{"id":27584,"date":"2026-10-01T23:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=27584"},"modified":"2026-10-01T23:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:55:34","slug":"part-17-the-investigator-at-my-gate-connected-brandons-financial-crisis-to-a-surveillance-campaign-that-had-begun-long-before-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=27584","title":{"rendered":"PART 17 \u2013 The Investigator at My Gate Connected Brandon\u2019s Financial Crisis to a Surveillance Campaign That Had Begun Long Before Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Detective Ortiz did not speculate about why Darren Grant&#39;s company had hired Paul Mercer.<\/p>\n<p>She did not need to.<\/p>\n<p>The timing already frightened me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was he hired?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApproximately five weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Five weeks placed the hiring shortly after my hospital stay and before Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was he supposed to investigate?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Mercer says his instructions were to document your daily activities, visitors, driving habits, and periods when you appeared to be alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone followed me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word changed the room.<\/p>\n<p>I thought about the botanical garden.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch with Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>My appointment with Dr. Feldman.<\/p>\n<p>The concert on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n<p>Ordinary moments I had believed belonged only to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he photograph me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly public locations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many times?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don&#39;t yet have a complete answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood and walked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>The garden suddenly looked exposed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho received the reports?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDarren Grant&#39;s company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd who received them from him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are determining that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas asked whether Brandon&#39;s name appeared in the investigator&#39;s contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course not.<\/p>\n<p>There were always layers.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon to Darren.<\/p>\n<p>Darren to Paul.<\/p>\n<p>Jessica to a fake email.<\/p>\n<p>David to a doctor.<\/p>\n<p>Everybody close enough to benefit and far enough to deny.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is something you should know before you hear it elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Mercer says he was told the investigation concerned a vulnerable older adult whose family feared she was concealing deterioration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was concealing competence, apparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas glanced at me.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz did not laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis instructions included documenting anything that could support concerns about safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDriving errors. Falls. Confusion in public. Unusual behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he find any?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo significant incidents are reflected in the preliminary material we&#39;ve reviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had followed me hoping to find evidence that I could not manage my life.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, they found me living it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why was he at my gate?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says his client asked for updated information after Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUpdated how?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether you had additional people staying at the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I understood immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Security.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone who might undermine the claim that I was isolated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey wanted to know who was helping me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the code?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz&#39;s voice became firmer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe claims Darren provided it and said it was authorized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAuthorized by whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he wasn&#39;t told.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he intend to enter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe denies that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why type a code?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he wanted to determine whether it still worked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Testing access.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly what the video showed.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz ended by reminding me not to confront anyone.<\/p>\n<p>When the call ended, I remained at the window.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas spoke first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you want additional security?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answer came easily now.<\/p>\n<p>We added another guard temporarily and changed administrative credentials again.<\/p>\n<p>The technician disabled every legacy code.<\/p>\n<p>No inherited access.<\/p>\n<p>No emergency shortcuts.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing Robert had created years earlier would remain simply because family once trusted family.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron arrived that afternoon with another discovery.<\/p>\n<p>The security system was not the only place where old credentials survived.<\/p>\n<p>Robert had once maintained a shared cloud folder for household records.<\/p>\n<p>Insurance.<\/p>\n<p>Property documents.<\/p>\n<p>Vehicle registrations.<\/p>\n<p>Contracts.<\/p>\n<p>The folder had been forgotten after his death.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon had accessed it repeatedly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron showed us.<\/p>\n<p>Among harmless files was a spreadsheet Robert used to track household employees and vendors.<\/p>\n<p>It contained the security company&#39;s contact information.<\/p>\n<p>Alarm installation records.<\/p>\n<p>And an old PDF containing the installer code.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo that&#39;s where Brandon could have found it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you prove he opened that file?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe access log shows his account viewed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour days before the investigator appeared at your gate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas stopped writing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is useful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Useful.<\/p>\n<p>I had come to hate that word.<\/p>\n<p>My collapse had been useful.<\/p>\n<p>My hospital note had been useful.<\/p>\n<p>Now evidence was useful.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps usefulness itself was neutral.<\/p>\n<p>It depended entirely on who was using what against whom.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron showed us something else.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon had downloaded a property survey.<\/p>\n<p>A floor plan.<\/p>\n<p>And a document listing exterior camera locations from an earlier security installation.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would he need camera locations?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the monitor.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, I wondered whether the man at my gate had been meant to be seen.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps he was only testing whether surveillance still functioned.