The black one he keeps hidden in his toolbox.”

A cold knot twisted in my stomach.

“What did he say?”

“That today, right after you dropped him at the airport, everything would be taken care of.

He said it would look like a gas leak.

He also said that by noon, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

I stared at her, unable to blink.

All weekend, Mark had insisted our water heater was malfunctioning.

He had even closed off the utility room and forbidden me from touching the gas valves, claiming he’d already called a technician.

No technician had ever showed up.

And three weeks earlier, he had convinced me to take out an $850,000 joint life insurance policy.

He said it was extra security for Lily because my job was so stressful.

Then another detail resurfaced.

Over the past two months, Mark had begun asking strange, hyper-specific questions: what time Lily got out of school, which days I worked double shifts, and how long an insurance carrier takes to pay out on an accidental death claim.