{"id":9869,"date":"2026-09-12T17:42:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=9869"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:42:23","slug":"part-4-the-teller-remembered-my-grandmothers-emerald-ring-and-one-small-detail-about-the-impostor-changed-the-entire-direction-of-the-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=9869","title":{"rendered":"PART 4 \u2013 The Teller Remembered My Grandmother\u2019s Emerald Ring, and One Small Detail About the Impostor Changed the Entire Direction of the Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Margaret Wilkes could not have known what her answer meant.<\/p>\n<p>She sat calmly at the conference table while my entire understanding of the theft rearranged itself around one small green stone.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel was the first to speak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Wilkes, I need you to be very precise. Are you certain the customer wore an emerald ring?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe it was emerald.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich hand?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeft.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich finger?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She touched her ring finger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s attorney shifted in his chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany women own green rings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Wilkes, did the ring appear unusual in any other way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt looked old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat makes you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe setting. It wasn\u2019t modern. My mother had jewelry like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I lowered my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>My grandmother had worn that ring for more than forty years.<\/p>\n<p>I could still remember her hands kneading bread with the emerald catching flour along its gold setting.<\/p>\n<p>The idea of a stranger wearing it while signing my name made me feel physically ill.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel slid a photograph across the table.<\/p>\n<p>It showed the ring on my hand at my grandmother\u2019s seventieth birthday.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes adjusted her glasses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s attorney objected immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou cannot possibly identify a ring from a casual encounter months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t say I could prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes pushed the photograph back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said that looks like the one I remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked why she remembered it at all.<\/p>\n<p>Her answer surprised everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the woman kept turning it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTurning it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith her thumb.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes demonstrated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe seemed nervous. Every time I asked a question, she twisted that ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had a sudden image of the woman.<\/p>\n<p>My license in her purse.<\/p>\n<p>My name rehearsed.<\/p>\n<p>My signature practiced.<\/p>\n<p>My grandmother\u2019s ring on her finger.<\/p>\n<p>Nervous.<\/p>\n<p>That detail mattered to me more than it should have.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, I had imagined the thief as confident.<\/p>\n<p>Someone cold enough to plan everything.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes\u2019s memory suggested something else.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she ever say anything memorable?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The teller frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToo friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bank attorney smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s subjective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes gave him an unimpressed look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been a teller twenty-seven years. Nervous customers talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked, \u201cWhat did she talk about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat he hated waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWaiting where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the truck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel wrote something down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you see the truck?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you describe it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDark. Pickup. Older model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brian owned a dark pickup.<\/p>\n<p>My eyes moved toward Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>He had noticed too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you see the driver?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan or woman?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI assumed a man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she called the person her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe asked for new hundred-dollar bills.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll three times?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she say why?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said they fit better in birthday envelopes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even the bank attorney looked puzzled.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen thousand dollars did not belong in birthday envelopes.<\/p>\n<p>Neither did twenty thousand.<\/p>\n<p>The explanation had been absurd.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the teller remembered it.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel requested copies of Mrs. Wilkes\u2019s transaction notes.<\/p>\n<p>The bank\u2019s attorney resisted.<\/p>\n<p>The disagreement lasted nearly twenty minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually we obtained confirmation that handwritten notations existed for two withdrawals.<\/p>\n<p>One notation contained three words.<\/p>\n<p>CUSTOMER VERY NERVOUS.<\/p>\n<p>The other said:<\/p>\n<p>REQUESTED NEW BILLS.<\/p>\n<p>I photographed both pages.<\/p>\n<p>After the deposition, Daniel and I stood in the parking lot.<\/p>\n<p>Cold wind moved dead leaves along the curb.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were right about the ring,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone deliberately used it to strengthen the disguise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen they knew me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr someone who knew you supplied everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think there were two people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we should stop assuming this was a single-person fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The thought was worse.<\/p>\n<p>One person could steal.<\/p>\n<p>Two people could plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do we find her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe build backward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything she needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He counted on his fingers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour account information. Your license. Your signature. Knowledge of your schedule. Access to your ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd possibly someone with a truck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I folded my arms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrian has a truck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel did not respond immediately.