“Amygdalin.” He nodded. “Which converts into cyanide when ingested.”
Cassie gave a nod of her pretty head. “That’s what my lawyer said, yeah.”
He wondered if she realized the specific cause of death hadn’t been revealed to the general public. Or maybe she was alreadyplaying the game…give him a little something extra to try to win him over. Only…
She doesn’t look like she’s playing at anything. She just looks like she wants someone to help her.
“I know what you’re thinking.” The woman sounded quite confident.
“And what is that?”
“You’re wondering if I’m the type of person being portrayed in the news and around social media. Let’s see, I’ve been called a cold-blooded monster, a gold-digging whore… Oh, and my personal favorite, a Black Widow. But I can assure you I’m none of those things.”
“The police disagree.”
“Yeah well, the police are wrong.” She jutted her delicate chin. “Listen, Mr…”
“Archer.”
“Right. Sorry.” A slight crimson hue crept into her flawless cheeks, but Cassie drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Archer, the truth is, Russ was a liar and a cheat. It’s why we were getting divorced.” A flicker of hurt crossed over her, but she blinked it away as quickly as it appeared. “I may not have wanted to still be married to the man, but that doesn’t mean I wanted him dead.”
“If not you, then who?”
She crossed her legs with a shift in her seat. “I was kind of hoping you and your team could figure that part out.”
“Because you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison?”
“Because I’d like for there tobea rest of my life.” Her tongue swept nervously across her luscious lips. “I didn’t put the poison in that bottle of wine, Archer. Which means someone else did. And since I had no idea Russ was even coming over that nightuntil he showed up at my door, the cyanide couldn’t have been meant for him. Andthatmeans?—”
“It was meant for you.”
“Yes.”
Cassie’s softened tone and solemn expression tugged at his heart much harder than it should have.
“What about the police? Have they not been looking for other suspects?”
“Please.” A soft snort that made him want to smile sounded from the base of her throat. “They had this case closed the second Russ’s lab results came back positive for cyanide.”
“I know a few detectives on the force,” Archer countered. “They’re solid police.”
“Yeah, well, they’re among the lucky few. At least that’s been my experience.”
“As an attorney?”
“As the former daughter-in-law to Alastair and Barbara Montgomery.”
“You saying your late husband’s parents are crooked?”
“Is your shirt gray?” Cassie quipped without pause.
The corner of his mouth twitched with the urge to curve upward. “I take it, that’s a yes?”
“I have no proof, of course. The basis for my opinion is purely circumstantial and speculation.” Spoken like a true attorney. “But the Montgomerys own the largest, most successful corporate law firm in the Pacific Northwest. They’re net worth is over half-a-billion dollars, and pockets like those, well…” Her shoulders shook with a humorless huff. “Let’s just say they run very deep.”
While processing what had just been implied, Archer settled back against his chair and rested his linked fingers on his lap. “You know, some would say those deep pockets are the reason you killed your husband.”
“And just like the cops, they’d be wrong.” Cassie’s eye contact never faltered.