Chapter 15 - The Estate Files
Rebecca Sloan conducted a full audit of Evelyn’s trust.
Dererick had stolen more than nine hundred thousand dollars.
He routed money through property-management companies and consulting accounts.
Melissa received one hundred and twenty thousand.
She claimed Dererick described the payments as legitimate distributions.
Some were.
Most were not.
Anna’s signature had been forged on six transactions.
The forged signatures matched samples obtained while she was sedated.
On several recordings, Dererick positioned papers beneath her hand and guided a pen between her fingers.
The footage was horrifying in its calmness.
He never rushed.
Never appeared angry.
He treated Anna’s unconscious body as another administrative tool.
That was why he needed the hidden camera.
Some recordings were intended to prove mental instability.
Others were used to create false consent.
The scissors served multiple purposes.
On one night, Dererick cut threads from Anna’s clothing and placed them near a broken window at an estate property.
He later claimed Anna trespassed there during a confused episode.
On another night, he trimmed a strand of her hair for a drug test submitted under false circumstances.
The black bag was a portable evidence-manufacturing kit.
Gloves.
Bags.
Fibers.
Scissors.
Cameras.
Medication.
USB drives.
Each object allowed Dererick to create a version of reality that placed Anna wherever he needed her.
The night she woke, he intended to film a staged self-harm incident.
Then Vale would recommend emergency confinement.
The competency hearing had already been scheduled for the following afternoon.
Anna had been less than twelve hours from losing legal control of her life.
A judge suspended every estate transaction.
The stolen properties were frozen.
Melissa’s accounts were seized.
Anna became temporary trustee under independent oversight.
For the first time since Evelyn’s death, she could see the entire financial picture.
One transaction stood out.
Two weeks before Evelyn died, Dererick transferred two hundred thousand dollars to Vale.
The payment description read:
Final evaluation and resolution.
May you like
“Resolution” was not a medical term.
It was a price.