<\/p>\n<p>That restraint told me more than an accusation would have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think he was involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we investigate facts, not husbands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was in North Dakota.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we verify North Dakota.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence chilled me.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted Brian innocent.<\/p>\n<p>Even after the divorce petition.<\/p>\n<p>Even after his accusations.<\/p>\n<p>Even after weeks of sleeping alone while he stayed with Patricia.<\/p>\n<p>There was a difference between a weak husband and a criminal.<\/p>\n<p>I was not prepared to discover I had married the second.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel subpoenaed Brian\u2019s travel records.<\/p>\n<p>Hotel receipts confirmed he had stayed in North Dakota during the fourth withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p>Work logs placed him at the job site.<\/p>\n<p>Credit-card charges matched.<\/p>\n<p>For the moment, his alibi held.<\/p>\n<p>But the first three withdrawals were different.<\/p>\n<p>He had been in town.<\/p>\n<p>That fact did not prove anything.<\/p>\n<p>It merely refused to disappear.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, I returned to the police station with the teller\u2019s statement about the ring.<\/p>\n<p>The officer who had taken my original report sat straighter when I explained it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re saying the person using your license was also wearing the stolen property?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat gives us a stronger connection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you investigate now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can do more than before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He requested the bank records and added suspected identity theft to the report.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, someone outside the divorce case was treating the missing ring and missing money as one crime.<\/p>\n<p>That evening Brian called.<\/p>\n<p>I almost didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel told my lawyer about the teller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice sounded different.<\/p>\n<p>Less angry.<\/p>\n<p>More uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says it wasn\u2019t me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd she remembers my ring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrian?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember when that ring disappeared?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told me I probably misplaced it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told me the bank documents proved I took the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you starting to understand what you did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His breathing changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAngela, I was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo was I.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought you were leaving me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom said\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Every muscle in my body tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did your mother say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt matters if you nearly destroyed me because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He remained silent.<\/p>\n<p>I pressed the phone harder against my ear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Patricia tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally he answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said you\u2019d been planning to leave for months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said you were saving money somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I nearly laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told you I had another account?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she show you evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ask for any?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another silence.<\/p>\n<p>That answer hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrian, when did she first tell you this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA little before we discovered the withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long before?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I wrote it down.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks before Brian supposedly discovered that sixty-one thousand dollars was missing, Patricia had already suggested I was secretly moving money.<\/p>\n<p>The coincidence was impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAngela, don\u2019t start blaming my mother because we\u2019re having problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Even now.<\/p>\n<p>Even with evidence that another woman had impersonated me.<\/p>\n<p>Even after the teller had identified my stolen ring.<\/p>\n<p>His instinct was still to protect Patricia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not asking what you believe. I\u2019m asking what she told you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said you\u2019d become secretive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe noticed you keeping documents in the bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy work documents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat documents did she supposedly see?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I wrote another note.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow often was your mother inside our bedroom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen how did she know what I kept there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brian said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>The silence stretched.<\/p>\n<p>For once, I let him sit inside the question instead of rescuing him from it.<\/p>\n<p>Finally he said, \u201cI have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAngela.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really didn\u2019t take that money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the notes in front of me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t the same as saying you didn\u2019t help the person who did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He hung up.<\/p>\n<p>Two days later Daniel received another bank record.<\/p>\n<p>It was not surveillance footage.<\/p>\n<p>It was better than nothing.<\/p>\n<p>During the second withdrawal, a teller supervisor had been called because the amount exceeded the employee\u2019s normal authorization limit.<\/p>\n<p>That supervisor had briefly approached the counter.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Mrs. Wilkes, she remembered seeing another person.<\/p>\n<p>Not beside the impostor.<\/p>\n<p>Outside.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel called me immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe remembers the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrian\u2019s truck?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost sagged with relief.<\/p>\n<p>Then he continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe remembers a woman sitting in the driver\u2019s seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA woman?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she see her face?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot well enough for an identification.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she remember?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOlder. Light-colored hair. Large sunglasses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I felt a cold pressure beneath my ribs.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia wore large sunglasses almost every time she drove.<\/p>\n<p>That meant nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of women did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of vehicle?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDark SUV.