3: 3

3

Silvia gave me a faint smile.

"It's not just you I suspect. Until this case is solved, anyone could become a target of my suspicion."

I looked at how completely serious her face was.

I gave a bitter little laugh.

"True enough. Anyone can be a target."

I didn't say anything more to her. I went back inside and looked at the photo of my husband, Fred.

Thinking of all the little moments we'd shared.

I couldn't stop the tears.

"Blanche, would you mind if I borrowed some of your water to boil a pot for drinking?"

I heard Silvia's voice.

I quickly wiped my eyes.

I came out.

Silvia and her colleague were looking at me.

Silvia asked,

"Have you been crying?"

"I'm fine. It's only four husbands, isn't it? It's not the first time. Nothing worth crying over."

I walked up to her and took the kettle from her hands. "Let me."

Silvia smiled.

"Thank you for the trouble."

"It's nothing."

I turned and went into the kitchen.

The faucet switch was set to purified water.

My hand paused, and I quickly turned the valve over to tap water.

I filled the kettle.

Once it had boiled, I brought it out to Silvia.

"If you need tea leaves, I have some in the house."

Silvia paused.

"Tea? That would be wonderful. We really do get drowsy on the night shift."

I fetched them some tea, then turned back into the kitchen, switched the faucet to purified water again, and filled a can using the sprayer.

"Blanche?"

The voice behind me startled me, and my hand jerked.

I turned around. It was Silvia.

She glanced at the sprayer I was using to fill the can and asked,

"What's this for?"

"The flowers on the balcony haven't been watered in a while," I said.

"Oh." Silvia smiled and said, "My colleague and I are going to order takeout. Would you like something? My treat."

"Thanks. I'll take a stir-fry of shredded pork and beans."

I said it, then went out to the balcony to water the plants.

After dinner, I went back to my room to sleep.

In the middle of the night, I faintly heard voices. I walked quietly to the door and listened.

It was Captain Chavez and Silvia, talking about the case.

Silvia said, "Captain, how's the investigation going?"

Captain Chavez sighed. "On the day it happened, someone did come by. It was raining that day, and she was carrying an umbrella."

"Based on our checks, it's very likely she was the victim's lover."

"A lover?" Silvia sounded puzzled. "You don't think it was a crime of passion, do you?"

Captain Chavez said,

"Kevin's already taken a team out to keep an eye on the woman quietly. For now, we can't rule that out."

Silvia said, "If that's the case, should I go help watch her too? Because from what we can see so far, Blanche really didn't have the time or the opportunity to do it."

Captain Chavez said, gravely,

"But she's still a suspect. Especially given what we've got so far. Before she went back to her parents' place, she'd quarreled with the victim more than once, and she'd even brought up divorce."

"So we can't rule out that she had a motive. You'd better stay here and keep a close watch on her."

Bang! That was as far as I could listen.

I threw the door open and shouted at Captain Chavez and Silvia,

"Are you two even human?"

"My husband is dead. This is already my third husband, and every single time you turn up nothing. Now, instead of working the case, you just keep suspecting me?"

"When my husband died, I'd already been home a full three days. So you tell me, how was I supposed to poison my husband from a thousand miles away?"

4: 4

4

Seeing me lose control, Captain Chavez frowned slightly.

"Ms. Henson, we're only doing this for your own good. Please don't do anything rash."

I stepped straight up to him and slapped him hard across the face.

"It wasn't your husband who died, so of course it means nothing to you!"

I raised my hand to hit him again.

Silvia rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me. "Captain, you go on ahead. I've got this. There won't be any trouble."

Chavez looked at me for a long moment.

His eyes were complicated.

There was scrutiny in them, and doubt, and a trace of pity mixed with helplessness.

After he left, Silvia stayed with me and walked me back to my room.

We talked all night.

I told her a great deal about Fred and me, from how we met, to falling in love, to getting married.

She listened closely, sometimes pressing me with questions, unwilling to let a single detail slip past.

And I spoke of it earnestly, so earnestly.

A few days later, Chavez came back with news, ruling out that lover of Fred's as a suspect.

His eyes were still studying me. "Blanche, your husband was having an affair. Did you know that?"

The emotion broke loose all at once, and the tears spilled over.

"Of course I knew. But what was I supposed to do?"

"Both my first two husbands died. This was already my third."

"Do you know what the neighbors and the people in the village said about me?"

"They said I was a jinx, a woman cursed to bring death to her husbands, an unlucky woman!"

"I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want a divorce! I didn't want a divorce!"

I was nearly falling apart.

After I screamed those words, all the strength drained out of me and I slid down to the floor.

Chavez held out his hand to me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

I looked at his outstretched hand and ignored it.

I turned my face away. "I don't want to see you."

He sighed and had no choice but to leave in silence.

For a while after that, Chavez still came often, trading day and night shifts with Silvia.

The way he looked at me slowly shifted from doubt and scrutiny into something like pity, and I could even feel something in his eyes I couldn't quite name.

Little by little, I stopped hating him so much.

Half a month later.

Not the slightest progress.

I cooked a meal and invited Chavez and Silvia to eat.

After the meal, Chavez and the others pulled back and no longer kept watch on my home.

A few more days passed.

Someone rang the doorbell.

It was Chavez, two potted plants in his arms. "I saw the flowers on your balcony had withered, so I bought you two new ones."

"Thank you. Come in."

I stepped aside.

Chavez carried the plants over and set them on the balcony.

He asked, puzzled, "Hm? Where are those two pots you had before?"

I said calmly, "They all died, so of course I threw them out."

His eyes went suddenly hard. The look he gave me no longer carried its old pity; it turned colder by the second.

Fixed on me like a hawk on its prey, he asked in a grave voice, "Threw them out where?"

Seeing him so serious, I smiled. "Does it matter where I threw them?"

He kept muttering to himself, his eyes full of regret. "I get it. I finally get it!"

I looked at him and smiled. "Get what?"

Chavez took a frightened step back, his gaze sweeping me from head to toe. "You're the killer!"

I looked at him, baffled. "Captain, what nonsense are you spouting now?"

Fear in his eyes, he said, trembling, "I've only just worked it out—how you managed to kill all three of your husbands from a thousand miles away!"

"You really are a devil. A devil!"