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps he wanted to know whether the property could be observed without detection.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas interrupted my thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon&#39;t get ahead of the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was right.<\/p>\n<p>Fear fills gaps faster than facts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do we actually know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know Brandon&#39;s account accessed the archived security documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMultiple times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know Darren&#39;s company hired Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know Paul had the old code.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don&#39;t know who gave it to Darren.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That distinction mattered.<\/p>\n<p>I wrote it down.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning, Chloe called.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom, Jessica wants to talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#39;s your decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says Brandon lied to both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe probably did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says she has proof.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen tell her to give it to her lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wants us to meet without lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don&#39;t think I should?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think every time one of you tries to solve something privately, another problem appears.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chloe was quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou&#39;re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had begun hearing that from her more often.<\/p>\n<p>Not as submission.<\/p>\n<p>As recognition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid someone follow you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My grip tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJessica told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow does Jessica know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says Brandon admitted it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas, sitting nearby, looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat exactly did he admit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chloe said Jessica claimed Brandon hired someone to observe me after my hospital stay.<\/p>\n<p>Not to hurt me.<\/p>\n<p>Not to enter the house.<\/p>\n<p>To gather evidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvidence of what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat you shouldn&#39;t be alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he tell Jessica why he needed evidence if he genuinely believed I was impaired?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chloe was silent.<\/p>\n<p>That question exposed the contradiction.<\/p>\n<p>If my decline were obvious, they would not need to manufacture a record.<\/p>\n<p>If it were not obvious, perhaps there was no decline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJessica says Darren suggested surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Brandon needed independent documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Independent.<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>A man paid through Brandon&#39;s business associate was supposed to provide independent documentation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJessica says Darren told Brandon he knew people who handled difficult family situations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas wrote the phrase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of people?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe doesn&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Jessica know about the payment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe seventy-five thousand?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says Brandon told her it was for restructuring advice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she believe him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone&#39;s beliefs were changing now that consequences existed.<\/p>\n<p>I asked Chloe whether Brandon had contacted her since hiring counsel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly through his lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe sent one personal message before that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She read it.<\/p>\n<p>Remember who protected you when Dad was alive.<\/p>\n<p>I felt a chill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But she sounded uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChloe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was something after Dad found out I warned him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My attention sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrandon suspected me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he confront you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe six months before Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe asked whether I&#39;d been telling Dad things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he believe you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me family loyalty works both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like Brandon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you think he meant?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat if I turned against him, he wouldn&#39;t help me anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chloe hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoney.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told me you weren&#39;t having financial problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn&#39;t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy husband&#39;s business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>Another hidden financial tie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad lent us two hundred thousand dollars years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you repay it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Brandon know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he help?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe covered one payment when things were tight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-five thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now he thinks that bought your loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The family finances resembled vines wrapped around every relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Loans.<\/p>\n<p>Gifts.<\/p>\n<p>Rescues.<\/p>\n<p>Advances.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody knew where generosity ended and obligation began.<\/p>\n<p>Robert and I had helped create that.<\/p>\n<p>The recognition was painful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should have set clearer boundaries years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chloe whispered, \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. We should have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had spent weeks cataloging my children&#39;s failures.<\/p>\n<p>Some were serious.<\/p>\n<p>Some potentially criminal.<\/p>\n<p>But I would not rewrite myself as flawless.<\/p>\n<p>Robert and I had repeatedly solved problems with money.<\/p>\n<p>We had taught our children, unintentionally, that family crises ended when Mom or Dad wrote a check.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon had simply carried that lesson to a grotesque conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>If his crisis became large enough, perhaps he believed the estate itself should solve it.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas agreed when I said this later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat explains behavior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn&#39;t excuse it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Understanding was not absolution.<\/p>\n<p>That distinction had become essential.<\/p>\n<p>Two days later, Detective Ortiz requested another meeting.