{"id":5075,"date":"2026-08-29T14:24:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=5075"},"modified":"2026-08-29T14:24:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:24:05","slug":"part-2-i-hid-a-monitor-in-my-daughters-kitchen-another-womans-voice-exposed-her-husbands-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=5075","title":{"rendered":"PART 2 \u2013 I hid a monitor in my daughter\u2019s kitchen. Another woman\u2019s voice exposed her husband\u2019s secret."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"\"<\/h5>\n
PART 2 \u2014 THE VOICE FROM 1998<\/h5>\n

The first voice that came out of the recorder was Colleen\u2019s.
\n\u201cI am not notarizing a lie for you, Dale.\u201d
\nNobody moved.
\nColleen\u2019s recorded voice filled the kitchen, followed by the scrape of a chair and Dale\u2019s low, irritated whisper.
\n\u201cIt is not a lie. Marguerite understands what she is signing.\u201d
\n\u201cNo, she does not.\u201d
\n\u201cShe does not need to understand every paragraph.\u201d
\nAcross the table, Paula slowly turned toward her aunt.
\nColleen still stood beside the window with her purse hanging from her shoulder.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Her face had gone gray.
\nDale pushed back his chair.
\n\u201cThat recording is illegal.\u201d
\nI kept my finger on the button.
\n\u201cYou told everybody I was deaf,\u201d I said. \u201cNow you are worried I heard too much?\u201d
\nHe reached across the table.
\nI pulled the recorder against my chest.
\n\u201cSit down.\u201d
\n\u201cGive me that.\u201d
\n\u201cSit down, Dale.\u201d
\nHe looked at me the way men like him look at old women when they finally realize age has not made us weak.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has only made us patient.
\nPaula stood.
\n\u201cDale, sit down.\u201d
\nHe stared at her.
\nShe had never spoken to him that way before.
\nFor a moment, I thought he might laugh.
\nInstead, he lowered himself back into the chair.
\nI pressed play again.
\nColleen\u2019s voice returned.
\n\u201cIf she signs this page, you become her financial representative.\u201d
\n\u201cTemporarily.\u201d
\n\u201cThere is no expiration date.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI will add one later.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd this page releases her claim on the house.\u201d
\n\u201cShe does not have a claim on the house.\u201d
\n\u201cShe paid for half of it.\u201d
\n\u201cIt was a gift.\u201d
\n\u201cThen why is there a lifetime occupancy agreement with her name on it?\u201d
\nThe room became so quiet that I could hear the clock above the sink.
\nPaula looked at Dale.
\n\u201cWhat occupancy agreement?\u201d
\nDale\u2019s jaw tightened.
\n\u201cYour aunt does not know what she is talking about.\u201d
\nThe recording continued.
\nColleen said, \u201cThe agreement says Marguerite cannot be removed from this property unless she chooses to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cShe will choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are planning to make her sign this without telling her what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am planning to protect my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a seventy-six-year-old woman?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom losing this house.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recorder clicked softly.<\/p>\n

Then came the sound of papers being gathered.<\/p>\n

Colleen\u2019s recorded voice lowered.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the Ridgeway settlement?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n

When he finally spoke, his voice was different.<\/p>\n

Careful.<\/p>\n

Controlled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe settlement has nothing to do with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou told Paula that money still belonged to Marguerite.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told Paula what she needed to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is the money, Dale?\u201d<\/p>\n

The recording stopped.<\/p>\n

Not because the conversation had ended.<\/p>\n

Because the tape had run out.<\/p>\n

Paula looked at me.<\/p>\n

Then she looked at her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat settlement?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cIt is money.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed at Colleen.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe came into our home pretending to help. She has hated your mother for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen finally removed the purse from her shoulder.<\/p>\n

She placed it on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did hate her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Paula looked between us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen\u2019s eyes met mine for the first time since she had entered the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I believed something that was not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

My throat tightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you believe?\u201d<\/p>\n

She opened her purse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believed you stole the Ridgeway house from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula whispered, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen took out a thick brown envelope and placed it beside the roast.<\/p>\n

The envelope had already been opened.<\/p>\n

My name was printed across the front.<\/p>\n

MARGUERITE ELLIS.<\/p>\n

Underneath it were the words RIDGEWAY TITLE AND ESCROW.<\/p>\n

I recognized the company immediately.<\/p>\n

They had handled the sale of my house four years earlier.<\/p>\n

Dale reached for the envelope.<\/p>\n

Colleen slapped her hand over it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not.\u201d<\/p>\n

