26. "Beautiful": Kari Swanson, the supermodel who is being stalked by a man named David Dale, has made a decision: "One of us had to die..."
From Quiz Jeffery Deaver's "Twisted"
Answer:
"... and I picked me."
Kari Swanson is a model, and she has repeatedly been described as "The most beautiful woman on earth." But she is not happy, for a man called David Dale has been stalking her for months. So one day, Kari takes matters into her own hands: we see her meet a man whom she pays a lot of money; then she calls Dale and makes an appointment. When the police officers hear of this, they think Kari might want to kill Dale, so they follow them - and are just in time to see Dale collapse to the ground, evidently in great pain....
SPOILER: Instead of shooting the stalker, Kari undergoes plastic surgery (the surgeon was the man she paid). She treats her flawless, beautiful face for a plainer one. When Dale sees her like this, he is absolutely thunderstruck, and then he starts howling and whining and whimpering. Kari, however, can start a new life without the burden of her dazzling beauty.
TWISTED: Deaver makes us think, of course, that Kari is going to hire a hitman to kill Dale, and later that she herself kills Dale. But in fact, it is Kari Swanson the supermodel who is killed in this story. "One of us had to die, and I picked me."