Chapter 10 - Four Days Before Robert Died
The police reopened the timeline of Robert Miller's death.
Not because there was immediate evidence of murder.
There was not.
Robert's heart attack had been medically documented.
But Greg's financial actions before the death now mattered.
His calls.
His debts.
His attempt to obtain money.
His access to Robert's home.
Detective Nathan Brooks interviewed Sarah for three hours.
David waited outside.
When she emerged, she looked ten years older.
"What did you tell them?"
Sarah sat on the hallway bench.
"Everything."
"Everything?"
She nodded.
"The argument Greg had with Dad."
David froze.
"What argument?"
Sarah looked at him.
"Two nights before Dad died."
"You were there?"
"I was upstairs."
David sat beside her.
Sarah stared straight ahead.
"Greg went to ask Dad about the money again."
"What happened?"
"They shouted."
"What did Dad say?"
"That Greg would never get another dollar from him."
David waited.
"Then?"
"Greg said Dad would regret humiliating him."
David's hands tightened.
"What exactly did he say?"
Sarah closed her eyes.
"He said, You won't be around forever."
David stood.
Sarah grabbed his arm.
"I know how it sounds."
"How it sounds?"
"I didn't think..."
"No. You didn't."
Sarah released him.
"I thought Greg was angry."
"Then Dad died two days later."
"From a heart attack."
David stared at her.
"Did Greg see him that morning?"
Sarah said nothing.
"Sarah."
She looked up.
"Yes."
David stopped breathing.
"Why?"
"Greg said Dad called him."
"Did Dad?"
"I don't know."
"How long was Greg there?"
"Maybe twenty minutes."
"And you never told anyone?"
"I didn't think it mattered."
David walked away before he said something he could never take back.
The medical examiner found nothing suspicious in Robert's original toxicology screen.
No unexplained drugs.
No evidence of poisoning.
His death remained natural.
But investigators did find something else.
Security camera footage from a nearby house.
Greg's car arrived at Robert and Carolyn's home at 6:41 a.m.
It left at 7:08.
Carolyn found Robert collapsed in the kitchen at 7:23.
Greg had never mentioned being there.
When detectives confronted him, he changed his story twice.
First he denied visiting.
Then he claimed he had stopped by for coffee.
Then he admitted they argued.
Still, no evidence showed Greg caused Robert's heart attack.
The district attorney refused to speculate.
Financial exploitation was provable.
Forgery was provable.
Identity misuse was provable.
Robert's death was not.
Carolyn struggled with that.
Part of her wanted a simple monster.
A single explanation.
But life rarely offered one.
Greg might not have caused Robert's heart to fail.
He had still stood in the kitchen days before and pressured an aging man over money.
He had still threatened him.
And when Robert died, Greg had stolen his papers before the funeral flowers wilted.
That was enough.
Three days after the storage unit was opened, Sarah made a decision.
She filed for divorce.
Greg called her immediately.
She answered on speakerphone with Detective Brooks present.
"You think they'll protect you?"
Sarah looked at the detective.
"They don't need to."
Greg laughed.
"You signed documents too."
"I know."
"You'll go down with me."
"Maybe."
The laughter stopped.
Sarah continued.
"But Lily won't."
Silence.
"Leave our daughter out of this."
"You taught her to humiliate my mother."
"So did you."
Sarah closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Greg went quiet.
Sarah whispered, "That's why I'm done."
"You think your family will take you back?"
Sarah looked through the interview room window.
Carolyn sat outside beside David.
"I don't know."
"Your mother hates you."
Sarah swallowed.
"She has reasons."
Greg hung up.
Carolyn did not welcome Sarah home.
That surprised everyone except Rebecca.
Sarah asked to stay in the guest room.
Carolyn said no.
"Where should I go?"
"A hotel."
"I can't afford one."
Carolyn looked at her.
Sarah immediately regretted the sentence.
Carolyn replied, "You had one hundred forty-three thousand dollars of mine to solve that problem."
Sarah lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
"I believe you're sorry now."
Sarah looked up hopefully.
Carolyn continued.
"That is not the same as being forgiven."
Sarah nodded.
She left.
David watched from the stairs.
"That was hard."
Carolyn stared at the closed door.
"Good."
David almost smiled.
Carolyn looked at him.
"Your father told me forgiveness without consequence is permission."
"He was right."
"He usually was."
"Don't tell him I said that."
Carolyn smiled for the first time in days.
Then Rebecca called.
Her voice was serious.
"We found the original Miller Precision trust schedule."
Carolyn sat down.
"What does that mean?"
"It means Robert's estate is considerably larger than Greg knew."
"How large?"
Rebecca gave the number.
Carolyn went silent.
David looked at her.
"Mom?"
Rebecca repeated it.
Twenty-six million dollars.
May you like
But that was not the surprise.
The surprise was the condition attached to Sarah's share.