His expression changed.<\/p>\n

For the first time that afternoon, he looked afraid.<\/p>\n

Colleen turned to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree weeks ago, Dale called me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did he get your number?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said he found it in your address book.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blue address book from my bedside drawer.<\/p>\n

The one that had disappeared in May.<\/p>\n

Dale had told me I probably threw it away.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me you had cheated me when Dad died,\u201d Colleen continued. \u201cHe said there was a second will. He said the Ridgeway house should have been divided between us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he showed me the document.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pulled several folded pages from the envelope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe document was fake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale laughed once.<\/p>\n

A sharp, humorless sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are suddenly a handwriting expert?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Colleen said. \u201cBut I know Dad could not have signed something dated six months after he died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula covered her mouth.<\/p>\n

I looked at Dale.<\/p>\n

He did not deny it.<\/p>\n

Colleen continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said he would help me recover my half of the house if I notarized several forms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe papers from Thursday,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

She nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me they were part of a family settlement. He said you had agreed to pay me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never agreed to anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why did you come?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause for four years, I wanted to believe the worst about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words hurt more than I expected.<\/p>\n

Not because she had believed them.<\/p>\n

Because a small part of me understood why.<\/p>\n

Our father had spent his final years turning his daughters against each other.<\/p>\n

He told Colleen I was greedy.<\/p>\n

He told me Colleen only visited when she needed money.<\/p>\n

At his funeral, grief had done what his lies could not.<\/p>\n

It had finished separating us.<\/p>\n

Dale had found the crack and pushed his fingers into it.<\/p>\n

Colleen slid the documents toward Paula.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first form gives Dale power of attorney over your mother\u2019s accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula looked down at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second one ends her right to live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula\u2019s hand began to shake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe third one releases any claim she has against the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale leaned forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are drafts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHer name is already typed on them,\u201d Paula said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is how legal documents work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why is Aunt Colleen listed as the witness?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody answered.<\/p>\n

Paula lifted the final page.<\/p>\n

There was an empty signature line at the bottom.<\/p>\n

Above it, in large letters, were the words:<\/p>\n

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT AND AUTHORIZATION OF PRIOR TRANSACTIONS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat prior transactions?\u201d Paula asked.<\/p>\n

Colleen reached into the envelope again.<\/p>\n

This time, she removed a bank statement.<\/p>\n

Dale stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula stepped between him and the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cSit down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have no idea what they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know exactly what they are doing,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are answering questions you should have answered.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked at her as if she had betrayed him.<\/p>\n

Maybe, in his mind, she had.<\/p>\n

Colleen handed me the statement.<\/p>\n

The account was in my name.<\/p>\n

I had never seen it before.<\/p>\n

At the top was a balance from three months earlier.<\/p>\n

$218,640.17.<\/p>\n

Underneath it was a deposit labeled RIDGEWAY PROPERTY SETTLEMENT.<\/p>\n

My hands went cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen spoke carefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter you sold your house, the county settled a lawsuit involving the land behind Ridgeway Road. There had been an undisclosed drainage easement. Everyone who owned property there during a certain period received compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared at the number.<\/p>\n

More than two hundred thousand dollars.<\/p>\n

Money I had never known existed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notice came here,\u201d Colleen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would it come here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause this became your legal address when you moved in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula looked at Dale.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou opened her mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI handle the household paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou opened her mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe leaves everything lying around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

He ignored me.<\/p>\n

Paula picked up the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money was deposited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cInto an account opened in Marguerite\u2019s name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not open it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Colleen said. \u201cDale did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is impossible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Colleen removed one final sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been impossible without this.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a copy of my driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

The license I had reported missing last winter.<\/p>\n

Dale had driven me to the motor vehicle office to replace it.<\/p>\n

He had complained about the line for two hours.<\/p>\n

I looked at the signature on the account application.<\/p>\n

It resembled mine.<\/p>\n

But the M was too narrow.<\/p>\n

The final E leaned backward.<\/p>\n

My husband used to joke that my signature looked like a row of fence posts after a storm.<\/p>\n

This one was too neat.<\/p>\n

Too careful.<\/p>\n

It was a practiced imitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe forged my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale\u2019s face reddened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI deposited money that belonged to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

His eyes moved toward Paula.<\/p>\n

Only for a second.<\/p>\n

But I saw it.<\/p>\n

So did Colleen.<\/p>\n

Paula lowered the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is her money?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI invested it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis house.\u201d<\/p>\n

