Patricia was brought into the interview room before midnight.
She looked smaller than she had that morning.
The detective placed the photograph in front of her.
“You took this.”
Patricia looked at it.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She didn't answer.
Brian sat across from her.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
“Why did you photograph Angela's identity?”
Patricia's eyes filled.
“Your father asked me to.”
Brian stared.
“What?”
“He told me to.”
I felt a chill.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Patricia looked at me.
“He knew someone was watching him.”
“Who?”
“Hale.”
The detective leaned forward.
“Then why did you give Hale access to the information?”
“I didn't.”
“You gave Melissa my identity.”
Patricia nodded.
“That happened later.”
Brian asked, “When?”
“After your father died.”
“So Dad was involved in the original account?”
“Yes.”
“But he didn't steal the money.”
“No.”
Patricia's voice shook.
“He was trying to hide it.”
“From Hale?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he use Angela's name?”
Patricia looked at me.
“Because he trusted her.”
Daniel asked, “Did he intend for Angela to inherit the money?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed Brian was too close to the company.”
Brian looked wounded.
“What does that mean?”
“Your father knew you loved him.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
“He was afraid you'd protect the family instead of exposing the truth.”
Brian looked away.
I understood.
That was exactly what had happened.
When the accusations began, Brian had protected his mother.
He had protected the family story.
He had believed what was easiest to believe.
Patricia continued.
“Your father thought Angela would ask questions.”
I looked down.
“That was his plan.”
“Yes.”
The detective placed the hospital records on the table.
“Your husband was alive after his official death date.”
Patricia closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“Who poisoned him?”
“I don't know.”
“Hale?”
“I don't know.”
“Derek?”
“I don't know.”
The detective leaned closer.
“You're still protecting someone.”
Patricia shook her head.
“I don't know who did it.”
Brian's voice broke.
“Then tell us everything you do know.”
Patricia looked at him.
She finally nodded.
“After your father was discharged, Hale took him to a private clinic.”
“Why?”
“He said your father was unstable.”
“That wasn't true.”
“No.”
“Then why did Dad go?”
Patricia's face tightened.
“Hale threatened him.”
“With what?”
“Angela.”
My head lifted.
“What?”
“He told your father that if he didn't cooperate, he'd make sure you were blamed for the missing money.”
Brian stared.
“He threatened Angela before Dad died.”
“Yes.”
Patricia looked at me.
“Your father believed Hale would destroy your life.”
“So he hid the money.”
“Yes.”
“And made me the beneficiary.”
“Yes.”
“But then what happened?”
Patricia looked down.
“He died.”
“From the poison?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
The detective placed another document before her.
A clinic invoice.
Patricia looked at it.
“This is your signature.”
She nodded.
“I paid.”
“With Angela's account?”
“Yes.”
Brian's face tightened.
“You used her identity to pay for Dad's treatment.”
“I had to.”
“You didn't have to steal from her.”
“I was trying to save him.”
“And then?”
Patricia began crying.
“Then Hale told me the money was gone.”
“What money?”
“The money your father had hidden.”
“Where?”
“I didn't know.”
The detective asked, “So you created the account?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Patricia looked toward me.
“Your father.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He opened it through a trust arrangement.”
Daniel looked at the documents.
“Then why did the bank records show Angela as the owner?”
“Because he wanted it that way.”
“Did Angela know?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he believed knowing would put her in danger.”
Brian leaned back.
“So Dad deliberately made my wife the public face of an account she didn't know existed.”
“Yes.”
“And after he died, Hale tried to take it.”
“Yes.”
“Then you stole from it.”
Patricia nodded.
“I needed to buy time.”
Brian shook his head.
“You didn't buy time.”
“I know.”
“You destroyed everything.”
“I know.”
He stood.
Patricia looked up at him.
“I was afraid you would die.”
Brian's face softened for a second.
Then hardened again.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because your father told me never to.”
Brian stared.
“What?”
“He said you would try to protect me.”
Silence.
Patricia continued.
“He was right.”
I looked at Brian.
He couldn't deny it.
The detective opened another folder.
“There is one thing we still don't understand.”
Patricia waited.
“Why did Derek threaten Ethan?”
Patricia looked toward Melissa.
“Because Derek knew I cared about him.”
Melissa began crying.
“He used my grandson to control me.”
“But why Ethan?”
“Because Hale had access to the family.”
Patricia lowered her voice.
“He knew Ethan was the one thing Melissa would never risk.”
The detective nodded.
“And Derek used Patricia to control Melissa.”
“Yes.”
The chain became clear.
Hale controlled Derek.
Derek controlled Patricia.
Patricia controlled Melissa.
And Melissa had been forced to impersonate me.
But the detective wasn't satisfied.
“What about the man seen at the bank?”
Patricia hesitated.
“Hale.”
Brian stared.
“You said Derek.”
“I said Derek was involved.”
“Who was driving?”
“Hale.”
The detective wrote it down.
Then he asked the question nobody wanted to hear.
“Where is Hale now?”
Patricia looked at him.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
She closed her eyes.
“He has a house near the lake.”
“Address?”
She gave it.
The detective immediately stood.
Before he could leave, Patricia spoke.
“He won't be there.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That the account has been found.”
The detective looked toward Daniel.
Daniel's phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Daniel turned the phone toward me.
A bank alert.
The account in my name had just been accessed.
Someone was moving money.
Right now.
The detective grabbed the phone.
“Can you freeze it?”
Daniel nodded.
“I'll contact the bank.”
Brian looked at Patricia.
“Who has access?”
Patricia's face had gone white.
“Hale.”
The detective hurried from the room.
Then Patricia said something so quietly I almost missed it.
“He isn't moving the money.”
I turned.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“He's moving the evidence.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: The Final Transfer Began While We Watched, and One Hidden Recording Revealed Why Hale Needed Me Blamed
The Accusation That Turned Nine Years of Marriage Into a Question I Could Not Answer
Part 11 of 20