<\/p>\n<p>This time she brought a folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe obtained documents voluntarily from Paul Mercer&#39;s attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSurveillance reports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>She could not give me every page yet, but she summarized.<\/p>\n<p>Paul had watched me on nine separate days.<\/p>\n<p>He documented me driving.<\/p>\n<p>Shopping.<\/p>\n<p>Walking with Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Attending the botanical garden.<\/p>\n<p>Going to the bank.<\/p>\n<p>Meeting Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Visiting Dr. Feldman.<\/p>\n<p>That last one disturbed me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe followed me to the capacity evaluation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he know what it was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis report identifies the physician as a geriatric specialist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Brandon knew I got independently evaluated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz did not confirm Brandon received the report.<\/p>\n<p>But someone had.<\/p>\n<p>Paul&#39;s report from that day contained a note:<\/p>\n<p>Subject appears alert, ambulatory, driving independently. No observable impairment.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at Ortiz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wrote that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The man hired to find decline had documented competence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to that report?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz opened another page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is where things become interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul submitted the report to Darren Grant.<\/p>\n<p>A later summary prepared by Darren omitted that sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it described my visit to a geriatric specialist as evidence that \u201ccognitive concerns are ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though the investigator observed no impairment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The manipulation was no longer only about gathering facts.<\/p>\n<p>It was about filtering them.<\/p>\n<p>Anything supporting competence disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Anything that could be interpreted negatively remained.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe also reviewed Darren&#39;s invoice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Brandon pay seventy-five thousand dollars for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to the invoice: strategic risk assessment, family asset protection, investigative coordination, and professional referrals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Professional referrals.<\/p>\n<p>Melissa.<\/p>\n<p>Paul.<\/p>\n<p>Possibly others.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas Melissa part of that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#39;re investigating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Darren know about the forged document?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can&#39;t answer yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Ortiz showed us one line she was permitted to disclose.<\/p>\n<p>Project objective: Establish documented basis for protective intervention before asset dissipation.<\/p>\n<p>I read it twice.<\/p>\n<p>Asset dissipation.<\/p>\n<p>My spending.<\/p>\n<p>My donations.<\/p>\n<p>My choices.<\/p>\n<p>All reframed as danger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat assets was I dissipating?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven&#39;t found evidence that you were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas asked the obvious question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho defined the project objective?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz closed the folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is under investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After she left, I went outside.<\/p>\n<p>The winter air was sharp.<\/p>\n<p>I walked toward the apple trees Robert planted.<\/p>\n<p>The branches were bare.<\/p>\n<p>For years, he pruned them too aggressively, and every spring I complained he was killing them.<\/p>\n<p>Every summer they produced more fruit than we could eat.<\/p>\n<p>I thought about control.<\/p>\n<p>Some control protects.<\/p>\n<p>Some control destroys.<\/p>\n<p>The difference is whether the thing being protected still has room to live.<\/p>\n<p>My phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Jessica.<\/p>\n<p>Her attorney had apparently cleared the call.<\/p>\n<p>I answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to tell you something before Brandon does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed at the familiar opening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDarren Grant didn&#39;t start working for Brandon after your hospital stay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did he start?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Dad was alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cold seemed sharper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long before Robert died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout seven months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoing what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jessica took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking into Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stopped walking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis spending. Meetings. Doctors. Whether he was changing the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart pounded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you learn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn&#39;t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believed Brandon when he said Dad knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Robert know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward the house.<\/p>\n<p>Robert had been auditing Brandon.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon had hired Darren to investigate Robert.<\/p>\n<p>Both men watching each other.<\/p>\n<p>Only one was entitled to protect the estate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Darren find?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me what you do know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jessica&#39;s voice dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe found Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked through the window at Thomas inside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe discovered Dad was meeting Thomas privately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That explained something.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon&#39;s hostility toward Thomas had not begun after Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>He had known Thomas represented a threat long before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDarren reported that Dad was changing documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Brandon see the draft trust amendment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJessica.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI swear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then she said the thing that made me stop breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Brandon knew Dad planned to restrict our inheritances before Dad died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The unfinished amendment was not entirely secret.<\/p>\n<p>My son had known enough to understand what was coming.<\/p>\n<p>And Robert&#39;s death had prevented it from being signed.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=27585\">Click here to continue reading: PART 18: Learning Brandon Knew About Robert\u2019s Unfinished Trust Amendment Raised a Terrible Question, but Evidence Forced Me to Resist the Easiest Suspicion<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Detective Ortiz did not speculate about why Darren Grant&#39;s company had hired Paul Mercer. She did not need to. The timing already frightened me. \u201cWhen was he hired?\u201d \u201cApproximately five &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27584","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\/27584","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=27584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27619,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27584\/revisions\/27619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}