{"id":8370,"date":"2026-09-09T15:07:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=8370"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:07:37","slug":"part-9-dr-trents-fingerprints-solved-one-mystery-about-grandpas-pills-but-his-first-confession-pointed-toward-a-death-nobody-had-questioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=8370","title":{"rendered":"PART 9 \u2013 Dr. Trent\u2019s Fingerprints Solved One Mystery About Grandpa\u2019s Pills, but His First Confession Pointed Toward a Death Nobody Had Questioned"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>June stared at Agent Bennett as though the name might change if she waited long enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDr. Trent touched Grandpa\u2019s pills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett nodded. \u201cHis prints are on the bottle recovered from the Cool Whip container. Dale\u2019s are there too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellen sank into the nearest chair.<\/p>\n<p>For most of June\u2019s life, Samuel Trent had occupied one of those dependable positions people rarely examined. He had treated Walter\u2019s pneumonia, Michael\u2019s injuries, Ellen\u2019s migraines, and half the older farmers in the county. He sent Christmas cards. He attended funerals. When Walter died, Trent had stood beside June in the farmhouse kitchen and told her there was probably nothing anyone could have done.<\/p>\n<p>Now those words sounded rehearsed.<\/p>\n<p>June picked up Michael\u2019s old letter again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Trent?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cState investigators are bringing him back from Wichita.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to hear what he says.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may not be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has requested counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June gave a short laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course he has.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett gathered the papers from Ellen\u2019s table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fingerprint result changes the investigation, but it doesn\u2019t tell us when Trent handled the bottle. Physicians touch prescription containers for legitimate reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he ever prescribe that medication?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen Leonard will say that explains it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the toxic pills?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is harder to explain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris had been standing near the front window. He turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEspecially if Vale prepared them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett nodded. Curtis Vale had been taken into custody earlier that morning. Investigators searching his pharmacy had found two sets of records: the official electronic system and a handwritten ledger hidden beneath a false panel in his office desk.<\/p>\n<p>The hidden ledger contained initials.<\/p>\n<p>Dates.<\/p>\n<p>Dosages.<\/p>\n<p>And payments.<\/p>\n<p>Walter Parker\u2019s initials appeared twice.<\/p>\n<p>So did Margaret Ellis\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Cole\u2019s appeared once.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Parker\u2019s initials appeared on a page twenty-three years old.<\/p>\n<p>June stopped pacing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey kept records of this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVale did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would anyone document crimes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause criminals still need to remember who owes whom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett\u2019s answer was dry, but nobody smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Vale\u2019s entries used codes instead of medication names. Investigators were still interpreting them, but one code appeared beside every suspicious death.<\/p>\n<p>C-7.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June looked at Ellen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Michael ever mention C-7?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellen shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe barely told me anything near the end. He thought keeping me ignorant would keep me safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June\u2019s expression tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently every man in this family had the same terrible idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellen looked down.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett\u2019s phone rang before anyone could answer.<\/p>\n<p>She listened for less than a minute.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVale wants to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris raised his eyebrows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was quick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe heard Trent was arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompetition among cowards,\u201d June said.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want answers. We may finally get some.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two hours later, we were in a county interview facility.<\/p>\n<p>June and I sat behind one-way glass with Bennett while Harris questioned Curtis Vale in the adjoining room.<\/p>\n<p>Vale was seventy-one and looked smaller without his white pharmacist\u2019s coat. His hands shook. He kept asking for water and touching the knot of his tie.<\/p>\n<p>His attorney sat beside him.<\/p>\n<p>Harris placed a copy of the hidden ledger on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is C-7?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale stared at it.<\/p>\n<p>His attorney whispered something.<\/p>\n<p>Vale answered anyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA compound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat compound?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA mixture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what medical purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale\u2019s eyes shifted toward his lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June\u2019s hand tightened around mine.<\/p>\n<p>Harris remained expressionless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDepended on the dosage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it do to Walter Parker?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt a low dose, confusion. Drowsiness. Blood-pressure instability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd at a high dose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale looked toward the mirrored glass.<\/p>\n<p>I knew he could not see us.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it felt as though he was looking directly at June.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCardiac arrest was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June released my hand and stood.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett quietly touched her arm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale explained that C-7 had begun decades earlier as a crude combination of prescription drugs chosen because their effects could resemble natural cardiac deterioration in elderly patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou developed it?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June whispered, \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale said Samuel Trent first approached him in the late 1990s. Trent wanted medications that could temporarily impair cognition without appearing on routine testing.<\/p>\n<p>The original purpose, Vale claimed, was not murder.<\/p>\n<p>It was capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Make someone confused during an examination.<\/p>\n<p>Make them stumble.<\/p>\n<p>Make them forget names.<\/p>\n<p>Then use those symptoms to support guardianships, competency challenges, or changes in financial control.<\/p>\n<p>Leonard Albright supplied the legal machinery.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Weller supplied court orders when necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Trent supplied medical opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Vale supplied the drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Michael Parker?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n<p>Vale\u2019s hands stopped moving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June leaned toward the glass.