he simply followed me down the stairs and into our room, shutting the door behind him. In the bright light of the master bedroom, I could see that stress was taking its toll on him. He looked as bad as I did, his skin gray, his eyes red, his tie hanging askew against a crumpled white shirt. I had to fight a rush of sympathy. This Connor didn’t deserve my concern. This Connor had let me be charged with murder, and had not even shown up to the courthouse.
“Where were you today?” I said, my voice dripping with disgust. “I went to jail, with our baby inside me, and you didn’t bother showing up. You didn’t come to court. You sent a useless lawyer. You didn’t even call. For all you knew, I could still be rotting there, and you wouldn’t care.”
Connor’s face went red, but he kept his voice calm as he replied.
“If you want to know the truth, I was trying to cool down before I had to face you. I was so angry.”
“You’re angry at me?” I demanded, pacing up and down just out of his reach, so furious that I was panting.
“Calm down. This is bad for the baby.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down. You know what’s bad for the baby? Sleeping on a hard bench in an ice-cold cell. Going to jail for a murder I didn’t commit.”
“I sent a lawyer.”
“Courtney Whatever-the-fuck? Please. She had no clue, and you knew it. You wanted her to fail.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that you framed me.”
“First of all, I didn’t. And second, you put yourself in this position. When were you planning to tell me that you have a rap sheet? That you’re a drug dealer? That you sold exactly the same type of pill that Nina died from? Don’t you think that was something I had a right to know before deciding to marry you?”
For a moment, I had the strangest sensation of staring down at us from above. If I stepped outside myself, I was the one who looked guilty, not Connor. Maybe his anger was justified. Maybe he hadn’t killed Nina and wasn’t trying to frame me. But then, how did he explain Juliet? I had proof right there in my jeans pocket not just of her false identity, but of their preexisting relationship. I ran my finger over the smooth surface of the photo of the two of them together. I was tempted to pull it out and throw it in his face. But I had to be more strategic than that. I was supposed to be tricking Connor into implicating himself in Nina’s death for the benefit of the police who were recording our conversation. I didn’t exactly have a plan for doing that, other than getting him talking about the murder.
“I had nothing to do with Nina’s death,” I said to Connor. “And you know that.”
“I’m not accusing you of killing her,” he said. “I don’t believe you’d do that. But you have a criminal record for selling drugs. You were here at Windswept the night she died, along with your ex, who attacked Steve Kovacs. What the hell am I supposed to make of that? You know how bad it looks?”
“Yes, bad enough to get me arrested for a murder I didn’t commit. I’m surprised you’re upset, given how convenient that is for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, I’m sorry I never told you about Derek. I was waiting for the right time. Those were his drugs, not mine. I didn’t even know they were there. I only pled guilty because they offered me a misdemeanor with no jail time, and my lawyer said it was the best deal I could get.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth. And here’s another truth. You’re the one with the motive to kill Nina. Not me. What would I gain from her death?”
“What would you gain? Me. This house to live in. Clothes and vacations, servants, private jets.”
“You had that, and you cared about it more than I ever could. Yet, you were about to lose it. Nina was going to divorce you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do, Connor. I know it for a fact.”
“How?”
I sat down on the bed. Nina’s journal was hidden under the pillows, inches from my fingers. I was itching to pull it out and toss it at his head. If only the police were listening in, I would have. But the recording device