“Seriously?” It was hard to get my head around anyone threatening Ali, who really was as close to a mild-mannered accountant as you could get. You couldn’t take advantage of the man, but Ali wasn’t the type of guy to get into altercations unless pushed to his limits. “And you think those were real threats and not some wack job saying stupid stuff on the web where he can be anonymous?”
“The threats were pretty specific,” Detective Fox informed me. “Your husband was warned to stay away from Mrs. Price.”
I sucked in a breath. “What?” Someone out there knew Ali was involved with Lizzie Martins before he died. Who?
Detective Fox kept her unwavering gaze fixed on my face. “It appears that the perpetrator believed your husband was engaged in a relationship of some sort with Mrs. Price.”
My heart dropped. There it was. More evidence pointing to an affair. The possibility that Ali’s involvement with Lizzie had led to his death floored me. Someone out there was mad enough about their liaison to kill? I thought about the orange sports car. Should I tell the police about it? Or was I being paranoid?
“We have to take every lead seriously,” Detective Lloyd said. “Especially considering that your husband might have been unknowingly drugged. These threats suggest that someone out there might have had a motive to do your husband harm.”
“You think he was targeted?”
“Possibly. Mrs. Abadi,” Detective Fox began, “it would help us tremendously if—”
“Have you asked Lizzie about it?” I interrupted. “Does she have a boyfriend who might have been jealous of Ali?”
“We intend to talk to her after speaking with you,” Detective Fox said. “As his wife, you deserved to hear this information first.”
“I see.” It was natural for the police to acknowledge my primary place in Ali’s life. But then it hit me that, to the cops, Lizzie was right behind me in importance. They intended to speak to her next. In death, as in life, that woman was everywhere, all over my life like a bad case of poison ivy. I pressed a fist against my lips as a bitter tang filled my mouth.
Detective Fox had a sympathetic look on her face. “The thing is, this investigation would move much faster if we could search your house.”
“For what?”
“To rule you completely out as a person of interest,” she said.
My stomach muscles tightened. “I’ma person of interest?” Hearing them say it out loud sent a wave of panic through me.
“We just need to establish that there’s no Xanax, or anything else that’s pertinent to the case, in your possession,” she said.
“It’s helpful to rule out the spouse as early into an investigation as possible,” Detective Lloyd added.
“Do it.” I stood up. I couldn’t handle the added stress of being a suspect along with everything else. “Go ahead and look.”
The detectives exchanged glances.
Detective Fox came to her feet. “Mrs. Abadi, just to be clear, do you consent to having us search your house?”
“Yes, I do,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”
They got to work right away, the two of them, methodically combing through every room. I followed them around. They moved quickly and efficiently. Nasser texted that he was stuck in traffic.
To my relief, Detective Fox went through my bedroom. Better to have her look through my underwear rather than her partner. She spent a lot of time combing through Ali’s closet. Emotion roiled in my chest as the detective went through my husband’s things—his favorite sweatshirt for lounging on weekends, the old jeans he wore to mow the lawn, the polo with his firm’s name on it that he sometimes wore to the office on casual Fridays. I kept Ali’s closet door firmly closed most of the time. There were too many painful memories nestled among the hanging blazers and neatly folded khakis.
“What time did you say your attorney was supposed to arrive?” Detective Fox asked as she sifted through Ali’s T-shirts.
“He should be here any minute.” I knew exactly why she asked. “You’d better hurry.”
Nasser showed up just as the detectives were leaving. He exploded when he heard about the search.
“I leave you alone with them for fifteen minutes and you give the cops permission to search your house?”
The sounds ofBintibarking from Adam’s room flowed down the stairs. I’d never seen Nasser so worked up, but I held my ground. “That’s right.”
“But why?” Anger flashed in his dark eyes. “How could you be so reckless?”
“Because I’ve got nothing to hide,” I retorted, my face heating up. “I’m not going to hold the police up just because I can. I want them to rule me out as a potential suspect so they can focus on finding out if someone actually drugged Ali on purpose.”
