{"id":13551,"date":"2026-09-18T21:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13551"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:12:50","slug":"part-17-we-refused-to-empty-the-house-victor-expected-to-find-full-but-the-guest-list-concealed-one-dangerous-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13551","title":{"rendered":"PART 17 \u2013 We Refused to Empty the House Victor Expected to Find Full, but the Guest List Concealed One Dangerous Connection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The photograph stayed on my dining table long after Detective Hale finished explaining what had been found in Emily Foster\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n<p>Tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone together \u2014 7:00 PM.<\/p>\n<p>Richard stood with both hands braced against the back of a chair, staring at Emily\u2019s handwriting as though six years of working beside her might somehow rearrange the letters into something innocent.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel broke the silence first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe supper is canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Renee said immediately.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Hale.<\/p>\n<p>He had not agreed.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel noticed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale folded his arms. \u201cCanceling may be the correct choice. But before anyone contacts the neighbors, I want to understand how Ms. Foster learned about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes that matter?\u201d Daniel asked. \u201cShe knows. We cancel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt matters because the gathering was not public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the front window.<\/p>\n<p>George had invited the Chens. Helen had told the Millers. I had mentioned it to Carol, Daniel, and Richard. No invitations had been mailed. Nothing had gone online.<\/p>\n<p>Renee said quietly, \u201cLily knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey didn\u2019t tell Emily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t say they did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The children were upstairs, deliberately excluded from this discussion until we knew what there was to tell them.<\/p>\n<p>Richard finally moved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmily handled my calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe supper was on your calendar?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you invited me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI invite you to things you decline all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust establishing your social shortcomings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Almost.<\/p>\n<p>Then he shook his head. \u201cI entered it as \u2018Dinner \u2014 Margaret.\u2019 No address. No guest list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Emily knew Margaret meant me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked, \u201cCould she access your calendar after her credentials were revoked?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That explained the date and time.<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone together.<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked for the complete guest list.<\/p>\n<p>I gave it.<\/p>\n<p>George and Helen Palmer.<\/p>\n<p>Min and David Chen.<\/p>\n<p>Frank and Susan Miller.<\/p>\n<p>Carol.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel, Renee, Lily, Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Me.<\/p>\n<p>Hale wrote each name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny recent additions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Millers,\u201d Helen had mentioned them only two days earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did Ms. Foster know they would attend?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did not know.<\/p>\n<p>That was the first crack.<\/p>\n<p>The second came when Hale ran the names.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Miller had once worked for Desert Valley Bank.<\/p>\n<p>Not recently.<\/p>\n<p>Twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at Hale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoing what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommercial security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard straightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhysical security?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmong other things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel said, \u201cYou think our neighbor is involved?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale\u2019s answer was immediate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think unexplained connections deserve checking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I disliked hearing Frank discussed that way.<\/p>\n<p>He was sixty-seven, walked an overweight beagle named Truman every morning, and had spent forty minutes helping George repair my gate latch without being asked.<\/p>\n<p>Then I remembered Emily bringing coffee.<\/p>\n<p>Kindness was not evidence either.<\/p>\n<p>That lesson worked both directions.<\/p>\n<p>Hale called Frank.<\/p>\n<p>He did not hide the reason.<\/p>\n<p>Frank arrived at Willow Creek twenty minutes later wearing cargo shorts and a faded university shirt.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at the police vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Then at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret, I swear if this is about Truman digging under your roses\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood. Because he has legal representation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard murmured, \u201cApparently competition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank noticed the photograph on the table.<\/p>\n<p>His humor vanished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale questioned him in the study.<\/p>\n<p>We waited.<\/p>\n<p>George crossed the street after noticing the patrol car and was intercepted by an officer.<\/p>\n<p>Soon Helen came too.<\/p>\n<p>Within minutes, canceling the supper without alarming everyone became impossible because half the neighborhood was standing on my lawn.<\/p>\n<p>I went outside.<\/p>\n<p>George looked irritated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre we in danger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Direct.<\/p>\n<p>Useful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Helen gripped his arm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone who has been harassing my family learned about tomorrow\u2019s supper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>George stared toward the house.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen cancel it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is likely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLikely?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHale is investigating first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>George nodded.<\/p>\n<p>No drama.<\/p>\n<p>No demand for details.<\/p>\n<p>Helen asked, \u201cAre the children safe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was the only answer she needed.<\/p>\n<p>When Frank emerged, he looked bewildered rather than frightened.<\/p>\n<p>Hale followed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Miller remembers Emily Foster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDesert Valley Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank rubbed his forehead. \u201cShe worked there briefly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears ago. Maybe seven or eight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hired her six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank nodded. \u201cThat sounds right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin prickled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdministrative work. Vendor access, scheduling, records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale said, \u201cShe left after an internal investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t directly involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were concerns about customer information being accessed without a business reason.