{"id":18280,"date":"2026-09-23T18:58:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18280"},"modified":"2026-09-23T18:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:58:54","slug":"part-5-harold-offered-the-truth-about-moms-death-for-protection-but-his-first-confession-made-dad-question-every-year-of-their-friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18280","title":{"rendered":"PART 5 \u2013 Harold Offered the Truth About Mom\u2019s Death for Protection, but His First Confession Made Dad Question Every Year of Their Friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sheriff Mercer did not let Dad speak to Harold immediately.<\/p>\n<p>She made us wait in a narrow interview room with a scarred wooden table and a clock whose second hand clicked loudly enough to become irritating within minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Dad sat with Mom\u2019s letter folded in front of him.<\/p>\n<p>He did not touch the DNA report again.<\/p>\n<p>He had read it once more before we left the bank, then slid it into the evidence envelope as if putting the paper out of sight might temporarily return Grant to the son he had believed him to be.<\/p>\n<p>It did not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtection from Grant,\u201d Dad said at last.<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>He wasn\u2019t really speaking to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe raised his voice when he was twelve and apologized before supper. He cried when the dog died. He couldn\u2019t sleep the first night he left for college.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s fingers pressed into the edge of the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you get from that boy to a man people need protection from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was no useful answer.<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer entered carrying a legal pad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold\u2019s attorney is here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen let\u2019s hear him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer remained calm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is asking about an immunity agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad gave a sharp laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe helped leave my wife on the floor while she begged for an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know the full extent of his involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know evidence points to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd evidence points to him because Eleanor made sure it survived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is exactly why I\u2019m not promising him anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad slowly sat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is he offering?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInformation about the medication, the staged hospital trip, the delay in calling emergency services, and what Grant did afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Grant do afterward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer glanced toward the mirrored wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold says Grant returned to your parents\u2019 house after Vanessa left with the ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t in the recording.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe recording device stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remembered the sound file ending after the emergency call.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was Grant looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe same thing Harold went to your house to find yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom\u2019s evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad rubbed his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why wasn\u2019t it found?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Eleanor had already moved the important material to Box 317.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Grant didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at Mom\u2019s folded letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told them Natalie had it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe may have been protecting the bank box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought of Mom gasping on the recording, insisting I would find what she had prepared.<\/p>\n<p>Even frightened and barely able to breathe, she had been misdirecting them.<\/p>\n<p>The realization carried a strange ache with it.<\/p>\n<p>Mom had trusted me to understand her after she was gone.<\/p>\n<p>It had taken me three years.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold also claims Grant took something else from the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe won\u2019t say unless we discuss protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s jaw hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen let him sit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff studied him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may be what Grant is counting on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s expression changed slightly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold says Grant has been preparing for years in case anyone reopened Eleanor\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreparing how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocuments. Financial records. Statements. He says Grant has constructed an alternate story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer looked directly at Dad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room seemed to shrink.<\/p>\n<p>Dad blinked once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe intends to blame me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold says if the death is reinvestigated, Grant\u2019s plan is to argue you altered Eleanor\u2019s medication, left the house knowing she was medically unstable, then used Harold as a false alibi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat son of a\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer lifted a hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant kept copies of your medical information, your prescription history, and old arguments between you and Eleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat arguments?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou and your wife had discussed divorce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>I had never known that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was brief,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEight years before she died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was working constantly and she was tired of being married to a man who only knew how to provide money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice lowered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe worked through it. We never filed anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant has preserved messages from that period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo establish motive if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad laughed once, without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo while I was raising him, he was building a case against me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d Mercer said. \u201cHarold believes the plan came later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter Eleanor found the stolen money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad turned toward the mirrored glass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBring Harold in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrank\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBring him in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ten minutes later Harold entered with his attorney.<\/p>\n<p>He looked smaller than he had on the camera.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe handcuffs did that to a man.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe fear.<\/p>\n<p>His gray hair was uncombed, his face drawn, and there was a bruise near his left temple from his arrest at my house.<\/p>\n<p>He avoided Dad\u2019s eyes until he sat.<\/p>\n<p>Then he looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Harold swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never wanted Eleanor dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s voice came quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t start with what you wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStart with what you did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s attorney began to object to the questioning.<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer reminded everyone that Harold had requested the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>The lawyer leaned over, whispered something, then sat back.<\/p>\n<p>Harold clasped his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant called me four days before Eleanor died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad did not move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said she had found the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much did you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s nostrils flared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew they were taking money from us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd said nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Grant came to me months earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>The blood relationship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harold nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Grant was your son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspected when he was young. Eleanor confirmed it later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout ten years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s hand flattened on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you let me keep believing\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEleanor begged me not to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou always blame the dead when they can\u2019t answer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s face reddened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen own your choices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is the first true thing you\u2019ve said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant found letters. Old ones. He figured it out before Eleanor told him directly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want from you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoney at first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough that I couldn\u2019t keep paying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad gave him a cold look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he blackmailed his biological father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt something shift inside me.<\/p>\n<p>Grant had not simply discovered a hidden family truth.<\/p>\n<p>He had turned it into leverage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow does Vanessa fit into this?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harold hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Grant\u2019s paternity?