Chapter 3
Wendy’s words startled me. I took a deep breath and said, covering my neck, “Officer Wendy, he’s my husband - the father of my unborn child.”
Seeing my response, Wendy didn’t press further. As they prepared to leave, she advised me to stay at a nearby hotel if I felt unsafe at home, and to call her if I needed anything. I nodded in agreement and watched them go.
I grew up in a rural area, with my parents still living far away in the countryside. My husband’s parents were from another city. After college, we both found jobs here, so we bought our marital home in this city.
But I never imagined I’d end up alone in this 2000 square foot house. The thought made me incredibly sad. I went upstairs to pack a few changes of clothes and checked into a nearby hotel.
After eating a little, I took out my husband’s bank cards and called the online banking customer service. To my surprise, I discovered there was over $500,000 in deposits across his accounts.
I didn’t actually know my husband’s bank card PINs. But recently I had purposely asked him to take me shopping for baby items. By watching him enter his WeChat Pay password multiple times, I had secretly memorized it.
I guessed that like most people, he probably used the same password for WeChat, Alipay and his bank cards to avoid forgetting. Sure enough, my hunch was correct - it worked on the first try.
Ever since getting pregnant, I had suffered from severe morning sickness and was forced to quit my job as a makeup artist at a photo studio. My husband was very guarded about money and only gave me $500 a month for living expenses. This had always bothered me.
I put away the bank cards, feeling exhausted. I dozed off on the bed and had a nightmare.
In the dream, I was lying motionless in bed while Mandy Liu and my husband Charlie grinned eerily at me, reaching out to strangle me.
I jolted awake, realizing it was just a dream. Parched, I was about to get up for some water when my phone on the nightstand rang. Seeing it was Wendy calling, my heart skipped a beat.
I took a deep breath before answering.
Wendy asked which hotel I was staying at, saying there were some more things they needed to understand. I gave her the hotel name. About 30 minutes later, Wendy arrived alone - Mike wasn’t with her this time.
I let her into the room. Wendy smiled and said, “Mrs. Lin, although your husband’s death appears to be suicide, the autopsy found a significant amount of alprazolam in his system - much more than a normal dose. Did he have any medical conditions requiring this medication?”
“Alprazolam?” I pondered the drug name, then realized, “Oh, you mean the sleeping pills? My husband had insomnia. He only took a couple pills when he couldn’t sleep.”
“Is that so? But the amount detected in your husband’s body was at least five times a normal dose. How do you explain that?”
Hearing Wendy’s words, I gave a bitter laugh.