{"id":18295,"date":"2026-09-23T18:59:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18295"},"modified":"2026-09-23T18:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:59:31","slug":"part-20-daniels-cruel-claim-forced-dad-to-reopen-a-secret-mom-took-to-her-grave-but-the-dna-evidence-exposed-his-real-manipulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18295","title":{"rendered":"PART 20 \u2013 Daniel\u2019s Cruel Claim Forced Dad to Reopen a Secret Mom Took to Her Grave, but the DNA Evidence Exposed His Real Manipulation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad said it before anyone asked the question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer looked at the disconnected phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed at it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat man lies for a living.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe creates records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe creates dead people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we are not doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood what he meant.<\/p>\n<p>No DNA test.<\/p>\n<p>No speculation.<\/p>\n<p>No letting Daniel choose what our family questioned next.<\/p>\n<p>Except he already had.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo qualifier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t add one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were born in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHospital.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He paced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour mother and I were married seven years before you were born.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t prove anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose side are you on?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere aren\u2019t sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are absolutely sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel wanted this reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat reaction?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDestabilization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She held up my file from Daniel\u2019s basement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPressure Points.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows family identity is vulnerable right now because of Grant\u2019s paternity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he repeats the trick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Mercer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we verify.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNatalie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s false, we prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd if it isn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>The question beneath his anger.<\/p>\n<p>I walked toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you\u2019re still the man who raised me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes filled immediately.<\/p>\n<p>He looked away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want another one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother child taken away by a piece of paper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grant\u2019s DNA report had wounded him more deeply than he admitted.<\/p>\n<p>Not because he stopped loving Grant.<\/p>\n<p>Because biology had suddenly been weaponized against decades of fatherhood.<\/p>\n<p>I touched his arm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant wasn\u2019t taken away by DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant took himself away with what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so am I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded once.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer arranged expedited DNA testing using legally collected samples.<\/p>\n<p>Dad complained through the entire process.<\/p>\n<p>I suspected that helped him survive it.<\/p>\n<p>While we waited, she interrogated Harold about Daniel\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s reaction was immediate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s lying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stood behind the observation glass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer asked, \u201cDid Eleanor ever demand you stay away from Natalie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s relief disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnswer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked toward the mirror.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad swore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I scared her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter David died, Eleanor started asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Natalie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was young.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remembered almost nothing from that period.<\/p>\n<p>Harold continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne afternoon Natalie came into the funeral home with Frank.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took her there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were fixing the rear stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad remembered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI left her in your office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor maybe ten minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNatalie opened a drawer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt a strange flicker of memory.<\/p>\n<p>Dark wood.<\/p>\n<p>A silver handle.<\/p>\n<p>Candy somewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe invented.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe real.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was inside?\u201d Mercer asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrepaid account books.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The stolen funeral funds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t understand them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why did it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou took one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was a child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe thought it was a coloring book.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A memory surfaced.<\/p>\n<p>Not a ledger.<\/p>\n<p>Green cover.<\/p>\n<p>Rows of boxes.<\/p>\n<p>Mom taking something from me in the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>Her face changing.<\/p>\n<p>I inhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom asked where I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe came to me that night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat if I ever brought Natalie into anything again, she would go to police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou threatened her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Natalie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said accidents happen to children too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad hit the observation-room wall.