Everything came apart after that.
I handed the documents to investigators before Daniel had taken more than a few steps toward us. The flash drive, the insurance policy, the files on the other women — all of it. Investigators examined the scene and within a short time stopped treating the fire as any kind of accident. Eli spoke to them at length, describing the fake disability, the rehearsed story Daniel had used for years, the way their entire domestic life had been carefully staged.
And then came the piece of information that changed the shape of everything.
One of the women in those files had not disappeared.
She had survived.
What Came After
By the following morning, investigators had located her.
From that point, the case built quickly. Testimony, physical evidence, the documents I had taken from the office, and the account of a witness Daniel had never considered a real threat — his own son.
Daniel was convicted.
I filed for divorce before the trial began.
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