MY HUSBAND'S MISTRESS SECRETLY DROPPED AN ILLEGAL DRUG INTO MY WINE, AND I CAUGHT HER IN THE ACT. SHE EVEN LAUGHED, "RELAX, SIS YOU CAN'T DRINK!" I GRABBED HER HAIR AND FORCED HER TO FINISH IT ALL, LEAVING MY HUSBAND FROZEN IN SHOCK.

By 4:00 AM, the dining room had been taped off with yellow ribbon. Vanessa was under police guard at St. Jude Memorial Hospital, stabilized after having her stomach pumped. Preliminary field tests confirmed that the powder contained a lethal concentration of liquid diazepam mixed with an unregulated synthetic opioid—enough to induce respiratory failure in an adult woman within twenty minutes.

I sat in the kitchen, drinking black tea. Across from me sat Marcus Sterling, my forensic accountant, who had arrived thirty minutes after the crime scene technicians cleared out.

Marcus opened his leather briefcase, spreading a thick stack of spreadsheets over the marble island.

"It’s worse than we thought, Claire," Marcus said, adjusting his spectacles. "Daniel hasn't just been paying for Vanessa's penthouse in the Marina district. He’s been siphoning client escrow funds from Sterling & Croft."

"How much?"

"Four point two million dollars over eighteen months. He routed it through an entity called 'Aegis Consulting,' which lists Vanessa Thorne as the sole director. But the IP addresses authorizing the transfers trace directly to Daniel’s laptop in this house."

I traced the rim of my mug. "He was planning to run."

"Yes," Marcus confirmed. "He booked two one-way tickets to Zurich for next Monday. But here is the linchpin: the firm discovered a discrepancy in the escrow accounts yesterday afternoon. The senior partners scheduled an emergency executive session for 9:00 AM this morning under the guise of Daniel’s 'promotion dinner.' They weren't going to promote him, Claire. They were going to question him."

A cold laugh escaped my lips. "And Daniel thought if I died tonight, the immediate payout from my life insurance policy—five million dollars—would cover the hole in the escrow accounts before the audit finalized."

"Precisely," Marcus said. "He was going to use your death to buy his freedom."

I stood up, walked over to the window, and watched the dawn break over the manicured lawn. The morning light was gray and sharp.

"Marcus," I said, turning back to him. "Call Evelyn Cross. Tell her to prepare an emergency restraining order, an ex-parte asset freeze petition, and an immediate filing for dissolution of marriage with criminal prejudice."

"And what are you going to do?"