

The medical examiner just found traces of tetrahydrozoline in his liver. ’

I looked through the glass of the conference room.

Elly had heard every word Sacks had just said.

She buried her face in her hands and collapsed to the floor.

Sacks said, ‘Your client is going back to jail. And, unless Bloch steps aside, she’s going with her.’

‘Who the hell is Stewart Yorke?’ I asked.

Sacks smiled grimly, said, ‘He was your client’s father.’