Chapter 11 - THE HONEYMOON PLAN
Detective Morrison was careful with his words.
“An insurance policy alone doesn’t prove intent to harm you.”
“I understand.”
“But combined with everything else, we’re examining it.”
I thought about the cabin.
Dwight had chosen it.
Isolated.
Near the water.
Poor cell service.
He had joked we needed to “disappear from the world.”
Suddenly, the joke wasn’t funny.
Investigators searched Dwight’s phone.
His browser history included:
accidental death spouse insurance investigation
how long life insurance before payout
Deep Creek Lake boating accidents
I sat in Christopher’s office reading the report.
Amy squeezed my hand.
I felt nothing.
That scared me more than crying would have.
Then Detective Morrison found deleted messages between Dwight and Jared.
One from Jared:
If she moves the money, stop there. No need to make this messy.
Dwight:
And if she doesn’t?
Jared:
We’ll talk after the wedding.
Not proof.
But enough to widen the investigation.
Susan’s attorney suddenly requested a deal.
In exchange for leniency, Susan offered testimony.
Ryan called me that night.
“She’s turning on Dad.”
“Good.”
“She’s going to say everything was his idea.”
“Was it?”
Ryan hesitated.
“No.”
Exactly.
Susan was no innocent mother trapped by a controlling husband.
She had written half the plan herself.
Investigators found her notebook.
Under my name were pages of observations.
Elizabeth hates confrontation in public.
No close family nearby.
Career important — use guilt about neglecting husband.
Sensitive about being seen as selfish.
They had studied me.
Like prey.
Then I reached the final page.
A list titled:
Pressure Points.
At the bottom Susan had written:
If she refuses inheritance transfer, mention children. Dwight says she wants a baby quickly.
I stared at that line for a long time.
Dwight and I had talked about children.
He knew I wanted them.
He knew my parents died before they could become grandparents.
He had once held me in bed and whispered, “We’ll build the family you lost.”
It had been one of the reasons I trusted him.
Now I understood.
Even my grief had been information.
The next morning, prosecutors charged Dwight with identity theft, forgery, conspiracy, attempted financial fraud, and other offenses tied to the loan applications.
Jared faced similar charges plus assault.
Melissa was charged separately.
Ashley was offered limited immunity for cooperation regarding the estate breach.
I hated that.
But Christopher reminded me:
“We want the people who designed the scheme.”
“What about Ashley?”
“She may lose her career anyway.”
She did.
The law firm fired her.
Her professional license investigation began immediately.
Then Christopher handed me one final discovery packet.
“This came from Dwight’s cloud storage.”
Inside were photographs.
Dozens of women.
Profiles.
Notes.
Financial estimates.
Some crossed out.
Some circled.
My photograph had a red star beside it.
But one woman’s profile had been created after my wedding.
May you like
Which meant even after marrying me…
Dwight had already started searching for his next target.
