Chapter 10 - The Gift Bag
I remembered leaving the blue gift bag beside the cake when I walked through the back door.
Inside was Amy’s dress.
The pendant for Frederick.
And one other item.
My company laptop.
I had brought it home because I planned to finish a structural report after the party.
When we rushed Frederick to the hospital, I forgot about it.
By the time police secured the house, the laptop was gone.
I hadn’t noticed.
Now Betsy had been photographed carrying the exact bag.
My company laptop contained encrypted files, but it also stored client information, financial projections, and access credentials.
I immediately called my business partner, Daniel Price.
“Disable everything.”
“What happened?”
“My laptop may have been stolen.”
Daniel didn’t ask questions.
Within fifteen minutes our IT team revoked every session connected to it.
But someone had already tried to access our corporate banking portal.
Three attempts.
All from an internet connection registered to Gerald Pike.
That afternoon, police arrested Betsy.
She denied everything.
Then officers found the blue gift bag in the trunk of her car.
Amy’s dress was still inside.
The pendant was gone.
So was my laptop.
Detective Hill questioned Betsy for almost four hours.
Finally, she started talking.
Gerald had taken the laptop.
Teresa told Betsy they were only gathering proof that Amy had manipulated my finances.
Betsy claimed she never knew about the trust.
I didn’t believe that completely.
Neither did Hill.
But Betsy gave them something valuable.
Gerald had been meeting Teresa at a storage facility in Murfreesboro.
Police searched the unit that night.
They found boxes of copied documents.
Printer equipment.
Notary stamps.
Several blank contracts.
And photographs of my house.
There were also files on other people.
Five property owners.
Three elderly.
One recently widowed.
Gerald had done this before.
Maybe Teresa had joined his scheme.
Or maybe he had chosen Teresa because she already wanted what I owned.
Then police opened a locked metal cabinet.
Inside was my company laptop.
My son’s missing pendant lay beside it.
And underneath both items was a digital voice recorder.
Detective Hill pressed play.
Gerald’s voice came first.
“Once the house is transferred and Connor is under the conservatorship, the Franklin land is next.”
Then Teresa laughed.
“What about Amy?”
Gerald asked.
May you like
My mother answered without hesitation.
“She won’t be around long enough to matter.”
