Chapter 5
The police investigation shifted dramatically from a fatal domestic accident to an active attempted homicide inquiry. Investigators reviewed the subdivision’s security camera footage, which clearly captured Kristina entering the gated community carrying the matching canvas bag days prior.
When Nora visited Kristina at the medical center a week later, she was not looking for an argument, but simply wanted closure.
“Was Heather Perkinson the woman you were hoping Edgar would replace me with?” Nora asked quietly from the side of the hospital bed.
Kristina glared back with pure venom. “My son deserved a real family.”
“He had a family,” Nora answered softly. “I paid for this estate, I took you in when you had nowhere else to go, I covered your medical expenses, paid off your personal debts, and treated you like my own mother for ten years.”
Kristina pressed her lips together tightly. “You were never the right woman for my son.”
“Which is why you put a venomous rattlesnake beneath my comforter,” Nora said flatly.
Kristina’s expression flickered with panic as she realized Nora was stating an absolute fact rather than asking a question.
“It was entirely your fault,” Kristina stammered out frantically. “If you had just slept in your own bed where you always sleep, Edgar would still be alive today!”
“I explicitly warned you and Edgar that there was a snake upstairs,” Nora reminded her cold-heartedly. “You looked me in the eye and claimed you checked the room and found nothing.”
Kristina began to weep hysterically. “I could not admit the truth in front of him!”
“You could have saved your only son’s life,” Nora pointed out.
“I was terrified!” Kristina cried out.
“No,” Nora corrected her sharply. “You were terrified of losing access to a twenty-five million dollar life insurance payout.”
Kristina squeezed her eyes shut tightly, but Nora delivered the final devastating blow.
“That insurance policy will not pay out a single cent because Edgar died,” Nora explained calmly. “It was an insurance policy on my life, meaning Edgar was only the beneficiary if I passed away. Since I am standing right here, nobody receives that money.”
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Kristina stared at her in total shock, her jaw trembling violently. “No… Edgar swore to me…”
“Edgar likely did not understand how the insurance structure worked either,” Nora said. “You saw a large number written on a piece of paper and decided to commit murder for it.”