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas she fired?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she resigned before they finished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t that appear in her employment verification?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard walked away from the table.<\/p>\n<p>Six years.<\/p>\n<p>He had trusted her for six years because somebody somewhere had answered a reference request carefully enough to say almost nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked Frank whether he knew Calvin Reed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor Salazar?<\/p>\n<p>Frank\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>Not recognition exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Something close.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew a Salazar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every person in the room became still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuel.<\/p>\n<p>Victor\u2019s father.<\/p>\n<p>Frank looked around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should sit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank did.<\/p>\n<p>His connection was not sinister.<\/p>\n<p>It was old.<\/p>\n<p>He had worked security for a bank that handled several accounts belonging to railroad employees. Samuel Salazar had been one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Harold?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly by sight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would I? Half the men in this part of Arizona passed through that bank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI might have seen him with Sam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow old?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLate teens. Maybe twenties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again, decades.<\/p>\n<p>The old story kept producing people who had touched its edges without realizing they were part of it.<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked Frank about Emily.<\/p>\n<p>Frank remembered one incident clearly.<\/p>\n<p>A customer complained that someone had contacted him about an investment shortly after a large certificate of deposit matured.<\/p>\n<p>The caller knew the amount.<\/p>\n<p>Internal audit found Emily had viewed the account.<\/p>\n<p>No proof she shared it.<\/p>\n<p>She denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>Then resigned.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s voice was flat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd your bank confirmed her employment to my firm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frank winced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably dates and title only.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>I recognized that silence.<\/p>\n<p>He was assigning himself blame again.<\/p>\n<p>I touched his sleeve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale had enough to change the plan.<\/p>\n<p>The supper would not be canceled.<\/p>\n<p>Not exactly.<\/p>\n<p>The neighbors would be told it was postponed.<\/p>\n<p>The family would not gather at seven.<\/p>\n<p>But Willow Creek would appear occupied.<\/p>\n<p>Lights on.<\/p>\n<p>Cars placed in the drive.<\/p>\n<p>Officers nearby.<\/p>\n<p>Security inside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Emily or Victor expects everyone together,\u201d Hale said, \u201cwe want to know what they planned to do with that expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel hated it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo my mother\u2019s house becomes bait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe house does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother lives in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot tomorrow evening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I opened my mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Hale pointed at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were about to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems prejudicial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re leaving the property at five.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecure location.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate secure locations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can hate it securely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carol laughed.<\/p>\n<p>I glared at her.<\/p>\n<p>She enjoyed that far too much.<\/p>\n<p>The children were told the supper had been postponed because police needed to investigate something connected to Victor.<\/p>\n<p>Lily immediately asked whether the house would be used to catch him.<\/p>\n<p>Hale looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou watch too much television.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means you\u2019re going to your aunt\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carol said, \u201cI\u2019m already here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDifferent aunt,\u201d Daniel replied.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan looked disappointed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWill there be SWAT?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d Hale said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan there be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan I watch remotely?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis family has gotten way less fun since Grandma got rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For a few seconds, the room loosened.<\/p>\n<p>Then Renee\u2019s phone vibrated.<\/p>\n<p>She glanced at it.<\/p>\n<p>Her face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnknown number.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>She handed it to Hale.<\/p>\n<p>A text.<\/p>\n<p>ARE YOU STILL GOING TOMORROW?<\/p>\n<p>Nothing else.<\/p>\n<p>No name.<\/p>\n<p>No threat.<\/p>\n<p>Just a question.<\/p>\n<p>Hale photographed the screen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Renee nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Then another message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>MARGARET DESERVES TO KNOW WHAT HER LAWYER DID.<\/p>\n<p>Richard went still.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>He looked genuinely confused.<\/p>\n<p>A third message.<\/p>\n<p>ASK COLEMAN WHY HE HIRED EMILY.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hired her because my previous assistant retired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho recommended her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>I watched his expression change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartin Lowe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s old attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The room seemed to contract.<\/p>\n<p>Martin.<\/p>\n<p>The man who handled Harold\u2019s dispute with Victor.<\/p>\n<p>The man who retrieved Exhibit E from Box 286.<\/p>\n<p>The man whose archived file had contained the missing page.<\/p>\n<p>And the man who had recommended Emily Foster to Richard six years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard looked stunned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartin knew I needed someone. He said Emily had worked with a client of his and was excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich client?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale was already calling.<\/p>\n<p>Martin answered from the assisted-living facility.<\/p>\n<p>His voice sounded tired.