My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou already had my money in this house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needed repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe roof was replaced through insurance,\u201d Paula said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were other expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo hundred eighteen thousand dollars of expenses?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale pushed away from the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not have to stand here and be interrogated in my own home.\u201d<\/p>\n

He headed toward the hallway.<\/p>\n

Colleen spoke behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stopped.<\/p>\n

She reached into her purse again and removed a small black notebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI checked the transaction numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale turned slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had no right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou left the statement in your car while you went inside to get the papers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d Paula asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI photographed every page.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale took one step toward her.<\/p>\n

Colleen did not move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money went into an account belonging to Northstar Residential Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula frowned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale said nothing.<\/p>\n

Colleen opened the notebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe company was formed eighteen months ago. It owns a condominium forty minutes from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA condominium?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnit 8C at Lake Briar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale looked toward the back door.<\/p>\n

I remembered his trips to the garage every night at nine forty.<\/p>\n

Twenty-five minutes.<\/p>\n

Long enough to make a phone call.<\/p>\n

Long enough to speak to someone he did not want Paula to hear.<\/p>\n

Colleen turned another page.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe condominium is occupied by a woman named Vanessa Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale whispered, \u201cStop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula gripped the edge of the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is Vanessa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen looked at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman Dale listed as the emergency contact on the company paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale said nothing.<\/p>\n

Paula\u2019s voice broke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is she, Dale?\u201d<\/p>\n

He turned toward his wife.<\/p>\n

For one brief second, the anger left his face.<\/p>\n

What replaced it was worse.<\/p>\n

Pity.<\/p>\n

The kind of pity people give you when they know your life is about to divide into before and after.<\/p>\n

\u201cVanessa is nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen closed the notebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a six-year-old son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula stared at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis birth certificate lists no father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Dale pays his school tuition. His medical insurance comes through Dale\u2019s company. And last month, Northstar Residential Holdings purchased a second property.\u201d<\/p>\n

My daughter\u2019s lips parted, but no sound came out.<\/p>\n

Dale moved toward her.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaula, listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stepped backward.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not touch me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen tell me what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

He glanced at the recorder.<\/p>\n

At the papers.<\/p>\n

At me.<\/p>\n

Then toward the back door again.<\/p>\n

I knew that look.<\/p>\n

He was calculating distance.<\/p>\n

Keys.<\/p>\n

Excuses.<\/p>\n

Escape.<\/p>\n

I reached into my apron pocket and pulled out my phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not leave,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Dale looked at the screen.<\/p>\n

The call was already connected.<\/p>\n

A man\u2019s voice came through the speaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cMrs. Ellis, are you safe?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale\u2019s face emptied.<\/p>\n

Paula stared at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom, who is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale lunged for the phone.<\/p>\n

Colleen shoved the table between us.<\/p>\n

The roast slid from its platter and struck the floor.<\/p>\n

The plate shattered.<\/p>\n

The back door opened before Dale could reach me.<\/p>\n

Two officers entered the kitchen.<\/p>\n

One ordered Dale to put his hands where they could see them.<\/p>\n

The other moved toward me.<\/p>\n

Dale froze.<\/p>\n

For the first time in four years, he had nothing to say.<\/p>\n

The officer took the forged account papers, the statement and the documents from the table.<\/p>\n

Then he asked Paula a question.<\/p>\n

\u201cMa\u2019am, do you recognize this signature?\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to the authorization page.<\/p>\n

Paula looked down.<\/p>\n

Her face went white.<\/p>\n

I leaned closer.<\/p>\n

At the bottom of the page were two signatures.<\/p>\n

One was supposed to be mine.<\/p>\n

The second belonged to a witness.<\/p>\n

Paula Ellis Mercer.<\/p>\n

My daughter\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Written in my daughter\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n

The officer looked at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMrs. Mercer, did you sign this document?\u201d<\/p>\n

Paula\u2019s eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n

Dale closed his eyes.<\/p>\n

And Colleen whispered, \u201cOh, Paula.\u201d<\/p>\n

My daughter slowly lifted her head.<\/p>\n

She did not look at the police officer.<\/p>\n

She looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom,\u201d she said, \u201cI can explain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Dale began to laugh.<\/p>\n

Not nervously.<\/p>\n

Not quietly.<\/p>\n

He laughed like a man who had been waiting for this exact moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wanted the truth, Marguerite?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk your daughter what she did with the first check.\u201d\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

CLICK HERE CONTINUE TO READ\u00a0 PART 3 \u2013 I hid a monitor in my daughter\u2019s kitchen. Another woman\u2019s voice exposed her husband\u2019s secret.<\/a><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n