EDITOR’S NOTE: Watch the premiere of the CNN Films documentary, “The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door,” Sunday at 8pm ET/PT on CNN.
Charlie Rowley’s nightmare started the day he picked up what appeared to be an ordinary bottle of perfume.
It was a summer afternoon in Amesbury, England. While searching through a charity bin, he spotted a small cardboard box. Inside was a container, wrapped in plastic, labeled Nina Ricci. Convinced someone had tossed out a bottle of expensive French fragrance, he took it home to surprise his girlfriend, Dawn Sturgess.
Finding treasures among discarded items was one of his favorite pastimes. Over the years, he’d…