<\/p>\n<p>When Richard asked about Emily, the old lawyer became quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Too quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMartin?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI should have told you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTold me what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmily\u2019s mother worked for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was her name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDiane Foster.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale began searching.<\/p>\n<p>Martin continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was my secretary for eleven years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the Salazar matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Diane have access to Harold\u2019s file?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>Another doorway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Emily?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes she came to the office after school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard shut his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow old?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeventeen. Eighteen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Old enough to see.<\/p>\n<p>Old enough to remember.<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked the question that mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Diane Foster know Victor Salazar?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin\u2019s answer came slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInvolved how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRomantically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carol whispered something unprintable.<\/p>\n<p>Martin continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBriefly, as far as I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAround the first lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor had been pursuing Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Diane worked for Harold\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Their relationship ended, Martin said, after he discovered Diane had copied documents from the Salazar file.<\/p>\n<p>He fired her.<\/p>\n<p>No charges.<\/p>\n<p>No police.<\/p>\n<p>Professional embarrassment contained quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Another secret someone believed had been handled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to Diane?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe died nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Emily knew why you fired her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Emily had worked at Desert Valley Bank?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know about their investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard stood abruptly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why recommend her to me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martin sounded hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she came to me after her mother died. She needed work. She was capable. I thought whatever happened between Diane and Victor had nothing to do with the daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it had not.<\/p>\n<p>At first.<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked, \u201cDid Victor know Emily as a child?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer changed everything.<\/p>\n<p>Victor had not found Emily through Calvin.<\/p>\n<p>Emily had not accidentally wandered into Victor\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n<p>They had known each other for decades.<\/p>\n<p>I thought of the text.<\/p>\n<p>MARGARET DESERVES TO KNOW WHAT HER LAWYER DID.<\/p>\n<p>Not Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Martin.<\/p>\n<p>A lawyer had concealed a breach.<\/p>\n<p>Recommended the daughter of the person responsible.<\/p>\n<p>And years later that daughter entered Richard\u2019s office, where my sudden lottery win eventually passed directly through her hands.<\/p>\n<p>Coincidence had finally run out of room.<\/p>\n<p>Hale ended the call.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Then Richard said, \u201cI want every matter Emily touched audited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat will happen,\u201d Hale replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery client.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard looked older than he had that morning.<\/p>\n<p>I understood why.<\/p>\n<p>This was no longer simply my breach.<\/p>\n<p>He was wondering how many other people had trusted his office while Emily sat beside their private lives.<\/p>\n<p>Renee\u2019s phone vibrated again.<\/p>\n<p>This time the message contained a photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Not of me.<\/p>\n<p>Not of the children.<\/p>\n<p>Of Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Taken outside his office that morning.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath it:<\/p>\n<p>HE STILL DOESN\u2019T KNOW WHY SHE CHOSE HIM.<\/p>\n<p>Richard stared.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Hale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>He did not need to.<\/p>\n<p>Emily had not merely accepted a convenient job.<\/p>\n<p>She may have chosen Richard because of me.<\/p>\n<p>Because Richard knew Martin.<\/p>\n<p>Because Martin knew Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Because Harold had the Salazar file.<\/p>\n<p>A path constructed years before my lottery ticket made me interesting again.<\/p>\n<p>Richard whispered, \u201cSix years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe worked for me six years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale asked, \u201cWhen did Harold die?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did his health begin declining?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The same period.<\/p>\n<p>My skin went cold.<\/p>\n<p>Emily entered Richard\u2019s office just as Harold became seriously ill.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe she had been waiting for his estate.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting for the file.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting for Box 286.<\/p>\n<p>Then the lottery transformed an old obsession into something more profitable.<\/p>\n<p>Hale\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>An officer searching Emily\u2019s apartment had found a hidden compartment inside a filing cabinet.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Letters.<\/p>\n<p>Copies of Harold\u2019s legal records.<\/p>\n<p>And a notebook.<\/p>\n<p>Hale listened.<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked.<\/p>\n<p>He ended the call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe notebook contains dates going back six years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout Harold?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s voice was almost a whisper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour name appears on the first page.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hale answered carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Emily wrote that getting hired by you was Phase One.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13552\">Click here to continue reading: PART 18: Emily\u2019s Six-Year Notebook Revealed Why She Entered Richard\u2019s Office, and the Person She Blamed Was Not the One We Expected<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The photograph stayed on my dining table long after Detective Hale finished explaining what had been found in Emily Foster\u2019s apartment. Tomorrow. Everyone together \u2014 7:00 PM. Richard stood with &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13586,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13551\/revisions\/13586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}