<\/p>\n<p>Not Harold.<\/p>\n<p>The wall.<\/p>\n<p>His fist struck hard enough to make me jump.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer looked toward us through the glass but continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Eleanor demanded you stay away from Natalie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Daniel turned that into a paternity insinuation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad pressed his injured knuckles against his chest.<\/p>\n<p>The explanation made sense.<\/p>\n<p>But Mercer kept going.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever have a sexual relationship with Eleanor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEver?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked disgusted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone in your operation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That uncertainty irritated Dad.<\/p>\n<p>But it was different from evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had taken one true fact\u2014Mom demanded Harold stay away from me\u2014and attached a false implication.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly the method Grant had learned.<\/p>\n<p>Or perhaps the method Daniel had taught him.<\/p>\n<p>The DNA result arrived faster than expected because the state laboratory prioritized the active threat investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer brought the report herself.<\/p>\n<p>Dad refused to take it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou read it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did.<\/p>\n<p>Probability of biological parentage exceeded 99.99 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Cole was my biological father.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He sat.<\/p>\n<p>Then he laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Not loudly.<\/p>\n<p>But genuinely.<\/p>\n<p>The sound seemed almost inappropriate after days of horror.<\/p>\n<p>That made it better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel lied,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad pointed at Mercer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPut that in your evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI intend to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His relief lasted less than a minute.<\/p>\n<p>Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know it wouldn\u2019t have mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re annoying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGenetic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That earned another laugh.<\/p>\n<p>Then Mercer\u2019s expression pulled us back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lie still tells us something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course it does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel knows details Harold believes are private.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo they\u2019re still communicating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr Grant shared them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr Daniel has old records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We returned to Daniel\u2019s files.<\/p>\n<p>A technician found encrypted directories hidden beneath the medical records.<\/p>\n<p>Passwords recovered from Sloan\u2019s computer opened them.<\/p>\n<p>The oldest folder dated back eighteen years.<\/p>\n<p>Before Grant\u2019s involvement became substantial.<\/p>\n<p>Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>Mallory.<\/p>\n<p>Three names.<\/p>\n<p>Three roles.<\/p>\n<p>Harold identified vulnerable estates.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel manipulated medical information.<\/p>\n<p>Mallory moved property.<\/p>\n<p>The system existed before Grant.<\/p>\n<p>Grant inherited it and made it more aggressive.<\/p>\n<p>But one folder was labeled ELEANOR.<\/p>\n<p>Dad sat beside me as it opened.<\/p>\n<p>The earliest file was seventeen years old.<\/p>\n<p>A scanned copy of Mom\u2019s letter threatening to expose Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Another document recorded a meeting.<\/p>\n<p>H &#8211; E agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Terms:<\/p>\n<p>No contact with N.<\/p>\n<p>No use of F invoices.<\/p>\n<p>David evidence remains sealed.<\/p>\n<p>E does not report historical accounts unless family threatened.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe made a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had told the truth about that much.<\/p>\n<p>Not because Mom participated in the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>Because she was trying to contain Harold without exposing Dad or me.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked devastated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe should\u2019ve gone to police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe thought she could manage him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSounds like Vanessa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa, sitting nearby, heard.<\/p>\n<p>She did not object.<\/p>\n<p>Mom and Vanessa had made different choices for different reasons.<\/p>\n<p>But both had believed silence could control dangerous men.<\/p>\n<p>It had failed both times.<\/p>\n<p>Another document appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Five years later.<\/p>\n<p>E suspects H resumed activity.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>E contacted P.M.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Mallory.<\/p>\n<p>Mom had begun investigating again long before her death.<\/p>\n<p>She had not ignored Harold forever.<\/p>\n<p>She had watched.<\/p>\n<p>Collected.<\/p>\n<p>Waited.<\/p>\n<p>Then Grant entered the system.<\/p>\n<p>A timeline showed his first recorded involvement twelve years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Financial analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Property acquisition.<\/p>\n<p>Estate targeting.<\/p>\n<p>Grant was better with numbers than Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Better at corporations.<\/p>\n<p>Better at creating distance.<\/p>\n<p>The operation expanded.<\/p>\n<p>Mom noticed.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the file that changed our understanding of her final months.<\/p>\n<p>Six months before her death:<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor requests full extraction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer scrolled.<\/p>\n<p>Mallory\u2019s response explained.<\/p>\n<p>Mom wanted out of the old agreement.<\/p>\n<p>She intended to expose everything.<\/p>\n<p>Not only Grant\u2019s theft.<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s deaths.