An Act Of Murder Read Online Free

gray—too cold to stay outside long.”
    Before the couple went to dinner, Steve took Effexor, medication for his depression—he had been on the drug for about two weeks and the dosage had recently been doubled. Steve took the medicine at the same time every day. He only brought enough medication for the weekend, not the entire bottle. Steve also took Xanax, used to treat anxiety, and Flexeril, a muscle relaxant, at some point during the evening. The couple took their time getting ready for dinner.
    â€œWhen we went into dinner, they had a receiving line just like a real wedding,” Kim said. “We had more drinks. We joined three other couples at our table. One person at our table had ordered a bottle of wine and shared it with everyone. We ordered several rounds during dinner and put one round on our room number. There was a cash bar outside [the dining room] and Steve and I got several beers there after the play and we took them back to our room.”
    During dinner, while the murder-mystery play was under way, Kim and another woman from her table got up and walked around, interacting with the actors.
    â€œThe actors encouraged us and seemed somewhat disappointed that everyone seemed to stay planted in their chairs. This lady and I teamed up,” Kim said. “Before leaving the lobby [after dinner], we got a second log for the fireplace.”
    When the Hrickos got back to their room, they turned on the television and watched Tommy Boy, with Chris Farley. Steve changed into a T-shirt with a logo on it and lightweight sweatpants and had a chew. Steve had chewed tobacco for years. Steve heated some water in the coffeemaker for his Theraflu and drank it. The whole family had had bronchitis and strep throat. Steve still had it because he was the last to get it.
    â€œBy the time I took my Zoloft, all Steve’s pills were gone,” Kim said. “After we watched the movie, Steve was showing some signs of having a little too much to drink. He normally does not give any indication that he has had too much to drink. The movie made us laugh, but still we did not talk about our problems.”
    The Hrickos had a brief, but not loud, argument over sex—Steve wanted it, Kim didn’t.
    â€œWe had both been seeing counselors and along with our counselors the decision had been agreed to in advance that the weekend getaway would be just to relax with each other and have a good time,” Kim said. “It had been agreed that we would not be intimate on this weekend. It had been many months since we had been intimate.”
    After the movie Steve approached Kim for sex. Kim got upset and left the room. She got into her car and drove around Easton. But she wasn’t sure where she was because she had been sleeping on the trip to Harbourtowne and had only been to the resort once before, three years earlier with her friend Maureen Miller, who drove to the hotel from her home in Easton.
    Kim thought of driving home but decided against it because then Steve would have no way to get back to Laurel. As she drove around—she told police she was trying to find the Millers’ house in Easton—she got lost. She was trying to find Route 50, the main drag in Easton, but every road she hit had a “3” in it. She stopped to ask for directions but was still unable to find her way. She was very tired and getting more confused.
    â€œI have always been very poor with roads and directions and always seemed to be lost. I could have crossed over Route 50 and not have known it,” Kim said. “I think I asked three people for directions—one person was in a white Volvo. I saw a mixed-race couple in Historic Easton and I remember the woman was holding a single rose and I thought, ‘How sweet.’ I asked them how to get to Harbourtowne and Route 50. The couple told me that the two were in opposite directions and asked me which one I wanted. So they gave me directions back to the