Chapter 6 - THE HUSBAND AT THE SIDE DOOR
Diane was charged in connection with the assault and later investigated for attempted fraud, forgery and conspiracy to transfer property she did not own.
She was not sent away forever that afternoon.
The deputies documented the scene, collected the copied key and took statements. She was processed, released under conditions and prohibited from approaching the workshop or contacting me directly.
Scott was not arrested for standing near the door.
Silence, however cowardly, is not automatically a criminal offense.
His other actions were different.
He had copied keys.
Photographed confidential equipment.
Signed false ownership representations.
Used my personal and business information.
Participated in a plan to terminate employees and sell property without authority.
He told investigators Diane had pressured him.
Messages showed he often encouraged her when profit was discussed.
After the police left, Scott asked to speak with me alone.
Mara refused.
He stood near the same side door where he had watched his mother force me to my knees.
“I never thought she would hit you.”
“You brought her into my workshop with a copied key and a forged sale agreement.”
“I thought she would scare you.”
“You believed fear would make the sale acceptable?”
“I was desperate.”
“You were planning your restart with the money.”
His eyes filled.
“I made mistakes.”
A mistake is ordering the wrong lumber.
A mistake is forgetting an invoice.
Scott made a sequence of choices, each one requiring another lie.
He took our savings.
Hid the failed franchise.
Copied my keys.
Photographed assets.
Helped prepare a fraudulent sale.
Allowed his mother to attack me.
Protected the contract before he protected his wife.
I removed my wedding ring and placed it on the workbench.
“You said this wasn’t how you discussed doing it,” I told him. “Tell me how you discussed it.”
He looked at the floor.
I waited.
Finally, he answered.
“She was supposed to tell you we’d already found a buyer. We thought you would feel trapped and sign.”
That was the most honest thing he said all day.
May you like
They had intended fear.
Only the amount of violence had surprised him.
