{"id":22976,"date":"2026-09-27T19:50:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=22976"},"modified":"2026-09-27T19:50:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:50:25","slug":"part-18-michael-reed-transferred-larkspur-hours-before-we-could-stop-him-but-his-new-foundation-hid-a-connection-to-my-fathers-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=22976","title":{"rendered":"PART 18 \u2013 Michael Reed Transferred Larkspur Hours Before We Could Stop Him, but His New Foundation Hid a Connection to My Father\u2019s Death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Susan worked from Mama\u2019s dining room until almost midnight.<\/p>\n<p>Two laptops.<\/p>\n<p>Three phones.<\/p>\n<p>Stacks of scanned documents.<\/p>\n<p>She contacted a local attorney in the county where the Mason Ridge property sat.<\/p>\n<p>He prepared emergency filings.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase temporary restraining order became the center of the evening.<\/p>\n<p>I had heard it on television.<\/p>\n<p>Now it meant one thing:<\/p>\n<p>Keep Michael from moving anything else.<\/p>\n<p>The transfer had been recorded that afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Legally, the land no longer appeared under Larkspur Holdings.<\/p>\n<p>It belonged to Mason Ridge Community Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>A nonprofit.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Reed controlled it.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald Vane, the private investigator who had watched Mama, served as treasurer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan he just do that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Susan did not look up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople can file deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Whether the transfer survives challenge depends on purpose, consideration, authority, notice, and other issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNormal words.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe may have moved the property to complicate your claim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel sat across the table reading the nonprofit\u2019s incorporation papers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo purchase price.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe foundation didn\u2019t buy the land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan looked over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Larkspur gave away property potentially worth more than a million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo an entity Michael controls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s useful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we can establish fraudulent transfer or another improper purpose, lack of consideration matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nodded as if I understood.<\/p>\n<p>Mostly, I understood that Michael had made his move too quickly.<\/p>\n<p>And quick moves leave tracks.<\/p>\n<p>Russell paced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy a nonprofit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAppearance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat appearance?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommunity benefit. Conservation. Development restrictions. Tax planning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think he intended to sell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan said, \u201cDo not assume motive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou say that every time we get close to something interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI say it every time you start building a criminal trial in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fair.<\/p>\n<p>Around ten thirty, Amy called.<\/p>\n<p>The police had finished at Russell\u2019s house.<\/p>\n<p>The boxes remained.<\/p>\n<p>The forged authorization was taken as evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Amy asked whether she should stay.<\/p>\n<p>Russell said yes.<\/p>\n<p>Then changed his mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Go home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amy\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo Belvedere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou mean the house that may belong to Aunt Linda?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I watched Russell absorb the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was a pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She sounded tired.<\/p>\n<p>Before hanging up, she asked me, \u201cAre you coming back tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou okay?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We ended the call.<\/p>\n<p>That had become our most honest family answer.<\/p>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>At eleven forty, Susan received confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>A judge had agreed to review the emergency request early the next morning.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, we could do nothing more.<\/p>\n<p>I slept in Mama\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>Not because I wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>Because I was too tired to drive anywhere else.<\/p>\n<p>Her room felt smaller without her.<\/p>\n<p>The bedspread lay smooth.<\/p>\n<p>A glass of water still sat on the dresser from the week she died.<\/p>\n<p>I opened the closet.<\/p>\n<p>Her dresses hung in careful rows.<\/p>\n<p>Shoes lined the floor.<\/p>\n<p>On the upper shelf sat hatboxes.<\/p>\n<p>Ordinary objects became suspicious now.<\/p>\n<p>I hated that.<\/p>\n<p>I did not want every memory turned into evidence.<\/p>\n<p>So I closed the door.<\/p>\n<p>Near two in the morning, I woke to voices downstairs.<\/p>\n<p>Russell.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>Low.<\/p>\n<p>Arguing.<\/p>\n<p>I stepped into the hallway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel held a document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found a name in the foundation filing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA donor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBesides Larkspur?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He handed me the page.<\/p>\n<p>Founding contribution:<\/p>\n<p>$50,000 from Reed-Lane Historical Preservation Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Lane.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s surname.<\/p>\n<p>My pulse changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan came from the kitchen with her laptop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought you were sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She had already learned arguing wasted time.<\/p>\n<p>The Reed-Lane Historical Preservation Fund had been created four years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Purpose:<\/p>\n<p>Preservation of regional industrial and transportation history.<\/p>\n<p>Directors:<\/p>\n<p>Michael Reed.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald Vane.<\/p>\n<p>And one more name.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia Lane Foster.<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossible relative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had never heard the name.<\/p>\n<p>My father, Robert Lane, had been an only child.<\/p>\n<p>Or Mama told me he was.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, genealogy felt dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>We searched public records.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia was seventy-eight.<\/p>\n<p>Born Patricia Lane.<\/p>\n<p>Father:<\/p>\n<p>Edward Lane.<\/p>\n<p>Robert\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n<p>I sat slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father wasn\u2019t an only child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Apparently not.<\/p>\n<p>Russell looked stunned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom always said he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy lie about that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody knew.<\/p>\n<p>Susan found more.<\/p>\n<p>Edward Lane had moved to Arkansas after Robert\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>His daughter Patricia later returned to Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did Michael know her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked.<\/p>\n<p>Susan searched.<\/p>\n<p>Board records.<\/p>\n<p>Historical society.<\/p>\n<p>Property archives.<\/p>\n<p>Then an old newspaper article.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia had spent years researching her family\u2019s connection to a defunct industrial warehouse.<\/p>\n<p>The same warehouse where Robert and Wayne once worked.<\/p>\n<p>My father\u2019s workplace.<\/p>\n<p>The place tied to the theft he planned to expose.<\/p>\n<p>I leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she find?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The article said she believed her uncle Robert had uncovered missing inventory before his death.<\/p>\n<p>My heart pounded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Mama know Patricia existed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Russell shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maybe had become a dangerous word.<\/p>\n<p>Susan found an email contact.<\/p>\n<p>Before sending anything, she said, \u201cWe should talk first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s after two.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCall tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For once, I accepted waiting.<\/p>\n<p>At seven thirty the next morning, the local attorney called.<\/p>\n<p>The judge entered a temporary order prohibiting further sale, transfer, encumbrance, destruction of records, or dissipation of proceeds tied to the Mason Ridge parcel until a hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Michael had been stopped.<\/p>\n<p>For now.<\/p>\n<p>I expected relief.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I felt only space for the next problem.<\/p>\n<p>At eight, Susan called Patricia Lane Foster.<\/p>\n<p>A woman answered after five rings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Foster, my name is Susan Hall. I represent\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPut me on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan frowned but handed me the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy name is Linda Harper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin prickled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone seems to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia began crying.<\/p>\n<p>Not loudly.<\/p>\n<p>Not theatrically.