The New Husband(83)
Nina had a theory: Hugh needed someone to blame for Emma’s death and found the perfect scapegoat in his former brother-in-law. It gave him a motive for his accusations. What she still didn’t have was evidence to refute his claims.
“He controlled her,” Hugh continued. “What she did. Where she went. Everything. He took her over, completely, even what she looked like.”
“That doesn’t prove anything, Hugh.”
“Yeah, and neither did her suicide note. It was short and sure as shit didn’t explain why she did it. All it said was: I’m sorry. I can’t take this anymore. What the hell is that? It could have been a note she’d written after a fight. For all I know he had copied her handwriting.”
“Seems like a bit of a stretch to me,” said Nina.
“Maybe, maybe not. What I do know is that Emma had never talked about taking her life. It happened out of the blue. One day she’s fine, and the next she ODs intentionally on her pain meds and Ambien.”
But Nina knew all this. Just as she knew that the police had questioned Simon after his wife’s death. They’d done a deep dive into his computer, looking for affairs, incriminating Google searches, illegal drug purchases on the Dark Web, contacts with nefarious individuals, recently purchased life insurance policies, finding nothing to make them remotely suspicious. They had talked to friends who said Simon was a wonderful, attentive husband. There were no signs of abuse, no reports of domestic violence.
“Had your sister overdosed at any other time?”
Hugh returned a grim nod. “Yeah, it happened a few times. Her chronic pain was getting tough to manage.”
“Why was she on pain meds?”
Hugh shrugged. “I don’t know what started it. Emma had a good career as an accountant before she quit her job. That was about a year after she and Simon got married. Simon blamed the job for her downfall; said it was too much pressure on her. You ask me, I don’t think he ever wanted Emma to work. Didn’t like her having her own money. You know that’s one way abusers try to control you. Like pushers, man, they make you dependent.”
That revelation would have alarmed Nina, but Simon was extremely generous with his money, even putting her on his checking account, and he’d been excited when she got the job, only voicing major concerns after Maggie started having troubles.
“He was always going on about how he could provide,” Hugh continued. “Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, Emma starts suffering chronic pain. Work pressures, she said, but I think Simon somehow put the idea in her head so he could get her hooked on pain pills. Next thing you know, she’s popping opioids like they’re Pez candy. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated her habit.” Nina caught the glint in Hugh’s eyes. “Back then, man, it was like any unexplained twinge got an oxy prescription and refills to go with it. Eventually, she ended up leaving her job. She couldn’t function anymore.”
Nina knew one cause of chronic pain was depression, which aligned with Simon’s story. As a whole, though, despite decades of research, the condition was still poorly understood and notoriously hard to control.
Work pressures. Depression. Chronic pain. Drug abuse. Interesting, thought Nina. Was Simon afraid that Nina, too, would become overwhelmed with her job and stop functioning, as Emma had done? Maybe Nina’s career was a reminder of all he had lost. A part of Nina relaxed because she believed that yes, indeed, that was exactly the case.
“What can you tell me about her other … overdoses?” Nina gulped on the word.
Hugh’s face turned harder, more serious. “Why are you asking? What did Simon tell you?”
“He said he tried to help her, that he tried to induce vomiting.”
Hugh thought a beat before his expression changed as a memory came to him.
“Oh, yeah. Weird you bring that up. We were in the ER waiting room—Simon, my parents, and me. I remember the docs told him to never do that again if she overdosed.”
There was no delay between her question and the answer, suggesting to Nina that Hugh didn’t have to think before he spoke.
Relief washed over Nina. Simon didn’t lie!
“Look, I get that I don’t exactly have my life together. But that’s no reason for you not to believe me. He killed her,” Hugh said glumly, then shrugged. “But my conscience is clean.”
It was clear Hugh believed Simon was responsible for his sister’s death, but he hadn’t convinced Nina of the fact. On top of that, Nina had a possible new understanding of Simon’s concerns around her job, his irrational fear that she might end up as dysfunctional as Emma.
Nina set her business card on the table and stood to go.
“Hugh, I’m sick to my stomach that I may have fed your habit, but I had to know what you wanted to tell me. Now that I know, I sincerely regret paying you. If you give me the money back, right now, I’ll use it to fund your drug treatment. I’ll pay more if needed. Please, Hugh, please. You need help.”
Hugh laughed and shook his head in mild disgust.
“No, lady,” he said firmly. “You do.”
CHAPTER 45
Last week Connor threw a touchdown pass, his first ever, but it wasn’t enough to give his team a win in the playoffs. Bad for him, good for me, because now he had a free afternoon to help us figure out the mystery of Simon’s rental property. When I told him what Ben had found out, Connor was intrigued—not because he thought Simon was up to anything, but because he saw it as a way to help ease some tension at home. Like me, Connor loved our mom, and unlike me, he liked Simon. He wanted things to be lovely and peaceful, so if proving there was nothing going on would get me off the Simon warpath, he was all for helping.