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked up sharply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe still doesn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what Grant has told her since yesterday. But as far as I knew, she believed Frank was Grant\u2019s father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Not because it absolved her.<\/p>\n<p>It did not.<\/p>\n<p>But it meant Grant had been hiding different truths from different people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened with Mom\u2019s medication?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s attorney shifted.<\/p>\n<p>Harold stared at the tabletop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant said Eleanor was panicking. He wanted her sedated enough that she would stop making calls until he found the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face turned rigid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you altered her prescription.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI helped submit the change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowing it was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowing it could hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold whispered, \u201cI didn\u2019t think it would kill her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad slammed his palm against the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t get to use that sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The attorney started speaking.<\/p>\n<p>Dad ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lied to a pharmacy. You helped increase medication meant for my wife. Then you invented chest pains to drag me out of my own house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, you know now. Eleanor knew then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence spread through the room.<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer asked Harold to explain the hospital trip.<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>Grant had instructed him to call Dad shortly before dinner.<\/p>\n<p>Harold claimed severe chest pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Dad drove him to St. Matthew\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Once there, Harold exaggerated his symptoms enough to keep Dad occupied.<\/p>\n<p>Tests were performed.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing dangerous was found.<\/p>\n<p>Harold repeatedly complained of renewed pain whenever Dad suggested leaving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou kept me there deliberately,\u201d Dad said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil Grant texted me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe texted what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One word.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked as though someone had struck him.<\/p>\n<p>I felt nauseated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you think \u2018done\u2019 meant?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat they had found the documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Mom was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew she had taken more medication than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much more?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer repeated the question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough that Grant expected her to be confused and tired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd when she collapsed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold whispered, \u201cI didn\u2019t know until later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant called from the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the ambulance?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Eleanor was on the floor while I was sitting beside you in the hospital?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold began crying then.<\/p>\n<p>Not loudly.<\/p>\n<p>His shoulders simply sagged, and tears collected under his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stood.<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer rose too.<\/p>\n<p>For one instant I thought Dad might hit him.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Dad gripped the back of his chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Grant say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said she had gone down. He said Vanessa was losing control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you told them what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold covered his mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s voice became frighteningly soft.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told him not to call an ambulance until they found the recording.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad turned away.<\/p>\n<p>I saw him press one fist against his lips.<\/p>\n<p>The room became painfully quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Harold continued because stopping would have been worse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey searched. They couldn\u2019t find everything. Eleanor kept saying Natalie had it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin prickled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVanessa wanted to call for help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Grant?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe refused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-three minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The number from Mom\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n<p>Precise.<\/p>\n<p>Terrible.<\/p>\n<p>Dad faced Harold again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew every minute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd did nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad sat down slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me about the ten thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold wiped his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant came to me after Eleanor died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was terrified there would be an autopsy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of the medication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the ten thousand?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo make sure the cremation happened fast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou owned the funeral home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou advised me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou stood in my kitchen and told me an autopsy would only mutilate her body.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold began crying harder.<\/p>\n<p>Dad did not soften.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou used my grief to destroy evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou shook my hand after the cremation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou carried her urn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s voice broke for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou carried my wife\u2019s ashes into my house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer eventually asked the question that had brought us there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Grant take from the house after the ambulance left?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold opened his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA second recorder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom made three recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found one copy in Box 317.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the most important one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s grief gave way to focus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was on the second recorder?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant talking before Eleanor collapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>His attorney placed a hand on his arm.<\/p>\n<p>Grant\u2019s fear suddenly made sense.<\/p>\n<p>Harold wasn\u2019t afraid merely because he had confessed.<\/p>\n<p>He was afraid because he knew where evidence existed that could turn a suspicious death investigation into something more deliberate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Grant say?\u201d Sheriff Mercer asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked at Dad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told Eleanor that if she didn\u2019t sign over control of the accounts, something might happen to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s knuckles whitened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe laughed at him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like Mom.<\/p>\n<p>Harold almost smiled at the memory.<\/p>\n<p>Then the smile vanished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told him she had already changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she change?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe beneficiary structure. The estate plan. She said if she died under suspicious circumstances, Grant would receive nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never saw that paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Grant found it after she died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe destroyed her new estate documents,\u201d Mercer said.<\/p>\n<p>Harold nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the recorder?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant took it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said you wanted protection because of Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked toward the mirrored wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause yesterday, after Vanessa called Natalie and the whole thing started collapsing, Grant called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s throat worked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said we had one chance to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face remained expressionless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was his plan?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo make your death real.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The air seemed to disappear from the room.<\/p>\n<p>Harold continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted me to find you before the police did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse pounded against my throat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo make it look like you killed yourself after Natalie discovered what you had done to Eleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said if you were dead, he could still make the story hold.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18281\">Click here to continue reading: PART 6: Grant Had Prepared Dad to Take the Blame for Mom\u2019s Death, but Vanessa\u2019s Secret Call Exposed a Fracture Between Them<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sheriff Mercer did not let Dad speak to Harold immediately. She made us wait in a narrow interview room with a scarred wooden table and a clock whose second hand &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18280","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\/18280","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=18280"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18330,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18280\/revisions\/18330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}