<\/p>\n<p>Harris repeated the question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to Michael Parker?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale looked at his attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy client will answer under the cooperation framework already discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Vale spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Michael discovered forged documents connected to Thomas Avery\u2019s estate.<\/p>\n<p>He traced several property transfers to shell companies.<\/p>\n<p>One company led to Leonard.<\/p>\n<p>Another led indirectly to Weller.<\/p>\n<p>Michael confronted Vale because a pharmacy receipt appeared among the paperwork.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat receipt?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSedatives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Thomas Avery?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale looked miserable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas\u2019s widow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The scheme had been broader than June\u2019s hidden inheritance.<\/p>\n<p>After Thomas died, Leonard feared his widow might challenge the estate distribution. Trent diagnosed her with severe anxiety and cognitive decline. Vale supplied medication that made those symptoms worse.<\/p>\n<p>The woman eventually entered assisted living.<\/p>\n<p>Leonard gained greater control of the estate.<\/p>\n<p>Michael discovered it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was going to state investigators,\u201d Vale said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris waited.<\/p>\n<p>Vale corrected himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI filled a prescription.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Michael?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was in it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cC-7.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June whispered, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale said Trent insisted he needed only a mild dose.<\/p>\n<p>Something to make Michael dizzy.<\/p>\n<p>The plan was to create an accident at the grain facility.<\/p>\n<p>A fall.<\/p>\n<p>A concussion.<\/p>\n<p>Enough to delay his meeting with investigators and discredit anything he later said.<\/p>\n<p>Harris leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael Parker died from that fall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Trent cause it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeonard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June stepped backward.<\/p>\n<p>The room suddenly felt too small.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered the family story exactly as we had always heard it.<\/p>\n<p>Michael had been working alone.<\/p>\n<p>A railing failed.<\/p>\n<p>He fell.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody saw it happen.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently that was another lie.<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked, \u201cDid Leonard push him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeonard called me afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said the problem was permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June turned away from the glass.<\/p>\n<p>Her shoulders shook once.<\/p>\n<p>No sound came.<\/p>\n<p>I stood beside her.<\/p>\n<p>She whispered, \u201cGrandpa spent twenty-three years knowing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuspecting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat might be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris continued questioning Vale.<\/p>\n<p>Michael\u2019s death frightened the group.<\/p>\n<p>For several years they became cautious.<\/p>\n<p>Then Judge Weller discovered how profitable the system could be.<\/p>\n<p>They began targeting estates where elderly clients had substantial assets, weak family connections, or complicated inheritances.<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone was drugged.<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone died.<\/p>\n<p>Most never knew they had been robbed.<\/p>\n<p>Documents were altered.<\/p>\n<p>Fees multiplied.<\/p>\n<p>Property passed through shell companies.<\/p>\n<p>Court orders legalized questionable transfers.<\/p>\n<p>Medical evaluations discouraged challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret Ellis became dangerous because she documented everything.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Cole became dangerous because he believed her.<\/p>\n<p>Walter became dangerous because he connected them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Walter\u2019s death?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n<p>Vale stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prepared the tablets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Dale?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Trent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho gave them to Dale?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeonard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June frowned.<\/p>\n<p>That fit part of Dale\u2019s account.<\/p>\n<p>But not all of it.<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked, \u201cWhat dose did you prepare?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough to kill Walter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you certain?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is why I want protection. The tablets recovered from Walter\u2019s bottle were not the tablets I gave Trent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Behind the glass, Bennett straightened.<\/p>\n<p>Harris did not react.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prepared C-7 at the impairment dose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDale says Leonard told him it would make Walter confused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale looked frightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone replaced my tablets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith a lethal concentration?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho had access?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeonard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris tapped the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Walter died because of them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot until later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Trent called.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Walter\u2019s blood showed too much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo toxicology was performed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Trent hid it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he tell you who increased the dose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you have a theory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale glanced at his lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Then nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeonard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June whispered, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett answered quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWalter wasn\u2019t just an inheritance problem anymore. He was a witness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale confirmed it minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>Walter had gathered enough evidence to threaten everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Making him look incompetent would delay him.<\/p>\n<p>Killing him would silence him.<\/p>\n<p>But there was a complication.<\/p>\n<p>Sophie.<\/p>\n<p>Leonard did not know she had been at the farmhouse until after Walter died.<\/p>\n<p>Dale discovered it first.<\/p>\n<p>That explained his panic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Leonard know Sophie had seen anything?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot until yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDale told him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June shut her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Dale\u2019s attempt to protect himself had put his daughter in danger.<\/p>\n<p>Harris shifted to Margaret Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>Vale\u2019s composure deteriorated.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret had not received C-7.<\/p>\n<p>She had received something else.<\/p>\n<p>A medication interaction arranged through prescriptions Trent controlled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid it kill her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Daniel Cole?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale looked toward the mirror again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cC-7.