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia drove a dark SUV.<\/p>\n<p>Again, not proof.<\/p>\n<p>But coincidence had begun collecting too many details.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel cautioned me immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not confront her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m thinking about a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood. Think. Don\u2019t act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That night I searched old photographs on my phone.<\/p>\n<p>Family dinners.<\/p>\n<p>Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n<p>A summer barbecue at Patricia\u2019s house.<\/p>\n<p>I was not sure what I expected to find.<\/p>\n<p>Then I reached a photograph taken eight months before the withdrawals.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia was standing beside me at our dining table.<\/p>\n<p>My purse hung over the back of a chair.<\/p>\n<p>The picture itself meant nothing.<\/p>\n<p>But I remembered the evening.<\/p>\n<p>I had gone outside with Brian to help move a grill.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia had remained inside alone.<\/p>\n<p>My wallet had been in that purse.<\/p>\n<p>I zoomed in until the image became grainy.<\/p>\n<p>On Patricia\u2019s wrist was a bracelet I recognized.<\/p>\n<p>On the table behind her sat an envelope.<\/p>\n<p>My bank envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Again, none of it proved theft.<\/p>\n<p>But it showed opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning Daniel requested records for Patricia\u2019s accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s attorney objected.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia herself called me less than an hour later.<\/p>\n<p>I had not spoken to her since the day Brian moved out.<\/p>\n<p>Her voice was controlled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood morning, Patricia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re trying to drag me into your divorce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Someone stole my identity. I\u2019m finding out who.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re humiliating Brian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m clearing my name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose are not the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She became quiet.<\/p>\n<p>Then she said something strange.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should be careful how far you take this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood perfectly still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that a threat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t be dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m telling you that families survive difficult things by knowing when to stop digging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word lodged in my mind.<\/p>\n<p>Digging.<\/p>\n<p>Not accusing.<\/p>\n<p>Not fighting.<\/p>\n<p>Digging.<\/p>\n<p>As though something existed beneath the surface.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you afraid I\u2019ll find?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Patricia laughed softly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you shouldn\u2019t care how hard I look.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She hung up.<\/p>\n<p>I saved the call record and immediately wrote down everything she had said.<\/p>\n<p>Three months later, those notes would matter.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, I had something more immediate to worry about.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel had received confirmation that Margaret Wilkes would testify at our next hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s attorney intended to argue that memory was unreliable and that the withdrawal slips remained stronger evidence than one teller\u2019s recollection.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel intended to put the actual slips beside authenticated examples of my signature.<\/p>\n<p>He also intended to ask Mrs. Wilkes whether she would recognize the woman if she saw her again.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing arrived on a gray Monday morning.<\/p>\n<p>I entered the courtroom with Daniel and took my seat.<\/p>\n<p>Brian was already there.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia sat behind him.<\/p>\n<p>She wore a cream jacket and pearl earrings.<\/p>\n<p>When our eyes met, she looked away first.<\/p>\n<p>That had never happened before.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes entered ten minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>She sat near the aisle, clutching her handbag.<\/p>\n<p>The judge called the case.<\/p>\n<p>For almost an hour we discussed financial records, disputed signatures and missing surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>Then Daniel called Margaret Wilkes.<\/p>\n<p>She walked to the witness stand.<\/p>\n<p>After being sworn in, she described the woman who had come to her window.<\/p>\n<p>Similar height to me.<\/p>\n<p>Similar build.<\/p>\n<p>Hair styled differently.<\/p>\n<p>My identification.<\/p>\n<p>My name.<\/p>\n<p>My grandmother\u2019s emerald ring.<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s face slowly changed as he listened.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, I saw doubt directed somewhere other than at me.<\/p>\n<p>Then Daniel asked the question we had been waiting for.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Wilkes, if the woman who made those withdrawals were present in this courtroom today, do you believe you could recognize her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brian\u2019s lawyer stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObjection. Speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The judge considered it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll allow the witness to answer whether she believes she can recognize the individual. Nothing more at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned toward the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p>My pulse thundered.<\/p>\n<p>There were more than twenty people behind us.<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Clerks.<\/p>\n<p>Family members.<\/p>\n<p>Spectators.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes slowly examined them.<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes passed over Brian.<\/p>\n<p>Then Patricia.<\/p>\n<p>For one strange second I thought she was looking directly at my mother-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia stiffened.<\/p>\n<p>But Mrs. Wilkes kept looking.<\/p>\n<p>Her gaze moved toward the rear bench.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>I followed it.<\/p>\n<p>A blonde woman sat alone near the courtroom doors.<\/p>\n<p>She wore dark sunglasses despite being indoors.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Wilkes raised one trembling hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody moved.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned.<\/p>\n<p>Brian turned.<\/p>\n<p>Patricia turned.<\/p>\n<p>The blonde woman\u2019s face went white.<\/p>\n<p>And before anyone could ask her name, I saw the expression on Patricia Brooks\u2019s face.<\/p>\n<p>She knew exactly who the woman was.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=9870\">Click here to continue reading: PART 5: The Woman in the Back Row Tried to Leave, but One Question From the Judge Forced Patricia to Reveal How She Knew Her<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Margaret Wilkes could not have known what her answer meant. She sat calmly at the conference table while my entire understanding of the theft rearranged itself around one small green &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9869","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\/9869","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=9869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9889,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9869\/revisions\/9889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}