Lucy put her arm around her.
“How do you feel?”
“I don’t know. Empty.”
“It’s normal. It’s a shock.”
“I need to call Alex.”
“The police have already notified him. He’s on his way.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Her husband would arrive soon, and then she would have to tell him that his mother was a poisoner—that the woman he had admired all his life had tried to kill his wife.
How will he react?
Half an hour later, Alex appeared, pale and with a lost look in his eyes. He got out of the car and ran to Sophia.
“What happened? What happened to Mom? They called me. They said…”
“Alex,” she said quietly, in a tired voice.
“We need to talk.”
Sophia and Alex were in the car. The police finished interviewing witnesses and drove away.
After the hug, Lucy took a taxi home with her friend and they were left alone.
In the silence of the night, in the dim light of the street lamps, Sophia told him everything from the beginning.
Morning sickness that lasted two months, a jeweler on the subway who saw what she didn’t, a thallium capsule hidden in a pendant, an analysis that confirmed his worst suspicions.
Alex listened silently. His face was as expressionless as a mask, only the white knuckles of his fingers gripping the steering wheel betraying his inner tension.
When she finished, there was a long, heavy, unbearable silence.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Sophia asked quietly.
It wasn’t a question.
“I…” Alex’s voice trembled.
“I don’t know what to think. She’s my mother. She couldn’t have done that.”
“There’s an analysis. Thallium was found in her glove compartment. There’s a recording of her confession.”
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