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s medical fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Mallory\u2019s estate manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>All of it.<\/p>\n<p>Dad whispered, \u201cShe was going to end it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next entry:<\/p>\n<p>P.M. agrees conditional immunity strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Mom and Mallory had planned to approach prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>They were gathering enough evidence to trade Mallory\u2019s cooperation for consideration while dismantling the network.<\/p>\n<p>That explained why Mallory became a target after Mom died.<\/p>\n<p>He knew everything.<\/p>\n<p>Then one final entry appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Two days before Mom\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>D intercepts E communications.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cD.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew she was going to prosecutors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd probably told Harold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next line:<\/p>\n<p>G requests immediate solution.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Grant requested.<\/p>\n<p>But the final line said:<\/p>\n<p>H authorizes B\/C contingency.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold authorized it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>The codes were now clear.<\/p>\n<p>B.<\/p>\n<p>Environmental harm.<\/p>\n<p>C.<\/p>\n<p>Medication.<\/p>\n<p>Harold had approved both contingencies against Mom before Grant entered her house.<\/p>\n<p>Grant executed them.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel prepared the medical component.<\/p>\n<p>Harold authorized the framework.<\/p>\n<p>All three bore responsibility in different ways.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared toward the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe sat there and told us Grant made it sloppy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe minimized his role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Dad walked toward the door.<\/p>\n<p>This time Mercer did not stop him.<\/p>\n<p>Harold was under guard.<\/p>\n<p>Dad could not reach him without permission.<\/p>\n<p>But before we moved, an officer rushed into the room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTraffic stop outside Mill County.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho\u2019s with him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer asked for identification.<\/p>\n<p>The officer looked down at his phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says her name is Rebecca Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sheriff Mercer stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>The sister declared dead twenty-six years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The woman whose supposed remains might be in Harold\u2019s well.<\/p>\n<p>The mother Neil had spent most of his life believing was dead.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer gripped the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re verifying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was she doing with Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says he wasn\u2019t abducting her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says she was helping him leave town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Mercer stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>Then the officer delivered the rest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca says Daniel didn\u2019t kill Eleanor Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s jaw hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says he tried to stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis files say otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what she means.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says the medication Daniel prepared wasn\u2019t the medication Eleanor received.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who changed it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer looked at Mercer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca says there was a fourth person in the house that night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>Her face had gone completely white.<\/p>\n<p>Dad saw it too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVanessa?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She backed away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her lips trembled.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho was there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>Then at Dad.<\/p>\n<p>Finally she whispered the name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe came before Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid your mother see him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vanessa began crying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gave Grant the bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>The medication.<\/p>\n<p>The glass.<\/p>\n<p>The plan.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus had claimed he only knew what happened afterward.<\/p>\n<p>He had lied.<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s expression became terrifyingly calm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd where is Marcus now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer reached for her radio.<\/p>\n<p>Before she spoke, an alarm sounded from the detention wing.<\/p>\n<p>One sharp tone.<\/p>\n<p>Then another.<\/p>\n<p>An officer shouted over the radio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSheriff, we have a prisoner down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The reply came immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone got into his cell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercer was already running.<\/p>\n<p>The radio crackled again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarcus is alive, but there\u2019s a message written on the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I followed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat message?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The officer read it aloud.<\/p>\n<p>Dad stopped in the doorway.<\/p>\n<p>Four words.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor knew the fourth.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18296\">Click here to continue reading: PART 21: Marcus Survived the Attack Long Enough to Name the Fourth Person, but His Answer Forced Vanessa to Admit One More Lie About Mom\u2019s Last Night<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cNo.\u201d Dad said it before anyone asked the question. \u201cNo.\u201d Sheriff Mercer looked at the disconnected phone. \u201cFrank.\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d He pointed at it. \u201cThat man lies for a living.\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d &hellip; 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