Chapter 8 - The Poisoned Past
My hands shook violently as I read the undeniable proof of my father's murder.
Evelyn had killed him slowly to secure her comfortable position in the house before he could divorce her.
The stakes of this battle had just escalated from financial theft to premeditated, cold-blooded murder.
I carefully placed the documents back into the metal box and drove straight to the central police precinct.
I bypassed the front desk and demanded to speak with Detective Ramirez, a family friend who had worked with my father.
I slammed the black leather ledger and the lab reports down onto his messy desk.
Ramirez read through the files, his expression shifting from skeptical to deeply horrified.
He told me that this was enough evidence to open a homicide investigation immediately.
However, he explained that they would need to exhume my father's body to secure a legal conviction.
An exhumation required a judge's order, which would take weeks to process through the backlogged courts.
I told him I didn't have weeks because the house was being auctioned off tomorrow morning.
Ramirez promised to expedite the warrant, but he warned me that it would not stop the county tax sale.
I left the precinct knowing I needed to tear Evelyn's alliance apart from the inside.
I drove to Natalie's upscale apartment and banged loudly on her door until she answered.
She looked exhausted, completely unaware that I had the power to destroy her entire life.
I pushed past her into the living room and threw a copy of the lab reports onto her glass coffee table.
I told her exactly what her beloved mother had done to our father.
Natalie read the pages, her hands trembling as tears streamed down her perfectly applied makeup.
She collapsed onto the sofa, realizing she had been protecting a ruthless, manipulating murderer.
I offered her a deal: testify against Evelyn and Frank, and I would drop the courthouse theft charges against her.
Natalie broke down completely, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands.
She agreed to the deal, but she warned me that I was already too late to save the house.
I grabbed her shoulders and demanded to know what she meant by that.
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Natalie confessed that Evelyn and Frank were not going to wait for the auction tomorrow.
She had a secret recording of them planning to burn the historic house to the ground tonight for the insurance money.