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho administered it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho ordered it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJudge Weller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That name returned us to the one conspirator still missing.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett stepped out immediately to coordinate the search.<\/p>\n<p>June stayed behind.<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked one final question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy keep the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale rubbed his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInsurance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgainst whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is the full version?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale looked confused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is the full version.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris opened the evidence photograph.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Pages have been removed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>His face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t remove them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many are missing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was on them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale became pale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe private orders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCases where Leonard didn\u2019t want names entered normally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris waited.<\/p>\n<p>Vale whispered, \u201cPeople close to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Parker had probably been one.<\/p>\n<p>Walter could have been another.<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked for the names.<\/p>\n<p>Vale remembered only three.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Parker.<\/p>\n<p>Walter Parker.<\/p>\n<p>And Robert Weller.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Weller himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vale nodded rapidly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout six weeks ago, Leonard asked for something for Weller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would he drug his own partner?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Weller was getting nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett reentered the observation room at exactly that moment.<\/p>\n<p>She had heard enough through her earpiece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to find Weller now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris came out of the interview room.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett was already making calls.<\/p>\n<p>Within twenty minutes, state police traced Weller\u2019s vehicle through a highway camera.<\/p>\n<p>It had traveled west before dawn.<\/p>\n<p>Another camera captured it near an abandoned lakeside development owned by one of Leonard\u2019s shell companies.<\/p>\n<p>A tactical team was dispatched.<\/p>\n<p>June and I were not allowed to go.<\/p>\n<p>We waited at the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>The waiting was worse than movement.<\/p>\n<p>June sat beneath fluorescent lights turning Michael\u2019s letter over and over.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually she said, \u201cI spent years thinking Grandpa was just stubborn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was stubborn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was building an investigation while pretending to complain about canned peaches.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat also sounds like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you think he knew exactly how dangerous Leonard was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why didn\u2019t he stop?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about the red ledger.<\/p>\n<p>One hundred and four Wednesdays.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Walter had understood something his family had not.<\/p>\n<p>Time mattered because eventually it ran out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe thought nobody else would.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June lowered her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Near sunset, Bennett returned.<\/p>\n<p>Her expression answered the question before she spoke.<\/p>\n<p>They had found Judge Weller.<\/p>\n<p>He was alive.<\/p>\n<p>Barely.<\/p>\n<p>He had been discovered inside a locked bedroom at the lakeside property, disoriented and severely dehydrated.<\/p>\n<p>Beside him were prescription bottles.<\/p>\n<p>C-7 was suspected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan he talk?\u201d June asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas Leonard trying to kill him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett placed an evidence photograph on the table.<\/p>\n<p>A handwritten note had been found beside Weller.<\/p>\n<p>It appeared to be a confession.<\/p>\n<p>In it, Weller accepted responsibility for the estate fraud, Margaret Ellis\u2019s death, Daniel Cole\u2019s death, and Walter Parker\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>June stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeonard tried to make him the final scapegoat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is our working theory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I studied the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Something about the confession bothered me.<\/p>\n<p>Then I saw it.<\/p>\n<p>The signature.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Weller.<\/p>\n<p>I had seen that handwriting recently.<\/p>\n<p>Not in Grandpa\u2019s documents.<\/p>\n<p>Somewhere else.<\/p>\n<p>June noticed my expression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I reached for the photograph from the bank courier.<\/p>\n<p>ASK JUNE WHO HER FATHER REALLY WAS.<\/p>\n<p>I placed it beside Weller\u2019s supposed confession.<\/p>\n<p>The capital R.<\/p>\n<p>The long downward stroke.<\/p>\n<p>The unusual open loop.<\/p>\n<p>Same handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWeller sent the photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett compared them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooks possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June asked the question softly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Weller was trying to warn me, why send that photograph instead of simply naming Leonard?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>The hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Weller had regained consciousness.<\/p>\n<p>He could speak only briefly.<\/p>\n<p>He asked for June Parker.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett refused.<\/p>\n<p>Weller became agitated.<\/p>\n<p>Then he gave the nurse a message.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett listened and wrote it down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d June asked.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett looked at her notes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWalter was wrong about one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe money was never Leonard\u2019s real reason for killing Michael.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>June went completely still.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWeller says Michael discovered who caused Thomas Avery\u2019s car accident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ellen had told us Thomas died before June was born.<\/p>\n<p>Another accident.<\/p>\n<p>Another dead man connected to Leonard.<\/p>\n<p>June whispered, \u201cThomas was murdered too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>She read Weller\u2019s final sentence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf June wants to understand why Walter fought Leonard for twenty-nine years, she needs to find Thomas Avery\u2019s original autopsy.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=8371\">Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Thomas Avery\u2019s Missing Autopsy Revealed Why Grandpa Feared Leonard for Decades, and Why June\u2019s Inheritance Was Never Merely About Stolen Money<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>June stared at Agent Bennett as though the name might change if she waited long enough. \u201cDr. Trent touched Grandpa\u2019s pills.\u201d Bennett nodded. \u201cHis prints are on the bottle recovered &hellip; 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