<\/p>\n<p>A small, shocked sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Helen would never tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My grip tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPersonally?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince 2001.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-five years.<\/p>\n<p>Another relationship hidden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I found Robert\u2019s papers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat papers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father Edward kept a box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did Mama tell me Robert had no siblings?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia exhaled shakily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she know your father?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey argued after Robert died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent around me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdward wanted custody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t trust Wayne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMama wasn\u2019t married to Wayne yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Wayne was already around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>So Wayne had been in Mama\u2019s life before Robert died.<\/p>\n<p>Not necessarily romantically.<\/p>\n<p>But present.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did Edward want custody?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe believed Helen was being pressured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy Wayne?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour mother refused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Edward left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy Wayne?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy Morton.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>Every road returned to Morton.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father took me and moved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he ever contact me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Of course he did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLetters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are they?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have copies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Mama hide them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another stack of letters I had never seen.<\/p>\n<p>Another person kept away because Mama believed silence was safer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did your father know about Robert\u2019s death?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe worked at the warehouse too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That changed everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas he there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot when Robert died. But he knew about the missing inventory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat inventory?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndustrial bearings. Copper. Machine tools. Parts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wayne stole them.<\/p>\n<p>Robert found out.<\/p>\n<p>We already knew the outline.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia added detail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father believed Daniel Mercer was financing the theft.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>He stared at the floor.<\/p>\n<p>His father.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Michael?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan asked quietly.<\/p>\n<p>I put the phone on speaker.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met Michael through historical research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know his father\u2019s connection?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot at first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Michael tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat his father and Robert had business disputes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>That was one way to describe it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is the Reed-Lane fund?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI helped create it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo preserve the old warehouse records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat records?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocuments from the company where Robert worked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse increased.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are they?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome are in storage. Some are digitized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Michael have access?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he know Robert discovered theft?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he know Wayne may have been involved?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he know your father believed Morton helped cover Robert\u2019s death?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Long pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So Michael knew far more than his father\u2019s financial role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would you work with him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he told me he wanted to repair what our families had buried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel muttered something under his breath.<\/p>\n<p>I ignored it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you believe him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor a while.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found a ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart beat harder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWarehouse inventory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRobert\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis handwriting was in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it show?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat the theft was larger than my father remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much larger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough that Wayne and Daniel weren\u2019t the only beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCal Morton.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Expected.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Thomas Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We looked at each other.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had framed himself as compromised later.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe his involvement began earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Thomas receive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPayments before Robert died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan wrote quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the biggest surprise wasn\u2019t Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was another name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt something cold move through me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMama?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ledger uses initials. H.H.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWayne\u2019s ledger used H.H. too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was the payment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEight hundred dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo weeks before Robert died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room seemed to narrow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia\u2019s voice became quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe notation says information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Russell whispered, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did not move.<\/p>\n<p>Mama received money before my father died.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe.<\/p>\n<p>Or someone with those initials did.<\/p>\n<p>We needed context.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Michael know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is the ledger now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then Patricia said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe took it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you give it to him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe stole it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe borrowed the archive box and never returned that volume.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you confront him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat it had been misplaced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you believed him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere do you think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he hid it because of Helen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause before she died, Helen called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My throat tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe asked whether I still had Robert\u2019s inventory ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told her Michael had it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said, \u2018Then he knows why Robert really died.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n<p>Not just that Robert exposed theft.<\/p>\n<p>Something more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia\u2019s voice trembled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen said Robert found out someone inside his own house was giving Wayne information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I could barely breathe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInside his own house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told me she had been the one.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=22977\">Click here to continue reading: PART 19: Mama\u2019s Secret Payments Before My Father Died Forced Me to Confront the Betrayal She Never Put on Her Cassette<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Susan worked from Mama\u2019s dining room until almost midnight. Two laptops. Three phones. Stacks of scanned documents. She contacted a local attorney in the county where the Mason Ridge property &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22976","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\/22976","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=22976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23022,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22976\/revisions\/23022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}